Editing Hammersmith Bridge (section)

==History==
===Origins===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Hammersmith Bridge Act 1824
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for building a Bridge over the River Thames, from the Hamlet of Hammersmith in the County of Middlesex, to the Parish of Barnes in the County of Surrey, and for making convenient Roads and Avenues to communicate with such Bridge.
| year                  = 1824
| citation              = [[5 Geo. 4]]. c.cxii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 9 June 1824
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|Hammersmith Bridge Act 1828}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
A group of local people proposed a new bridge at Hammersmith rather than detouring to either [[Kew Bridge]] or [[Putney Bridge]] to cross the river.<ref name=prettiest>{{cite web |url=https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2018/07/19/hammersmith-londons-prettiest-bridge/ |title=Hammersmith: London's Prettiest Bridge |first=Brian |last=Cookson |via=London Historians' Blog |work=London Historians Members' Newsletter |date=August 2014}}</ref> The construction of the bridge was first sanctioned by an [[act of Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Hammersmith Bridge Act 1824}}''' ([[5 Geo. 4]]. c.cxii), on 9 June 1824, which established the Hammersmith Bridge Company.<ref name=lma>{{cite web |url=https://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail?SESSIONSEARCH&exp=refd%20DD/0478 |publisher=City of London Corporation |website=London Metropolitan Archives |id=DD/0478 |title=Hammersmith Bridge Company}}</ref> Work began on site the following year, and the bridge was opened on 6 October 1827.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Hammersmith Suspension Bridge |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kccl&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS34755913&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |date=9 October 1827 |page=2 |issue=13405 |access-date=22 August 2017}}</ref> Construction of the bridge cost some £80,000 (equivalent to £{{inflation|UK|0.080|start_year=1824|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|UK}}).{{Inflation/fn|UK}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Hammersmith Bridge Act 1828
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for altering and amending an Act passed in the Fifth Year of His present Majesty, for building a Bridge over the River Thames at Hammersmith, and for making convenient Roads to communicate therewith.
| year                  = 1828
| citation              = [[9 Geo. 4]]. c. lii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 23 May 1828
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = {{ubli|Hammersmith Bridge Act 1824}}
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Local Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965]]}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo4/9/52/pdfs/ukla_18280052_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
It was the first [[suspension bridge]] over the [[River Thames]] and was designed by [[William Tierney Clark]].<ref>{{cite web|title=William Tierney Clark|url=http://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/william-tierney-clark|publisher=London Remembers}}</ref>{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=373}} A further act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Hammersmith Bridge Act 1828}}''' ([[9 Geo. 4]]. c. lii) was obtained in 1828. The acts also included powers to acquire land by [[compulsory purchase in England and Wales|compulsory purchase]] in order to build approach roads, and required the company to purchase the entire [[Barn Elms]] estate (the surplus land was subsequently sold).<ref name=lma/>

Hammersmith Bridge Road in Hammersmith was also constructed with the bridge, together with Upper Bridge Road (now [[Castelnau, London|Castelnau]]) and Lower Bridge Road (now Lonsdale Road) in Barnes. It was operated as a [[toll bridge]], with the toll house located at the Hammersmith end of the bridge.

The bridge had a clear water-way of {{convert|688|ft|8|in}}. Its suspension towers were {{convert|48|ft}} above the level of the roadway, where they were {{convert|22|ft}} thick. The roadway was slightly curved upwards, {{convert|16|ft}} above [[high water]], and the extreme length from the back of the piers on shore was {{convert|822|ft|8|in}}, supporting {{convert|688|ft}} of roadway. There were eight chains, composed of [[wrought-iron]] bars, each five inches deep and one thick. Four of these had six bars in each chain; and four had only three, making thirty-six bars, which form a dip in the centre of about {{convert|29|ft}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Memoir of Suspension Bridges: Comprising The History Of Their Origin And Progress |url=https://archive.org/details/amemoirsuspensi01drewgoog |last=Drewry |first=Charles Stewart |year=1832 |publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman |location=London |pages=82–88, and [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hw8LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PT23 endplates] |access-date=13 June 2009}}</ref> From these, vertical rods were suspended, which supported the roadway, formed of strong timbers covered with granite. The width of the carriageway was {{convert|20|ft}}, with two footways of {{convert|5|ft}}. The chains passed over the suspension towers, and were secured to the piers on each shore. The suspension towers were built of stone, and designed as archways of the [[Tuscan order]]. The approaches were provided with octagonal lodges, or toll-houses, with appropriate lamps and parapet walls, terminating with stone pillars, surmounted with ornamental caps.

