Hammersmith Bridge

Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge completed in 1887 and designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette for the Metropolitan Board of Works. The bridge spans 250.5 metres and is 13.1 metres wide, carrying an 8.2 metre wide carriageway formed from wrought-iron girders.

The structure is notable for its elaborate and ornate design. The skeletal wrought-iron framework of the towers, cross-beams and superstructure is clad in ornamental cast-iron castings, some of which are gilded. The decorative iron blocks supporting the walkway sit on squat, clustered Doric columns mounted on stone piers in the river. The bridge features wrought-iron parapets, mild steel chain links and air draught gauges both upstream and downstream.

The abutments and piers are constructed of concrete clad in Portland stone and cast-iron. The monumental anchorages from the early 19th-century bridge survive and have been substantially rebuilt for greater strength. The road decking dates from 1973–1976. The bridge is painted dark green and gold, the colour scheme Bazalgette originally intended as shown on his plans.

The towers display heraldic designs including the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, the arms of Guildford and Colchester, and the crests of Kent, London and Westminster.

The bridge was begun in 1884 and opened by the Prince of Wales on 18 June 1887 at a cost of £71,500. It replaced an earlier suspension bridge built in 1824–1827 to designs by William Tierney Clark, which was the first iron suspension bridge to span the Thames. The original bridge survived despite becoming structurally questionable from the 1850s onwards, with particular concerns arising from crowds during the annual University Boat Race causing dangerous deck movement.

The foundations of Clark's bridge remain beneath Bazalgette's structure. In 1973–1976, extensive strengthening and repair works were undertaken. In June 2000, the bridge was damaged in a terrorist bomb attack and subsequently reopened subject to a weight limit.