Editing Waterloo Bridge (section)

===First bridge{{anchor|Strand Bridge Act 1809|Strand Bridge Act 1813}}===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Strand Bridge Act 1809
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for building a Bridge over the River Thames from the Precinct of the Savoy, or near thereunto, in the County of Middlesex, to the opposite Shore, and for making, convenient Roads and Avenues to communicate therewith, in the County of Surrey.
| year                  = 1809
| citation              = [[49 Geo. 3]]. c. cxci
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 20 June 1809
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = Strand Bridge Act 1813
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Local Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965]] ([[SI 1965]]/540)}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/49/191/pdfs/ukla_18090191_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Strand Bridge Act 1813
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for altering, enlarging, and extending the Powers of an Act of His present Majesty, for building a Bridge over the River Thames, at the Precinct of the Savoy, or near thereunto; and making Roads and Avenues to communicate therewith, in the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey.
| year                  = 1813
| citation              = 53 Geo. 3. c. clxxxiv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 2 July 1813
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = Strand Bridge Act 1809
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Local Law (Greater London Council and Inner London Boroughs) Order 1965]] ([[SI 1965]]/540)}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/53/184/pdfs/ukla_18130184_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[File:Strand Bridge 1809.jpg|thumb|left|Share of the Company of Proprietors of the Strand Bridge, issued 30 December 1809]]
[[File:Waterloo Bridge 1817.jpg|thumb|300px|Crowds attend the opening of the first Waterloo Bridge on 18 June 1817]]
[[File:John Constable 001.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[The Opening of Waterloo Bridge]]'', [[John Constable]], {{circa|1831–32}}]]
[[File:Waterloo Bridge, about 1925 01.jpg|thumb|Waterloo Bridge, about 1925]]

The first bridge on the site was designed in 1809–10 by [[John Rennie (engineer)|John Rennie]] for the Company of Proprietors of The [[Strand, London|Strand Bridge]] (the Strand Bridge Company). The Strand Bridge Company built the bridge privately, in return for charging tolls to cross it.

Originally named 'the Strand Bridge', following the victory of the Battle of Waterloo, the bridge was renamed in 1816 (before its opening) to 'the Waterloo Bridge'. The bridge company was at the same time renamed 'The Company of Proprietors of The Waterloo Bridge'. It opened in 1817 as a [[toll bridge]].{{cn|date=February 2024}}

The [[granite]] bridge{{efn|The granite came from quarries at [[Mabe, Cornwall|Mabe]] in Cornwall<ref>{{cite book |last=Mee |first=Arthur |date=1937 |title=Cornwall |location=London |publisher=[[Hodder & Stoughton]] |page=132}}</ref>}} had nine arches, each of {{convert|120|ft|m|1}} span, separated by double Doric stone columns, and was {{convert|2456|ft|m|1}} long, including approaches–{{convert|1240|ft|m|1}} between abutments–and {{convert|42|ft|m|1}} wide between the parapets.

During the 1840s the bridge gained a reputation as a popular place for suicide attempts. In 1841, the American [[Stunt performer|daredevil]] [[Samuel Gilbert Scott]] was killed while performing an act in which he hung by a rope from a scaffold on the bridge.<ref>[[Ricky Jay|Jay, Ricky]] (1987) ''Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women: Unique, Eccentric and Amazing Entertainers: Stone Eaters, Mind Readers, Poison Resisters, Daredevils, Singing Mice, etc., etc, etc., etc.''. New York: Villard Books, p. 150. {{ISBN|0-394-53750-5}}</ref> In 1844 [[Thomas Hood]] wrote the poem "[[The Bridge of Sighs (poem)|The Bridge of Sighs]]", which concerns the suicide of a prostitute there.<ref>Brewer, Ebenezer (1970) ''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]''. London: Cassell, p. 152.</ref>

The bridge was depicted by the French [[Impressionist]] [[Claude Monet]] in his [[Waterloo Bridge (Monet series)|series of 41 works]] from 1900 to 1904, and by the English [[Romanticism|Romantic]] [[John Constable]], whose painting depicting its opening is displayed at [[Anglesey Abbey]] in Cambridgeshire.<ref name="Sherwood">{{cite web |last1=Sherwood |first1=Harriet |title=Constable painting of Waterloo Bridge 'transformed' by conservation work |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/apr/29/john-constable-painting-waterloo-bridge-conservation-national-trust |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=29 April 2022 |language=en |date=29 April 2022}}</ref>

The bridge was nationalised in 1878 and placed under the control of the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]], which removed the toll from it.

[[Michael Faraday]] tried in 1832 to measure the [[potential difference]]<ref>{{cite web |author=David P. Stern |url=http://www.phy6.org/earthmag/NSTA1C.htm |title=Teaching about the Earth's Magnetism in Earth Sciences-Part 3 |website=Phy6.org |date=18 November 2000 |location=Baltimore Meeting of the National Science Teacher Association |access-date=15 July 2017 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224015456/http://www.phy6.org/earthmag/NSTA1C.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> between each side of the bridge caused by the ebbing salt water flowing through the Earth's magnetic field<ref>[[Faraday, Michael]], ''Experimental Researches in Electricity'', Vol. 1, London, 1839, p. 55.</ref> using [[magnetohydrodynamics]].

Serious problems were found in Rennie's bridge [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] from 1884 onward, after [[Bridge scour|scour]] from the river flow (which had increased following the demolition of [[London Bridge|Old London Bridge]]) damaged their foundations. By the 1920s the problems had increased, and settlement at pier five necessitated the closure of the whole bridge while some heavy superstructure was removed and temporary reinforcements were put in place.<ref name=Hopkins>{{cite book |last=Hopkins |first=Henry |title=A Span of Bridges |publisher=[[David & Charles]] |location=Newton Abbot, England |year=1970 |pages=257–260}}</ref>

In 1925, a temporary steel framework was built on top of the existing bridge and then placed next to it for the use of southbound vehicles (the postcard image shows this, and the settlement especially to the left of the fifth pier).<ref name="Historic England">{{NHLE|desc=Waterloo Bridge|num=1275000|access-date=25 February 2017}}</ref>