In order to increase profits, the company built a floating steamboat pier to the downstream side of the suspension pier closest to Barnes.<ref name=lma/>

By the 1870s, the bridge was no longer strong enough to support the weight of heavy traffic and the owners were alarmed in 1870 when 11,000 to 12,000 people crowded onto the bridge to watch the [[University Boat Race]],<ref name=listing/> which passes underneath just before the halfway point of its [[The Championship Course|{{convert|4+1/4|mi|0|adj=on}} course]].

The [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] purchased the bridge from the Hammersmith Bridge Company in 1880 under the [[Metropolis Toll Bridges Act 1877]] ([[40 & 41 Vict.]] c. xcix),<ref name=lma/> and transferred the approach roads to the local authorities ([[Fulham District Board of Works]] and the Parish of Barnes). The tolls were removed from the bridge on 26 June 1880.<ref name=lma/>

There were no immediate plans to replace the bridge, which remained sound, until a boat collided with it in 1882 causing damage, and leading to the [[Metropolitan Board of Works (Bridges, &c.) Act 1883]] that authorised the construction of a replacement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/birthday-greetings-a-bridge-most-fair/ |title=Birthday Greetings: A Bridge Most Fair |website=London Historians' Blog |date=18 June 2011 |access-date=12 October 2021 |first=Mike |last=Paterson}}</ref> In 1884 a temporary bridge was put up to allow a more limited cross-river traffic while a replacement was constructed.<ref name=listing/>

[[File:Hammersmith Bridge 1827 - Project Gutenberg etext 12595.png|thumb|600px|Engraving of the first Hammersmith Bridge, completed 1827|center]]

=== 1880s construction ===

[[File:Joseph Bazalgette by Lock & Whitfield.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Joseph Bazalgette]] designed the bridge.]]

The current Hammersmith Bridge was designed by Sir [[Joseph Bazalgette]] and rests on the same pier foundations constructed for Tierney Clark's original structure. As built, the carriageway was 27 feet 2 inches wide, narrowing to 19 feet 9 inches between the towers, with two footways of 5 feet 10 inches. The maximum headway above high water was 15 feet 1 inch<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Report of the Royal Commission on Cross-River Traffic in London |collaboration=Royal Commission on Cross-River Traffic in London |date=1926 |publisher=HMSO |year=1926 |location=London |pages=54}}</ref>.

The new bridge was built by Dixon, Appleby & Thorne and was opened by the [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]] on 11 June 1887.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thames.me.uk/s00240.htm |title=Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide}}</ref> With much of the supporting structure built of [[wrought iron]], it is {{convert|700|ft}} long and {{convert|43|ft}} wide and cost £82,117 to build (equivalent to £{{inflation|UK|0.082117|start_year=1887|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|UK}}).{{Inflation/fn|UK}} With the abolition of the Metropolitan Board of Works on 21 March 1889, ownership of Hammersmith Bridge passed to the new [[London County Council]].<ref name="lbhftimeline" />

=== 20th century ===

Near midnight on 27 December 1919, Lieutenant Charles Campbell Wood, a [[South Africa]]n serving as an airman in the [[Royal Air Force]], dived from the upstream footway of the bridge into the Thames to rescue a drowning woman. Although Wood saved her life, he later died from [[tetanus]] as a consequence of his injuries. His act of bravery is commemorated by a plaque on the handrail, which reads: 
{{quote|Lieutenant Charles Campbell Wood RAF<br/>of Bloemfontein, South Africa dived from this spot into<br/>the Thames at midnight 27 Dec. 1919 and saved a woman's life.<br/>He died from the injuries received following the rescue.|}}

The Royal Commission on Cross-River Traffic in London, 1926 recorded that the limited headroom for navigation was considered unsatisfactory and that there was little room for any increase in traffic. It continued<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>Moreover the bridge is so constantly under repair that it is frequently available for only one line of vehicles and is the source of so much delay and congestion of traffic.

