Westminster Bridge

Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster
Carries	A302 road
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	London, England, United Kingdom
Heritage status	Grade II* listed structure
Preceded by	Lambeth Bridge
Followed by	Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Total length	820 feet (250 m)
Width	85 feet (26 m)
No. of spans	7
History
Designer	Thomas Page
Opened	24 May 1862

Coordinates: 51°30′03″N 0°07′19″W / 51.50083°N 0.12194°W / 51.50083; -0.12194

Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side.

The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the House of Commons which is on the side of the Palace of Westminster nearest to the bridge. This is in contrast to Lambeth Bridge, which is red, the same colour as the seats in the House of Lords and is on the opposite side of the Houses of Parliament.

In 2005–2007, it underwent a complete refurbishment, including replacing the iron fascias and repainting the whole bridge. It links the Palace of Westminster on the west side of the river with County Hall and the London Eye on the east and was the finishing point during the early years of the London Marathon.

The next bridge downstream is the Hungerford footbridge and upstream is Lambeth Bridge. Westminster Bridge was designated a Grade II* listed structure in 1981.,

For over 600 years, the nearest bridge to London Bridge was at Kingston. A bridge at Westminster was proposed in 1664, but opposed by the Corporation of London and the watermen. Despite further opposition in 1722, and after a new timber bridge was built at Putney in 1729, the scheme received parliamentary approval in 1736. Financed by private capital, lotteries and grants, Westminster Bridge was built between 1739–1750, under the supervision of the Swiss engineer Charles Labelye.