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Vauxhall Bridge

Vauxhall Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge London - geograph.org.uk - 1752640.jpg
Coordinates 51°29′15″N 0°07′37″W / 51.48750°N 0.12694°W / 51.48750; -0.12694Coordinates: 51°29′15″N 0°07′37″W / 51.48750°N 0.12694°W / 51.48750; -0.12694
Carries A202 road
Crosses River Thames
Locale London, England
Heritage status Grade II* listed
Preceded by Grosvenor Railway Bridge
Followed by Lambeth Bridge
Characteristics
Design Arch bridge
Material Steel and granite
Total length 809 feet (247 m)
Width 80 feet (24 m)
No. of spans 5
Piers in water 4
Clearance below 39 feet 9 inches (12.1 m) at lowest astronomical tide
History
Designer Sir Alexander Binnie,
Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice
Opened 26 May 1906
Replaces Regent Bridge (Old Vauxhall Bridge) 1816–98
Statistics
Daily traffic 50,533 vehicles (2004)

Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a south–east north–west direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it replaced an earlier bridge, originally known as Regent Bridge but later renamed Vauxhall Bridge, built between 1809 and 1816 as part of a scheme for redeveloping the south bank of the Thames. The original bridge was built on the site of a former ferry.

The building of both bridges was problematic, with both the first and second bridges requiring several redesigns from multiple architects. The original bridge, the first iron bridge over the Thames, was built by a private company and operated as a toll bridge before being taken into public ownership in 1879. The second bridge, which took eight years to build, was the first in London to carry trams and later one of the first two roads in London to have a bus lane.

In 1963 it was proposed to replace the bridge with a modern development containing seven floors of shops, office space, hotel rooms and leisure facilities supported above the river, but the plans were abandoned because of costs. With the exception of alterations to the road layout and the balustrade, the design and appearance of the current bridge has remained almost unchanged since 1907. The bridge today is an important part of London's road system and carries the A202 road across the Thames.

In the early 13th century, Anglo-Norman mercenary Falkes de Breauté built a manor house in the then empty marshlands of South Lambeth, across the River Thames from Westminster. In 1223–24, de Breauté and others revolted against Henry III; following a failed attempt to seize the Tower of London, de Breauté's lands in England were forfeited and he was forced into exile in France and later Rome. The lands surrounding his Lambeth manor house continued to be known as Falkes' Hall, later Vauxhall.


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