Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 6, 2011

Battersea Bridge is a cast iron and granite five-span cantilever bridge crossing the River Thames in London. It is situated on a sharp bend in the river, and links Battersea south of the river with Chelsea to the north. The bridge replaced a ferry service that had operated near the site since at least the 16th century. The first Battersea Bridge was a toll bridge commissioned by John, Earl Spencer. A poor design by Henry Holland made the bridge unpopular and dangerous both to its users and to passing shipping. Although boats often collided with it, the bridge was the last surviving wooden bridge on the Thames in London, and was the subject of paintings by many significant artists such as J. M. W. Turner, John Sell Cotman and James McNeill Whistler, including Whistler's controversial and influential Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge. In 1879 the bridge was taken into public ownership, and in 1885 demolished and replaced with the existing bridge, designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and built by John Mowlem & Co. The narrowest surviving road bridge over the Thames in London, it is one of London's least busy Thames bridges. The location on a bend in the river makes the bridge a hazard to shipping, and it has been closed many times due to collisions. (more...)

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