Runnymede Bridge

Runnymede Bridge is a multi-span arch bridge at the uppermost end of the Staines upon Thames and Egham Reach of the River Thames: above Penton Hook Lock and below Bell Weir Lock. It opened in 1961 to carry the A30's Staines Bypass.{{cite web|title=M25 Bridges |url=http://www.ciht.org.uk/motorway/m25papers4.htm |website=The Motorway Archive |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829180311/http://www.ciht.org.uk/motorway/m25papers4.htm |archivedate=29 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=Runnymede Bridge|url=https://structurae.net/structures/runnymede-bridge|website=Structurae|accessdate=27 February 2017}}

Designs for the bridge were completed by 1939 by Sir Edwin Lutyens in concert with consulting engineer H Fitzsimons. World War II intervened, delaying construction by 20 years; Lutyens having died in 1944, his colleague George Stewart served as consulting architect, adopting the 1939 design. The bridge has a single span of {{convert|173.5|ft}} across the Thames with 18 encased steel arches bearing the load of a concrete deck. There are two smaller spans, on land, at the abutments, taking the total length to {{convert|415|ft}}. As built, it had a width of {{convert|100|ft}}. The architectural treatment of the bridge was considered of great importance because of its proximity to Runnymede (the water-meadow) and the structure is finished with hand-made brick facings, white cement and Portland stone.{{cite journal|title=The Runnymede Bridge|first=Donald William|last=Cracknell|journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers|volume=25|issue=3|date=July 1963|pages=325–344|doi=10.1680/iicep.1963.10592}} Until the 2013 reconstruction of Walton Bridge, this was the first single-span bridge (i.e. without piers) over the Thames upstream, there being none in London or the estuary.

File:Runnymede Bridge (downstream).JPG

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New Runnymede Bridge, forming its eastern half, was designed by Ove Arup and Joanna Kennedy and built in 1978{{cite book|author=Peter Jones|title=Ove Arup: Masterbuilder of the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ACoL299r2EC&pg=PA310-IA1|year=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-11296-3|pages=310–}} to complement the earlier western half of the crossing, also simply named Runnymede Bridge.[http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx OS Map with Listed Structures nearby (not including the bridge as it is not listed) and official names marked] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424060625/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx |date=2012-04-24 }} It is a single arch bridge of approximately the same form, but is made up of a series of parallel concrete frames: these allow light to penetrate upwards underneath and transfer loads vertically to avoid disturbing the foundations of the westerly bridge companion. In the first decade of the 21st century, the motorway bridge was widened to five lanes each way, becoming the widest in Britain. In addition, the A30 has two lanes each way, making a total of fourteen traffic lanes, and also has a pedestrian pavement on its eastern side.

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• [https://rochesteravionicarchives.co.uk/media-archive/film/what-s-a-girl-like-you What's a girl like you?] (1981), video (at 10:58), includes an interview with Joanna Kennedy, an engineer who designed the M25 bridge, interviewed by Valerie Singleton

• Crossings of the River Thames

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Category:Bridges across the River Thames

Category:Bridges in Surrey

Category:M25 motorway