View source for Grosvenor Bridge

{{Short description|Railway bridge over the River Thames in London}}
{{Distinguish|Grosvenor Bridge (Chester)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox bridge
| image    = Grosvenor Bridge, London.jpg
| image_size = 350px
| name     = Grosvenor Bridge
| caption  = Grosvenor Bridge with [[Vauxhall]] in the background and [[Battersea Power Station]] to the right
| locale   = [[London]], [[England]]
| carries  = Railway
| crosses  = [[River Thames]]
| preceded = [[Chelsea Bridge]]
| followed = [[Vauxhall Bridge]]
| maint    = [[Network Rail]]
| named_for= [[Sir Richard Grosvenor, 4th Baronet|Sir Richard Grosvenor]]
| open     = {{start date and age|1860}};<br/>rebuilt 1963–{{start date and age|1967}}
| below    =
| traffic  =
| design   = [[Arch bridge]]
| mainspan = {{convert|53.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| length   = {{convert|283.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| width    = {{convert|54|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
}}
'''Grosvenor Bridge''', originally known as, and alternatively called '''Victoria Railway Bridge''', is a railway bridge over the [[River Thames]] in [[London]], between [[Vauxhall Bridge]] and [[Chelsea Bridge]]. Originally constructed in 1860, and widened in 1865 and 1907, the bridge was extensively rebuilt and widened again in the 1960s as an array of ten parallel bridges. There are now nine tracks across the bridge.

==History==
The original bridge was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century in two stages: the first bridge was built by the [[Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway]] between 1859 and 1860 at a cost of £84,000 to carry two tracks into [[Victoria Station (London)|Victoria Station]]; it was the first railway bridge across the Thames in central London.  The engineer was [[Sir John Fowler, first Baronet|Sir John Fowler]].<ref name="engt"/>{{sfn|Wilson|1868}}

The bridge was widened by four tracks on the eastern side for the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]] and [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]] between 1865 and 1866, at a cost of £245,000.  [[Charles Fox (civil and railway engineer)|Sir Charles Fox]] was the engineer.<ref name="engt"/>{{sfn|Fox|1868}}

In 1907 the bridge was widened again with a further track, on the western side, for the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]].<ref name="engt">{{citation| url = http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=697| title = Victoria (Grosvenor) Bridge, site of| work = www.engineering-timelines.com| access-date = 16 August 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130502210325/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=697| archive-date = 2 May 2013| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="rm533">[[#rm1963|''Railway Magazine'', 1963, p.533]]</ref>

In 1963–1967, the structure of the bridge was completely renewed and modernized, leaving only the cores of the original piers. At the same time, a tenth track was added in a space formerly used for gas mains. To minimize disruption to traffic, each track was renewed separately, and put back into service before the next one was closed.  The designer for this work was [[Freeman Fox & Partners]], and the project engineer was A. H. Cantrell, chief civil engineer of the Southern Region of British Rail.<ref>{{YouTube|CSfa90avBzI|"Railway Bridge Across the Thames"}}</ref><ref>[[#rm1963|''Railway Magazine'', 1963, pp.534, 542]]</ref>
It was said to be the busiest railway bridge in the world with 1000 trains crossing per day in 1968.{{sfn|Grolier|1968|p=41}}

==Location==
On the north bank is [[Pimlico]] to the north and east and [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] to the west; the Lister Hospital and the [[Royal Chelsea Hospital]] lie immediately to the north west. On the south bank is [[Nine Elms]] to the east and [[Battersea]] to the west. [[Battersea Power Station]] is immediately to the south of the bridge, and [[Battersea Park]] to the south west.

==See also==
*[[Crossings of the River Thames]]
*[[List of bridges in London]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{Cite journal| last1 = Fox | first1 = C. D. | title = On the Widening of the Victoria Bridge and Approaches to the Victoria Station, and on New Railways at Battersea. (Includes Plates and Appendix) | doi = 10.1680/imotp.1868.23118 | journal = Minutes of the Proceedings | volume = 27 | issue = 1868 | pages = 68 | year = 1868 | url  =https://archive.org/stream/minutesofproceed27inst#page/68/mode/2up }}
* {{Cite book | last1 = Grolier | year=1968 | title = The Year Book 1968 }}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Wilson | first1 = W. | title = Description of the Victoria Bridge, on the Line of the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway. (Includes Plate and Appendix) | doi = 10.1680/imotp.1868.23117 | journal = Minutes of the Proceedings | volume = 27 | issue = 1868 | pages = 55 | year = 1868 |url= https://archive.org/stream/minutesofproceed27inst#page/54/mode/2up }}
*{{cite journal | url  =https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/ReconstructionOfGrosvenorBridge.pdf| title = Reconstruction of the Grosvenor Bridge|journal = The Railway Magazine| date = August 1963| pages = 533–4, 542|ref=rm1963}}, republished with permission via ''https://sremg.org.uk''
*{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSfa90avBzI| title = Railway Bridge Across the Thames| work = www.youtube.com|publisher = [[British Railways Board]]|ref=brivid}} Video of 1960s reconstruction

==Further reading==
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Kerensky | first1 = O. A. | last2 = Partridge | first2 = F. A. | doi = 10.1680/iicep.1967.8471 | title = The Reconstruction of the Grosvenor Railway Bridge. (over the River Thames) | journal = ICE Proceedings | volume = 36 | issue = 4 | pages = 721 | year = 1967 }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Grosvenor Bridge}}
* {{citation| url  =http://www.semgonline.com/structures/struct_34.html| title = Grosvenor Bridge| publisher = Southern E Group}}
* {{Structurae|id=20003154|title=Grosvenor Bridge}}
*[http://thames.me.uk/s00160.htm Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide]

{{Crossings navbox
|structure = [[Crossings of the River Thames|Crossings]]
|place = [[River Thames]]
|upstream=[[Chelsea Bridge]]|downstream=[[Victoria line|Victoria line Tunnel]] (underground)<br>[[Vauxhall Bridge]] (road)|bridge = Grosvenor Bridge<br>[[British national grid reference system|Grid
reference]]: {{gbmappingsmall|TQ287778}}
}}

{{Bridges_of_Central_London}}
{{coord|51|29|05|N|0|08|51|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Bridges completed in 1860]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1967]]
[[Category:Railway bridges in London]]
[[Category:Bridges across the River Thames]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Wandsworth]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Transport in the London Borough of Wandsworth]]
[[Category:Transport in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:1860 establishments in England]]