Vauxhall Bridge - Old Vauxhall Bridge

Old Vauxhall Bridge

Dodd submitted a scheme for a bridge at Vauxhall of 13 arches. However, soon after the 1809 Act was passed, he was dismissed by the Vauxhall Bridge Company and his design was abandoned. John Rennie was commissioned to design and build the new bridge, and a stone bridge of seven arches was approved. On 9 May 1811, Lord Dundas laid the foundation stone of the bridge on the northern bank.

The Vauxhall Bridge Company ran into financial difficulties and was unable to raise more than the £300,000 stipulated in the 1809 Act, and a new Act was passed in 1812 permitting the Company to build a cheaper iron bridge. Rennie submitted a new design for an iron bridge of eleven spans, costing far less than the original stone design. Rennie's design was rejected, and instead construction began on a nine arch iron bridge designed by Samuel Bentham. Concerns were raised about the construction of the piers, and engineer James Walker was appointed to inspect the work. Walker's report led to the design being abandoned for the second time, and Walker himself was appointed to design and build a bridge of nine 78-foot (24 m) cast-iron arches with stone piers, the first iron bridge to be built across the Thames.

On 4 June 1816, over five years after construction began, the bridge opened, initially named Regent Bridge after George, Prince Regent but shortly afterwards renamed Vauxhall Bridge. The developers failed to pay the agreed compensation to the owners of Battersea Bridge and were taken to court; after a legal dispute lasting five years a judgement was made in favour of Battersea Bridge, with Vauxhall Bridge being obliged to pay £8,234 (about £594,000 as of 2012) compensation. As well as the compensation awarded by the courts to Battersea Bridge in 1821, the 1809 Act also obliged the Vauxhall Bridge Company to pay compensation to the operators of Huntley Ferry, the Sunday ferry service to Vauxhall Gardens, with the level to be decided by "a jury of 24 honest, sufficient and indifferent men". The bridge cost £175,000 (about £10.3 million as of 2012) to build; with the costs of approach roads and compensation payments, the total cost came to £297,000 (about £17.5 million as of 2012).