We regard it as essential that Hammersmith Bridge should be rebuilt as soon as possible and widened to take four lines of traffic, without restriction of weight.</blockquote>The first attempt by [[Irish republicans]] to destroy Hammersmith Bridge occurred on Wednesday 29 March 1939, when it was attacked by the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|IRA (of 1922–1969)]] as part of their [[S-Plan]].<ref name="Childs">Diary of London resident Norah Margaret Morris</ref><ref name="Shaking">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/772925.stm |title='The windows started shaking' |work=[[BBC News]] |date=1 June 2000 |access-date=28 April 2013}}</ref> Maurice Childs, a women's hairdresser from nearby [[Chiswick]], was walking home across the bridge at one o'clock in the morning when he noticed smoke and sparks coming from a suitcase that was lying on the walkway.<ref name="Childs" /> He opened it to find a bomb and quickly threw the bag into the river. The resulting explosion sent up a {{convert|60|ft|adj=on}} column of water. Moments later, a second device exploded causing some girders on the west side of the bridge to collapse and windows in nearby houses to shatter. Childs was later awarded an [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] for his quick-thinking. Eddie Connell and William Browne were subsequently jailed for 20 and 10 years respectively for their involvement in the attack.<ref name="Shaking" />

On 1 April 1965, the bridge was transferred to the [[Greater London Council]] (GLC) when it took over from [[London County Council]].<ref name=lbhftimeline/>

In 1986 the GLC was abolished. The [[Local Government Act 1985]] transferred non-[[trunk road#United Kingdom|trunk road]] bridges in their entirety to one of the two London boroughs that each bridge lay within – the choice of borough to be decided between the two councils, or failing agreement, by the Secretary of State for Transport. In addition to the bridge, the London borough taking responsibility also gained 100 yards of approach road from the other borough. For Hammersmith Bridge, on 31 March 1986 the [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]] took responsibility.<ref name=lbhftimeline>{{cite web |url=https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/transport-and-roads/hammersmith-bridge/hammersmith-bridge-timeline |title=Hammersmith Bridge timeline |website=London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham|date=7 December 2020 }}</ref>

On 26 April 1996, the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] [[1996 Hammersmith Bridge bomb|attempted to destroy the bridge]] after installing two large [[Semtex]] devices on the south bank of the Thames. Though the detonators were activated, the bomb, the largest Semtex bomb ever found in Britain at the time,<ref name="Shaking"/> failed to ignite.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=373}}<ref name=lbhftimeline/>

At 4:30&nbsp;am on 1 June 2000, the bridge was damaged by a [[Real Irish Republican Army|Real IRA]] bomb planted underneath the Barnes span.<ref name=lbhftimeline/> Following two years of closure for repairs the bridge was reopened with further weight restrictions in place.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,327159,00.html |title=Dissident republicans suspected in Hammersmith bombing |work=[[The Guardian]] |first=Mark |last=Tran |date=1 June 2000}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
File:Hammersmith Bridge 1, London, UK - April 2012.jpg|Hammersmith Bridge and riverside, seen from the Hammersmith bank
File:hammersmith.bridge.arp.jpg|Hammersmith Bridge, seen from the Westminster to Kew tourist boat
File:HORR 05.jpg|[[Sport rowing|Rowing]] crews racing under Hammersmith Bridge
File:Hammersmith Bridge, London 12.JPG|End details
File:Hammersmith Bridge, London 08.JPG|Tower
</gallery>