Waterloo Bridge

This is a photograph of Waterloo Bridge and the temporary Bridge taken from the South Bank looking north. This is probably 1931, Brettenham House in Lancaster Place looks partly built, it was completed in 1932. The original Waterloo Bridge was designed by John Rennie and opened in 1817 as the Strand Bridge, its name was later changed to the Waterloo Bridge after Wellington's victory over Napoleon in 1815. In the early 1830s the old London Bridge was demolished and a new London Bridge again designed by John Rennie was built, the removal of the old bridge caused an increase in the river flow and the resulting scour caused problems for several of the Waterloo Bridge piers. This was noticed as early as the 1880s but by the 1920s the situation had become very serious, so much so that in August 1924 the building of a temporary steel girder bridge was started on the downstream side of the bridge. The roadway of Waterloo Bridge was removed to lessen the weight and a temporary wooden roadway installed. It took just a year for the temporary bridge to be built and it was opened on the 12th August 1925. From that date until 1934 an argument raged between the LCC who wished to demolish the bridge and the Royal Academy and other art institutions who wished the bridge to be repaired. Eventually in 1934 the demolition of the old Waterloo Bridge commenced. The current Waterloo Bridge partially opened in 1942 despite being hit by German bombs during an air raid, the only Bridge in London to be hit during WW2. The temporary bridge was removed and it was later used to span the Rhine at Remagen. The bridge was fully opened in 1945. After its completion the bridge was often known as the "Ladies Bridge" because of the large number of women employed on its construction during the war years.

 

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