3-008-813 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Intended new bridge over the Thames at Blackfriars, [London], 1862. Bridge designed by Joseph Cubitt, '...the estimated cost of which is £265,000. Messrs. Peto and Betts [are] the contractors...It is proposed to construct the foundations by sinking wrought-iron caissons, of the same size as the piers, through the sand and gravel which form the bed of the river and some depth of the London clay beneath. The gravel and clay in these caissons will then be excavated, and the caissons filled in solid with masonry. The four wings of the abutments are so designed as to form bold pedestals...Above high-water mark there will be placed at each end of each of the piers a massive column of red polished granite...Each arch will consist of ribs of wrought iron strongly connected together by cross-bracing, the spandrils of these ribs being filled in with ornamental bracing. The arches for the entire length of the bridge will be surmounted by an ornamental cornice and parapet. The floor of the bridge will consist of plates of wrought iron resting upon the ribs...which will be covered with a layer of concrete, upon which the granite paving will be laid'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.