Cannon Street Railway Bridge

Cannon Street Railway Bridge
Middlesex, Surrey
Canon Street Bridge
Location
Carrying:	Railway
Crossing:	River Thames
Location
Grid reference:	TQ32528054
Location:	51°30’30"N, 0°5’31"W
Structure
Design:	Girder Bridge
History
Information

Cannon Street Railway Bridge is a railway bridge in central London, crossing the River Thames from the City of London on the Middlesex bank to Southwark on the Surrey bank. Downstream, the next bridge is London Bridge, and upstream Southwark Bridge.

The bridge carries trains from the commuter lines of Kent and Surrey over the river to Cannon Street Station in the City. It was originally named Alexandra Bridge after Alexandra of Denmark who was the wife of the future King Edward VII.

The bridge was designed by John Hawkshaw and John Wolfe-Barry for the South Eastern Railway. It was opened in 1866 after three years of construction. In its original form, it carried the railway over the Thames on five spans standing on cast-iron Doric pillars. It was subsequently widened between 1886–93 by Francis Brady and extensively renovated by British Rail between 1979–82, which resulted in many of its ornamental features being removed and the structure taking on an even more utilitarian appearance than before.

This bridge was the scene of the Marchioness disaster in 1989, when the pleasure boat Marchioness wwas run down and sunk by a dredger, the Bowbelle.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Cannon Street Railway Bridge)

• Cannon Street Railway Bridge at Structurae

References

• Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide