122 The Erection of New London Bridge. velocity of the reflux is in like manner checked, and that the water above bridge never ebbs out so low, by nearly the quantity of the whole fall, as it will do when the dam is removed. He remarks that any additional depth at high water would be perfectly useless to the navigation; and that an increased velocity would not be beneficial; for while it added to the hazard of navigation, it would also increase the difficulty now experienced by wherries and small craft, in making way against the stream; that a quicker outfall would so far injure the navigation, as it would leave the bed of the river nearly dry at the ebb of spring tides, and the silt from the sewers would thus have a much greater extent of shore to deposit itself on; and, if the flood tide ran stronger, the upper parts of the river would be choked up with mud carried up from London, and less would be carried eastward, as at present a more than ordinary rapid current occasions a more than ordinary deposition of filth. To these ill effects anticipated in the river itself, are added fears that the deepening stream will undermine the wharfs and embankments, and the foundations of some of the other bridges, particularly Blackfriars, Waterloo, and Westminster; and what is worst, that the low lands from Rotherhithe to Battersea, including St. George's Fields, Vauxhall, and Lambeth, may be rendered uninhabitable or unhealthy from damps and stagnant waters. On the Westminster side of the river, where the shore from Privy gardens to Ranelagh gardens was anciently an island (as may be easily perceived on a map of sewers), similar injury may be dreaded in the low parts; as well as generally on the low lands on each side the river as high as Kingston. It is, however, to be hoped that these gloomy forebodings may be realized to a very partial extent; at the same time that persons concerned should be prepared to meet the difficulties. The important question will now be soon decided; and it is to be recollected that such parts of the dam [Aug. which were removed by taking away the two piers and the waterworks, have been hitherto compensated by the works of the new bridge. It will at least be desirable to proceed with deliberation and by degrees in the work of removal, in order that the effects of the less impeded current may be gradually ascertained, and be properly obviated. Under all circumstances, we shall not cease to regard with respect the memory of the old structure, which has been a faithful servant for so many ages, and over which so many millions in successive generations have crossed the bosom of the noble Thames. The erection of a new Bridge having been agitated at different periods for more than twenty years, but suspended during the progress of Southwark Bridge, the first serious step towards the structure now completed, took place in 1821, when a committee of the House of Commons recommended a bill for that purpose to be presented in the next session. Premiums were then offered for designs, viz. 2501. for the best, 150l. for the second in merit, and 100l. for the third. After several changes in the decision,* these premiums were adjudged to Mr. William Fowler, Mr. T. Borer, and Mr. Charles Aug. Busby; but one of the designs of the late John Rennie, Esq. F.R.S.† was ultimately adopted on the recommendation of a committee of the House of Commons. 'An Act for the rebuilding London Bridge, and for the improving and making suitable approaches thereto," received the royal assent July 4, 1823. The government agreed to lend the city 150,000l. and the remaining expense was to be raised from private sources on the credit of the Bridge house estates. The site of the new structure having been fixed to be about one hundred feet westward of the old one, the first pile was driven on the 15th of March, 1824, opposite to the second arch on the Southwark side of the old bridge; and the first coffer-dam having been completed within fourteen months of that time, the first stone was laid on On which a pamphlet was published by Joseph Gwilt, Esq. F.S.A. the candidate, in whose favour Messrs. Nash, Soane, and Smirke, had given their award. It is worthy of remark that one of the designs engraved in the Report of 1800, furnished by Robert Mylne, Esq. the architect of Blackfriars Bridge, was for a bridge of five arches, the width of the central one being 150 feet, the same as that of the bridge now erected. 1831.] Architecture of New London Bridge. the 15th of June, 1825 (the tenth anniversary of the battle of Waterloo,) by the Lord Mayor (Garratt), in the presence of the Duke of York, the President and a committee of the Royal Society, and other distinguished visitors, as well as all the city senators and official characters.* Since the death of Mr. Rennie in 1826, the works have been carried on under the superintendence of his son, now Sir John Rennie,† and by William Joliffe, Esq. and Sir Edward Banks, as contractors. The original amount of the contract made by those gentlemen was 426,000l., and 30,000l. for the alterations and repairs necessary to the new bridge during the works. The amount was increased to 506,000l. by the addition of 80001. for additional centering, and of 42,000l. granted by the Lords of the Treasury in 1825 for making the bridge six feet wider, namely, two feet in the roadway, and two feet in each footpath. The outline of the surface of the bridge, as proposed in Mr. Rennie's original design, was a very flat segment of a circle, which has been rendered still more flat by an increase in the height of the arches near the banks, and the present ascent is not more than seven feet. The design of the bridge displays five very beautiful elliptical arches, the two outwardmost of which are 130 feet in span, and 244 feet in height; the two next 140 feet in span, and 27 in height; and the central one 152 in span, and 29 in height, the largest elliptical stone arch in existence. The piers on each side this magnificent opening are 24 feet in width; the two other piers are 22 feet wide; and the abutments are 73 feet each at the base. The piers are plain rectangular buttresses, resting on massive plinths, and pointed cut-waters; they are crowned by a bold projecting block cornice, which describes the sweep of the roadway, and is surmounted by a plain double blocking-course, receding in two heights, like the scamilli of the ancients. There are no balusters, as at the other stone bridges in 125 London; but the architectural feature last described forms a dwarf wall, over which a grown person may look upon the river. The total height of the bridge, from low water mark, is