Albert Bridge (Glasgow)

This article is about the Albert Bridge across the River Clyde in Glasgow.
For other Albert Bridges, see Albert Bridge.

The Albert Bridge standing today is at least the fifth bridge to cross the River Clyde at the south west corner of Glasgow Green. With less than a hundred years between the first and current crossing, Albert Bridge has managed to outlive all of its predecessors!

Hutcheson Bridge

Also known as Hutchestown Bridge, the first attempt to cross the Clyde at this location was begun in 1794. It is not clear whether the bridge was completed and opened before a flood destroyed it late in 1795. What remained proved to be impossible to repair, and so work began on planning for a replacement. In 1803 this was completed in the form of a timber foot bridge built a little upstream of its ill-fated predecessor.

A more permanent replacement was subsequently opened in 1834, allowing traffic to cross the river. The new bridge, still called Hutcheson Bridge, was designed by Robert Stevenson and was a stone-arch bridge. This bridge survived until the river was dredged to make it deeper, and so destabilising the foundations of the bridge forcing its demolition.

Albert Bridge

The bridge from Glasgow Green

And so we reach the current bridge, or nearly. In order to maintain traffic flow at this now critical crossing point of the Clyde, a temporary structure was erected before the last Hutcheson Bridge was demolished. This allowed the new Albert Bridge to be constructed with deeper foudations on the site of its predecessor. The new bridge was built with two substantial stone piers in the river bed, providing three arched spans across the river.

The arches are of Iron, with 8 ribs per arch and the central arch being slightly wider than the other two. The Glasgow city coat of arms are featured in each of the 6 spandrels on either side of the bridge, which is surmounted by ornate iron parapets. The roadway is wide enough to carry two lanes of traffic in each direction, in addition to wide pavements, and today forms part of the A8.