Walton Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in England, carrying the A244 road between Walton-on-Thames

Walton-on-Thames

Walton-on-Thames is a town in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey in South East England. The town is located south west of Charing Cross and is between the towns of Weybridge and Molesey. It is situated on the River Thames between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock.- History :The name "Walton" is...

 and Shepperton

Shepperton

Shepperton is a town in the borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England. To the south it is bounded by the river Thames at Desborough Island and is bisected by the M3 motorway...

. It crosses the Thames on the reach between Sunbury Lock

Sunbury Lock

Sunbury Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near Walton-on-Thames in north-west Surrey. The lock adjoins the southern bank about half a mile downstream of the Weir Hotel....

 and Shepperton Lock

Shepperton Lock

Shepperton Lock is a lock on the River Thames, in England adjoining the northern bank near Shepperton, Surrey . It is across the river from Weybridge, but not directly accessible from there....

. The architecture of the present bridge could at best be described as visually unappealing and has led engineers to predict structural weakness by 2015, hence the plans for a new bridge. There have been five bridges on the site so far and plans are advanced for the sixth. Prior to the first bridge there was a ferry which dated back to, at least, the 15th century.

First Bridge

In 1747 Samuel Dicker

Samuel Dicker

Samuel Dicker , was an English politician who represented Plymouth in the British House of Commons in the eighteenth century, and was also responsible for the building of the first Walton Bridge in Surrey....

, local landowner and later MP for Plymouth

Plymouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Plymouth was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1298 and again from 1442 until 1918, when the borough was merged with the neighbouring Devonport and the combined area divided into three single-member constituencies.-In the...

, obtained permission to build a bridge at Walton. It was designed by William Etheridge and built by White of Weybridge to consist of "timbers tangent to a circle of 100 feet diameter" and was built so that a single timber could be extracted and repaired without disturbing the rest of the bridge. Old Walton Bridge

Old Walton Bridge

Old Walton Bridge is the name given to the first Walton Bridge built across the River Thames at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England. The wooden bridge was completed in 1750 and stood until 1783 when it was dismantled to make way for a brickwork replacement....

 was completed in August 1750 and acquired some fame, meriting an article in the Gentleman's Magazine, a report in Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...

's Tour in 1753 and a painting by Canaletto

Canaletto

Giovanni Antonio Canal better known as Canaletto , was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.- Early career :...

 in 1754. The painting, which shows the rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

-style of this bridge, is in Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London. England's first purpose-built public art gallery, it was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane and opened to the public in 1817. Soane arranged the exhibition spaces as a series of interlinked rooms illuminated naturally...

.

The timber structure stood until 1783. A report on the condition of the bridge in 1778 suggested that decay in the wooden frame made it unsuitable for use, and it was dismantled in 1783.

Second Bridge

The second bridge was designed by James Paine and constructed of brick and stone in 1788. This bridge was painted by Turner

J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...

 in 1805 following his sketching tour of the river Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 and Wey

River Wey

The River Wey in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is a tributary of the River Thames with two separate branches which join at Tilford. The source of the north branch is at Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at both Blackdown south of Haslemere, and also close to Gibbet Hill, near Hindhead...

 at that time. The bridge lasted much longer that its predecessor, but part of it collapsed in 1859. A ferry crossing resumed until the completion of the third bridge in 1864.

Third Bridge

The third bridge, built in 1863-1864, was a lattice girder bridge on stone piers. At the same time, a brick viaduct was constructed to span the flood plain to the south of the river. the viaduct is still standing. The bridge was freed of tolls in about 1870.

The third bridge was damaged during the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in 1940 leading to a permanent weight restriction. To alleviate this a fourth temporary bridge was constructed and the third bridge was relegated to use by cyclists and pedestrians. It was finally demolished in 1985.

Fourth Bridge

The fourth bridge was constructed in 1953 on the downstream side of the old bridge, using a construction designed by A.M. Hamilton in 1930 and is called a Callender-Hamilton bridge

Callender-Hamilton bridge

The Callender-Hamilton bridge is a modular portable pre-fabricated truss bridge. It is primarily designed for use as permanent civil bridging as well as for emergency bridge replacement and for construction by military engineering units...

. The fourth bridge was retained for use by cyclists and pedestrians when the fifth bridge was completed in 1999.

Fifth Bridge

In 1999, the fourth bridge was replaced by yet another temporary, fifth bridge occupying the line of the original bridges. This initially had several problems and had to be resurfaced a number of times causing traffic disruptions.

Sixth Bridge

A sixth bridge is planned, intended to be completed by 2009. After a public inquiry rejected some aspects of the original plan, works are forecast to begin in January 2011. Approval of the funding arrangements was confirmed on 29 December 2010. Building is expected to finish by the summer of 2013. The bridge will replace the two existing bridges, which will remain in use until the new bridge is completed. The new £32.4 million bridge will have no piers in the river, thus opening up views along the river and improving navigation for boats.

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames
  Crossings of the River Thames
  This is a list of crossings of the River Thames including bridges, tunnels and ferries. There are 214 bridges, over 20 tunnels, six public ferries and one ford.-Barrier and boundary:...