Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

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SouthWest Philip
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Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by SouthWest Philip »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47891838

Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic following safety checks. It seems there is not much provision in place for managing ongoing maintenance liabilities in London, but I sense also there may be some politicking going on to secure funds?
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by WHBM »

This bridge has been closed multiple times over past years for varying lengths of time. It would be good to know what the structural problem actually is.

TfL will doubtless say it's no problem because everyone should use bicycles ...
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by KeithW »

SouthWest Philip wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:09 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47891838

Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic following safety checks. It seems there is not much provision in place for managing ongoing maintenance liabilities in London, but I sense also there may be some politicking going on to secure funds?
Hammersmith bridge has had problems practically since it opened, in fact the original bridge had to be demolished and a replacement built in 1874. This was built in the days of horse drawn traffic and nobody ever expected the volumes and weight of vehicles that have been carried since the 1930's

Major repairs were carried out in 1973, 1984, 1997, 2014 and more were planned for 2016. This didnt happen as the result of a failure to agree who would pay for it between Hammersmith and Fulham Council and Transport for London.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38134617

The reality is that the bridge is narrow and weak with a substandard deck which you can see has been patched many times.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.48846 ... 6656?hl=en

As an old school engineering inspector I would want to take a good look at the wrought iron links holding the deck up as well, a failure there or on the bearings could be catastrophic as happened on the silver bridge across the Ohio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bridge

The only satisfactory long term policy is to replace or completely rebuild it but as it is listed this will be difficult even if money is made available and it will need a prolonged closure
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by jedikiah »

At least it lasted longer than the first Lambeth bridge built in 1862 that became so corroded, as well as being generally unsuitable because of its steepness that it had to be closed to vehicles in 1910 and its replacement wasn't opened for 22 years (admittedly there were a few things that happened in between those years that didn't help)
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by vlad »

KeithW wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:54The reality is that the bridge is narrow and weak with a substandard deck which you can see has been patched many times.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.48846 ... 6656?hl=en
What is the bridge deck made of?

I walked under it last year and it just appeared to be planks of wood with sheets of tarmac laid on top. It can't be that bad - I've seen worse weight restrictions elsewhere.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

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KeithW wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:54 The only satisfactory long term policy is to replace or completely rebuild it but as it is listed this will be difficult even if money is made available and it will need a prolonged closure
Its also grade ii* listed (see our wiki) which probably limits the options somewhat...
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by KeithW »

vlad wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 19:51

What is the bridge deck made of?

I walked under it last year and it just appeared to be planks of wood with sheets of tarmac laid on top. It can't be that bad - I've seen worse weight restrictions elsewhere.
The deck panels are sheet metal laid on the timber deck and they have been failing en masse. They were simply not designed to take heavy motorised traffic. There are almost 1000 small panels and they take 6 hours each to replace. I appreciate the bridge is Grade II listed but its appearance can be maintained while laying a complete new deck rather than patching up an inadequate design. At the end of the day it is a utilitarian structure and the deck is not visible below the road surfacing. Apparently the bolts that secure the suspension rods to the chain need need to be removed for inspection (one at a time presumably) which cannot be done with traffic running across it. Given that we are on at least the 5th version of London Bridge and that the last one was only built in 1973 its not exactly unprecedented.

There is an article about the 1970's strengthening here - the repair work was clearly constrained by both listing and the need to keep traffic across the and under the bridge moving as they were only allowed to carry out limited closures.
https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/1 ... .1977.3057

Bodge jobs on heavily used bridges tend not to end well and a significant degree of rot seems to have been found in the timber deck structure.

The bridge has also been surveyed with a laser scanner
https://www.abasurveying.co.uk/portfoli ... th-bridge/
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by Bryn666 »

The IRA didn't help the bridge either although if they had succeeded in 1996 it would have likely needed full replacement...
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by doebag »

What do members here think the problems on surrounding roads might be if the bridge was shut pemanently except for pedestrians and cyclists. Looking on googlemaps, traffic does seem fairly good as I type.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by SarahJ »

Although i don't come into London often, it was my route in as the A23 is a joke. M25, A243 pass Chessington. A3, A306 through Barnes. Across the river to Hammersmith, A4 into london or up Shep bush Road.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by Bryn666 »

Putney Bridge is struggling a bit.

