Building    From 1873 

Albert Bridge

Categories: Architecture

Designed and built by Rowland Mason Ordish, as an Ordish-Lefeuvre system modified cable-stayed bridge. It proved to be structurally unsound, so between 1884 and 1887 Sir Joseph Bazalgette incorporated some of the design elements of a suspension bridge. In 1973, two central concrete piers were added which transformed the middle span into a simple beam bridge. As a result, it is an unusual hybrid of three different design systems. It was opened as a toll bridge, but was commercially unsuccessful. The tollbooths are still in place, being the only surviving examples of such in London. Long before the problems with the Millennium Bridge, it was nicknamed 'The Trembling Lady' because of its tendency to vibrate when large numbers of people walked across it. At night it is illuminated by 4,000 LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes).

The Franz-Josef Bridge in Prague, demolished 1941, was near identical. Ordish built that in 1868 during a lull in the designing of the Albert Bridge brought about by the simultaneous designing of the Chelsea Embankment.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Albert Bridge

Commemorated ati

Albert Bridge boundary markers

A pair of these markers is attached to each side of the bridge, with CP alway...

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Albert Bridge - opened

The rope-framed roundel at the top carries the crest for the RBofK&C, and...

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Albert Bridge - troops

In 1831 the Broughton Suspension Bridge collapsed as a troop of 74 men marche...

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Other Subjects

Darcy Braddell

Darcy Braddell

The only person we can find who this might be is Thomas Arthur Darcy Braddell, who was an architect, which seems wrong.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

From the RIBA website: "RIBA Awards are given for buildings that have high architectural standards and make a substantial contribution to the local environment. The awards are annual, and have been...

Group, Architecture

2 memorials
Colen Campbell

Colen Campbell

Architect. Born in Scotland, a descendent of the Campbells of Cawdor Castle. One of the initiators of the Neo-Palladian movement through his publication, the 3-part Vitruvius Britannicus.

Person, Architecture, Scotland

1 memorial
Hughes Mansions

Hughes Mansions

Flats built in honour of Judge Thomas Hughes. On 27 March 1945 part of the building was destroyed by the last V2 rocket to hit London (another one fell on Orpington, Kent on the same date), killing...

Building, Architecture, Tragedy

2 memorials