Southwark Bridge

Southwark Bridge
Southwark Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral
Carries	A300 road
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	Southwark, London, England
Maintained by	Bridge House Estates, City of London Corporation
Heritage status	Grade II listed structure
Preceded by	Millennium Bridge
Followed by	Cannon Street Railway Bridge
Characteristics
Total length	800 feet (243.8 m)
Width	55 feet (16.8 m)
Longest span	240 feet (73.2 m)
History
Opened	1921

Coordinates: 51°30′32″N 0°05′40″W / 51.50889°N 0.09444°W / 51.50889; -0.09444

Southwark (Br [ˈsʌðɨk])Bridge is an arch bridge in London, England, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City across the River Thames. It has the lowest traffic utilisation of any bridge in central London.

A previous bridge, designed by John Rennie, opened on the site in 1819 and was originally known as Queen Street Bridge, as shown on the 1818 John Snow Map of London. The bridge consisted of three large cast-iron spans supported by granite piers. The bridge was notable for having the longest cast iron span, 240 feet (73 m), ever made. It was a commercial tolled operation which was trying to compete with the toll free Blackfriars and London bridges nearby, but the company became bankrupt and its interest were acquired by the Bridge House Estates which then made it toll free in 1864.

A new bridge on the site was designed by Ernest George and Basil Mott. It was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. and opened in 1921.

Halfway along the bridge on the Western side is a plaque which is inscribed:

Re-built by the Bridge House Estates Committee
of the Corporation of London
1913-1921
Opened for traffic by their Majesties
King George V and Queen Mary
6th June 1921
Sir Ernest Lamb CMG, JP Chairman
Basil Mott, CB Engineer
Sir Ernest George RA Architect