Albert Bridge

, Albert Bridge, Victoria (now Chelsea) Bridge and Grosvenor Bridge. Battersea and Albert bridges are 400 m apart.]] The historic industrial town of Chelsea on the north bank of the River Thames about 3 mi west of Westminster, and the rich farming village of Battersea, facing Chelsea on the south bank, were linked by the modest wooden Battersea Bridge in 1771. In 1842 the Commission of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues recommended the construction of an embankment at Chelsea to free land for development, and proposed a new bridge downstream of Battersea Bridge, and the replacement of the latter by a more modern structure. Work on the Victoria Bridge (later renamed Chelsea Bridge), a short…

Although authorised in 1864, work on the bridge was delayed by negotiations over the proposed Chelsea Embankment, for the bridge's design could not be completed until the exact layout of the new roads being built on the north bank of the river had been agreed. Whilst plans for the Chelsea Embankment were debated, Ordish built the Franz Joseph Bridge over the Vltava in Prague to the same design as that intended for the Albert Bridge. | replaces = | amendments = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = repealed | legislation_history = | theyworkforyou = | millbankhansard = | original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/32-33/44/pdfs/ukla_18690044_en.pdf |…

In 1990, the tidal flow system was abandoned and Albert Bridge was converted back to two-way traffic. A traffic island was installed on the south end of the bridge to prevent larger vehicles from using it. In the early years of the 21st century the Chelsea area experienced a growth in the popularity of large four-wheel drive cars (so-called Chelsea tractors), many of which were over the two-ton weight limit; it was estimated that one third of all vehicles using the bridge were over the weight limit. In July 2006 the 27 ft wide roadway was narrowed to a single lane in each direction to reduce the load. Red-and-white plastic barriers have been erected along the roadway in an effort to protect…