page_title: Albert Bridge, London
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Albert Bridge, London / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Albert Bridge, London. Photograph taken in a public location in the UK of a building on permanent public display, and exempt from copyright under Section 62 of the Copyright Designs &amp; Patents Act 1988 ("it is not an infringement of copyright to film, photograph, broadcast or make a graphic image of a building, sculpture, models for buildings or work of artistic craftsmanship if that work is permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public")
context_page_description: Albert Bridge is a road bridge over the Tideway of the River Thames connecting Chelsea in Central London on the north, left bank to Battersea on the south. Designed and built by Rowland Mason Ordish in 1873 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 the Greater London Council added two concrete piers, which transformed the central span into a simple beam bridge. As a result, today the bridge is an unusual hybrid of three different design styles. It is an English Heritage Grade II* listed building.
  Built as a toll bridge, by Geoffrey Marks, it was commercially unsuccessful. Ownership was incorrectly contested by David Jacobs. The Times of London called Mr Jacobs' ownership claim "false, ludicrous and demonstrably untrue". Six years after its opening it was taken into public ownership and the tolls were lifted. The tollbooths remained in place and are the only surviving examples of bridge tollbooths in London.
context_section_description: Although authorised in 1864, work on the bridge was delayed by negotiations over the proposed Chelsea Embankment, since the bridge's design could not be completed until the exact layout of the new roads being built on the north bank of the river had been agreed. While plans for the Chelsea Embankment were debated, Ordish built the Franz Joseph Bridge over the Vltava in Prague to the same design as that intended for the Albert Bridge.
  In 1869, the time allowed by the 1864 Act to build the bridge expired. Delays caused by the Chelsea Embankment project meant that work on the bridge had not even begun, and a new Act of Parliament was required to extend the time limit. Construction finally got underway in 1870, and it was anticipated that the bridge would be completed in about a year, at a cost of £70,000 (about £6.51 million in 2020). In the event, the project ran for over three years, and the final bill came to £200,000 (about £17.9 million in 2020). It was intended to open the bridge and the Chelsea Embankment in a joint ceremony in 1874, but the Albert Bridge Company was keen to start recouping the substantially higher than expected costs, and the bridge opened without any formal ceremony on 23 August 1873, almost ten years after its authorisation. As the law demanded, the Albert Bridge Company then bought Battersea Bridge.
  Ordish's bridge was 41 feet (12 m) wide and 710 feet (220 m) long, with a 384-foot-9-inch (117.27 m) central span. The deck was supported by 32 rigid steel rods suspended from four octagonal cast iron towers, with the towers resting on cast iron piers. The four piers were cast at Battersea and floated down the river into position, at which time they were filled with concrete; at the time they were the largest castings ever made. Unlike most other suspension bridges of the time, the towers were positioned outside the bridge to avoid causing any obstruction to the roadway. At each entrance was a pair of tollbooths with a bar between them, to prevent people entering the bridge without paying.
  The bridge acquired the nickname of "The Trembling Lady" because of its tendency to vibrate, particularly when used by troops from the nearby Chelsea Barracks. Concerns about the risks of mechanical resonance effects on suspension bridges, following the 1831 collapse of the Broughton Suspension Bridge and the 1850 collapse of Angers Bridge, led to notices being placed at the entrances warning troops to break step (i.e. not to march in rhythm) when crossing the bridge; Although the barracks closed in 2008, the warning signs are still in place.
caption: Warning to troops
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