Read the text about modern London bridges.

The Richmond Bridge is the oldest still used on the Thames. It was built in 1774 and widened in 1939. Between 1811-1894, thirteen new or rebuilt bridges spanned the Thames helping London expand south of the river. The original Westminster Bridge, designed by Charles Labelye, the second in central London, was first opened in 1817 despite protests by watermen fearing competition for their ferries. During the period of 1937-1945, it was rebuilt and composed of masonry arches. The Lambeth Bridge, first built in 1862 was replaced by the steel modern structure painted brown in 1932. In addition to these passages over the Thames there is the elegant Waterloo Bridge commemorating the Duke of Wellington’s glorious victory over Napoleon. Sir Giles Scott built it in 1945. Several of London’s bridges have special features – the elegant century-old Hammersmith suspension Bridge has ornamental metal work, and the Vauxhall Bridge has larger than life bronze figures representing pottery, engineering, architecture, agriculture, science, fine arts, local government and education. The massive piers of Black Friars Bridge, shaped like pulpits, recall the monks who once lived on the left bank. This bridge is decorated with the finest ironwork.

Nevertheless, one of London’s best known landmarks, Tower Bridge is just over 100 years old. It is a movable bridge of the double-leaf bascule type. Sir Horace Jones and Sir John Wolfe Barry erected this feat of Victorian engineering in 1884. The bridge was built in the Gothic style to blend in with the nearby Tower of London. It is a fairy-tale structure indeed. Its twin towers rise 61 m above the Thames. Between the towers, stretch a pair of glass-covered walkways 43 m high, which offer fine views and are popular among tourists. The walkways were originally designed to allow pedestrians to cross even while the bridge was raised. Although clad in granite and Portland stone, the bridge is made of steel. It is London’s river gateway. The central section was built to be raised, creating a 60 m space for passage so that ocean going ships can make their way upstream. Hydraulic pumps driven by steam until 1976, when electric motors were put into operation, operated the bridge. The bascules, weighing 1, 000 tons each, are now operated by electricity. The original steam power system and hydraulic machinery can now be seen in the engine room of the museum.

As London grew, it swallowed adjacent villages like Woolwich, Southwark, Battersea, Chelsea, Kingston, Putney, Wandsworth, Chiswick, Kew, Twickenham, and others. Many of them have remnants of their pastoral past. A score of bridges, linking the banks of these London boroughs, have the same names.

The walled gardens and elegant houses of Chelsea have always attracted artists and writers. The Chelsea suspension bridge, built in this fashionable borough of the West End, was opened in 1937. The Kew Bridge is over some of the most picturesque scenery on the snake-like Thames with the Royal Botanic Gardens, a world-famous scientific research centre. In addition, the Hampton Court Bridge is a part of Britain’s national heritage as it is named after one of the most famous historical places. Road traffic crosses the river over the cast-iron arch spans of the Southwark Bridge. It was built in the years 1814-1819 and replaced in the years 1912-1921. The Hungerford Foot Bridge is next to Charing Cross Bridge and connects Charing Cross and Waterloo stations.

The Thames twists and turns for 48 km beneath a dozen or more bridges, which have been renovated over the last decade. Their designs are highlighted with new coats of paint. Painted in wedding rose colours, the Albert suspension bridge still bears the order for troops to “break step” when marching across. To make a full list of the River Thames crossings one must mention the Woolwich Ferry, Blackwall Tunnels (southbound and northbound), Greenwich Foot Tunnel, Railway Foot Bridge, the Grosvenor Bridge and the innovative Millennium Bridge, which is a notable construction project completed at the turn of the 21^st century. Spanning the Thames, the bridge opened briefly in 2000 but was closed when it swayed unexpectedly, prompting engineering studies, which aimed to repair it.

The Thames is a tidal river, so the water level is constantly rising and falling. Flooding has always threatened London, funneling water from the North Sea up the river. In 1984, the world’s largest hi-tech movable flood barrier was built, 13 km downstream of London Bridge, to prevent disaster. It consists of ten movable gates separated by nine piers. Ten stainless-steel shells span 520 m of the river. Normally facing downward on the riverbed, at the time of flood risk they can be swung up by electro hydraulic machinery to form a continuous barrier sealing London off from the sea. Now the Thames Barrier controls the threat of floods from surge tides as it takes only 30 minutes to raise the gates.

Part III