fifty-five feet. The width of the carriage way is thirty-six feet, and of each footpath nine feet. On both sides of the bridge, at each extremity, are magnificent flights of stairs. They are, twenty-two feet in width, and lead straight to the water without a turn, but are relieved by two landing-places. The number of steps is seventy-seven, about thirty of which are covered at high water. At the head of each flight of stairs stand two colossal blocks of granite, each weighing twenty-five tons. The exterior of the bridge is of three sorts of granite, wrought in the most beautiful and scientific manner. The eastern side is faced with purple Aberdeen granite, the western with the light grey Devonshire Heytor, and the voussoirs or arch stones of both are united with the red brown granite of Peterhead. The fillings-in of the piers, spandrils, roadway, &c. are of the hard Bramby Fell (a fine indurated sandstone), Derby, and Whitby stone. The materials were roughly shaped at the quarries, and, after being carefully wrought in a large field at Mill Wall, Poplar, were finally dressed and accurately fitted to their places at the bridge. Mr. Elmes, the architect, in a pamphlet on London Bridge," recently published (to which we are principally indebted for the present description), states that he watched the fittings in of the key-stone course of the second arch from the London side, and witnessed the anxious expression of the countenance of Sir Edward Banks at the blows on the head of the key-stone, which made the whole fabric of the arch and centre tremble; but which succeeded so well, that at the striking of those ponderous masses of carpentry, the sinking of the arch and the consequent alteration of its curvature (a circumstance so much regretted in some of the best of the scientific Peyronnet's bridges) is scarcely perceptible. * See a description of the ceremony in our vol. xcv. i. 557. The honour of knighthood was conferred on this talented representative of a highly talented father, on the 17th of the present month. The iron arches of Southwark Bridge are, the side arches 210, and the central one 240 feet. In order to conclude our description of the bridge, we have only to notice the handsome bronze lamp-posts which are fixed on the parapet walls, one supporting two lamps at each side over the four smaller arches, and one with three lamps at each side over the centre arch. They have been cast by Mr. Parker, of Argyll-street, out of captured cannon brought from his Majesty's yard at Woolwich; their design is elegant, and is displayed to so much the greater advantage, from the total absence of ornament in the masonry. The provision of adequate approaches, attended by the necessary purchase of many valuable premises, has been the source of a vast additional expenditure. To avoid the inconvenient declivity, which was the principal annoyance connected with the old bridge, the roadway is carried from the bridge on a series of land arches, with a very gradual slope, until it meets the level of the Highstreet, Southwark, on the Surrey side, and the higher levels of Fish-street Hill, Great Eastcheap, and their vicinity, on the London side. The roadway on the Surrey side is continued up in nearly a straight line, until it meets the old road near St. Thomas's-street. On the eastern side of this new road, another diverges northward, and by a similar inclined plane, meets Tooley-street. Tooley street is itself continued westward under a peculiarly handsome and scientifically constructed elliptical arch of brick, so that carriages and passengers passing eastward and westward go under the roadway, and those going northward and southward, to and from the bridge, pass and repass without crossing the others; whilst those desiring to go eastward or westward from the bridge accomplish their object by means of the new road which communicates with Tooley-street. The road from the bridge on the City side proceeds in a straight line, over the site of the late church of St. Michael, Crooked - lane, and then branches off on each side to Fishstreet Hill and East Cheap. The road from Thames-street passes under an elliptical arch, built with Yorkshire stone, but fronted on each side with granite; the eleven other arches, as well as the twenty-two on the Surrey side, will be appropriated as warehouses, cellarage, &c. Near the Thames-street arch, both east and west, a rustic doorway is the entrance to a staircase leading to the foot of the bridge. The ground on each side the new approaches will be hereafter let on building leases, under the management of William Montague, esq. the Clerk of the City Works; but the designs for the elevations next the street are, by the provisions of the last Act of Parliament, to be provided by Robert Smirke, esq. R.A. one of the attached architects to the Board of Works. On the 1st of August, the anniversary of the accession of the House of Hanover, the ceremony of opening the Bridge was honoured by the presence of their Majesties. The King was pleased to command that the procession should be by water, with the double view of benefiting the men employed on the river, and of enabling the greatest possible number of his loyal subjects to witness the spectacle. The arrangements on the river were entrusted to Sir Byam Martin, and the Bridge and its approaches to the Bridge Committee. A triple awning was erected at the Loudon end of the Bridge, commencing from a magnificent pavilion, and extending for the whole width of the Bridge, as far as the second piers. The pavilion and awning were covered with the colours of all nations, and upwards of 150 flags and banners floated from the top of the Bridge. In the Royal tent was erected the throne prepared for the intended dinner at Guildhall in November last, in front of which was a table laid for their Majesties and the members of the Royal Family, and under the canopy were two long tables, on each side, capable of accommodating 1500 persons, for the use of the aldermen and officers of the Corporation, the Common Councilmen, and their ladies, &c., the centre being left open for the procession, and to afford an uninterrupted view along the Bridge from the Royal table. The flooring used for entertainments in Guildhall was laid down, and a magnificent carpet spread throughout the Royal tent; at each of the four corners of which a man stood in a full suit of armour, four of the most splendid suits having been brought *For the use of the accompanying cut, showing the interior arrangements of the Pavilion, we are indebted to the Editor of the Mirror, in which intelligent and wellconducted weekly Periodical it originally appeared. |