The bus link needs restoring if nothing else.

There is no room to land it at the Hogarth side but a route coming south of Fuller's and across the Eyot would provide a bypass for the bridge.

Perhaps the super duper insanity solution is to just move the old bridge somewhere else like we did with London Bridge.......
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by trickstat »

I can't claim to be that familiar with Hammersmith Bridge, to the extent that I am not sure whether I've ever actually been over it. Is there any possibility that the existing bridge could be retained for cyclists and pedestrians and a new bridge built for motorised vehicles? My guess is there isn't the space unless you demolish some buildings.

I assume closing the bridge tends to put extra traffic over Putney Bridge to the east and Chiswick to the west. It may also have an effect on Kew Bridge west of that. I know Fulham Palace Road between central Hammersmith and Putney Bridge is very prone to congestion even with Hammersmith Bridge open.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

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Bryn666 wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:09 Putney Bridge is struggling a bit.

The bus link needs restoring if nothing else.

There is no room to land it at the Hogarth side but a route coming south of Fuller's and across the Eyot would provide a bypass for the bridge.

Perhaps the super duper insanity solution is to just move the old bridge somewhere else like we did with London Bridge.......
You may be onto something there. You could make it a pedestrian bridge linking to one of the parklands in the West London suburbs.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

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trickstat wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:19
Bryn666 wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:09 Putney Bridge is struggling a bit.

The bus link needs restoring if nothing else.

There is no room to land it at the Hogarth side but a route coming south of Fuller's and across the Eyot would provide a bypass for the bridge.

Perhaps the super duper insanity solution is to just move the old bridge somewhere else like we did with London Bridge.......
You may be onto something there. You could make it a pedestrian bridge linking to one of the parklands in the West London suburbs.
Give it to Boris, he can plant some shrubs on it.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

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SarahJ wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:51 Although i don't come into London often, it was my route in as the A23 is a joke. M25, A243 pass Chessington. A3, A306 through Barnes. Across the river to Hammersmith, A4 into london or up Shep bush Road.
It's been part of our reguar route to visiting daughter at Roehampton University. In along M4/A4, turn right onto Hammersmith Bridge then follow your nose along A306.

Our alternative route will have to be the South Circular. Great.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by Chris Bertram »

I notice that the LB boundary runs down the middle of the Thames, and so half the bridge is in Richmond-on-Thames LB. Do they have no liability for repair?
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

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Chris Bertram wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:31 I notice that the LB boundary runs down the middle of the Thames, and so half the bridge is in Richmond-on-Thames LB. Do they have no liability for repair?
I did read something which suggested that Hammersmith & Fulham were responsible for it but Richmond had offered to take it over.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

Bryn666 wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:09 Putney Bridge is struggling a bit.

The bus link needs restoring if nothing else.

There is no room to land it at the Hogarth side but a route coming south of Fuller's and across the Eyot would provide a bypass for the bridge.

Perhaps the super duper insanity solution is to just move the old bridge somewhere else like we did with London Bridge.......
Bus use, or abuse, is part of the reason it's closed - an earlier restriction allowed buses one at a time but it wasn't complied with.
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by KeithW »

Bryn666 wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:09 Putney Bridge is struggling a bit.

The bus link needs restoring if nothing else.

There is no room to land it at the Hogarth side but a route coming south of Fuller's and across the Eyot would provide a bypass for the bridge.

Perhaps the super duper insanity solution is to just move the old bridge somewhere else like we did with London Bridge.......
Better still do what we did with London Bridge and sell it to the Americans. I am sure Donald Trump or Bill Gates could use it as a garden feature :)
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Re: Hammersmith Bridge closed indefinitely to traffic

Post by KeithW »

Ruperts Trooper wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:54
Bus use, or abuse, is part of the reason it's closed - an earlier restriction allowed buses one at a time but it wasn't complied with.
But that restriction was only applied as the bridge was already known to be weak. It failed when TfL refused to enforce the rule and withdrew monitoring to ensure it was enforced.
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