Rochester Bridge was for centuries the lowest fixed crossing of the River Medway

River Medway

The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, southern England. There have been several generations of bridge at this spot, and the current "bridge" is in fact four separate bridges: two carrying the A2 road

A2 road (Great Britain)

The A2 is a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between the British capital of London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe...

, one carrying the railway and one carrying all the service pipes and cables. The bridge links the towns of Strood

Strood

Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....

 and Rochester.

Roman

The Romans built a bridge across the River Medway

River Medway

The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

 as part of Watling Street

Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...

, carrying traffic from London to Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 (the port for Continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

). This was almost certainly the first bridge at the site as the Romans were the first occupiers to have the necessary technology to bridge such a wide and fierce tidal river. The Roman engineers might have initially built a pontoon bridge to support and supply their invading armies; however this would have needed replacing by a stronger, more permanent bridge to support increased traffic. After Victorian engineers discovered the Roman foundations when they were building the current "Old" bridge, it was learnt that stone foundations had been used, probably to support a wooden deck.

Middle Ages

A wooden bridge existed in the Middle Ages since at least the year 960. The bridge was divided into sections of responsibility amongst local landowners and institutions. This worked reasonably well although despite partial rebuilding, the bridge fell into disrepair and collapses occurred with the worrying frequency of about once a year. In the winter of 1381 a large proportion of the bridge was carried away by the combined forces of melt water and ice.

1391–1856

A stone bridge was built by Sir John de Cobham

John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham

John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham was the son of John de Cobham, 2nd Baron Cobham and Joan de Beauchamp. He was given a licence to crenellate by Richard II in 1381 and built Cooling Castle at the family seat in Cowling or Cooling, Kent....

 and Sir Robert Knolles (or Knollys), finished in 1391. To ensure the maintenance of their new bridge, the two men instituted the Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge, two elected wardens were appointed with permission from Richard II to own land and use the income for the bridge. The Wardens and Commonalty received grants of land from Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

 and Henry V

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

, as well as money from other benefactors. The trust was able to maintain the bridge using income from property and investments, and materials from woods and quarries. A scheme of improvements was completed in 1824 to the plans of the engineer Daniel Asher Alexander

Daniel Asher Alexander

Daniel Asher Alexander was a British architect and engineer, born in London.-Life:Daniel Asher Alexander was educated at St Paul's School, London, and admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1782....

. The bridge was widened and the two central arches merged into one to provide a wider channel for shipping. In 1856, when modern river traffic demanded a new structure the medieval bridge was demolished with the help of the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

.

1856–1914

A cast iron bridge was built in 1856 to replace the stone bridge. One span was designed to swing open to allow river traffic, but the mechanism was never used and was eventually removed. The cast iron spans were below the road deck, making the bridge relatively low and meant that passing traffic on the river had to navigate to line up with the top of the arch or risk striking the bridge.

Not every ship was successful and many collisions occurred. These took their toll on the bridge and an inspection in 1909 showed fractured ribs and missing bolts. After a relatively short life a new bridge was needed.

From around 1908 the bridge also carried the tracks for the local tram system

Chatham and District Light Railways Company

The Chatham and District Light Railways Company was the originator and first operator of the electric tramway system that served Chatham and Gillingham, and was later extended into Rochester, Strood and Rainham...

 linking Strood and Frindsbury with Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham.

1914 to present day

The cast iron bridge was reconstructed at a cost of £95,887. The bridge opened for traffic on 14 May 1914 with new features to allow more clearance for the many boats that had to pass under it. The supporting arched trusses were built further apart and above the road deck. Trams continued to use the bridge until the tram system was abandoned in 1930 and superseded by buses.

In 1970 a second road bridge was opened immediately next to the first, to increase capacity. The old bridge underwent major maintenance and complete refurbishment, completed in November 2006, to extend the lifespan another 30 years. As for all the work to the bridges, this was paid for by the Rochester Bridge Trust with the proceeds from the original endowments and was carried out at no cost to the public taxpayer.

Railway bridge

The East Kent Railway

East Kent Railway

The East Kent Railway was an early railway operating between Strood and the town of Faversham in Kent England, during 1858 and 1859. In the latter year it changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to reflect its ambitions to build a rival line from London to Dover via Chatham and...

 built the first rail bridge (which opened on 29 March 1858) for its line from Strood to Chatham. It was designed and built by Joseph Cubitt

Joseph Cubitt

Joseph Cubitt was an English civil engineer. Amongst other projects, he designed the Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the River Thames in London. He was appointed engineer to the Oswestry & Newtown Railway on 3 October 1856. -References:...

, and had four spans, one of which could be opened to allow masted ships through, although this was later found to be unnecessary and so was fixed shut. The bridge was built of iron girders supported on masonry piers, 600 feet in length and weighing 700 tons. The East Kent Railway became the London Chatham and Dover Railway 1 August 1859 and in 1861 the bridge became a part of the newly completed Chatham Main Line

Chatham Main Line

The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...

 from London to Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

.

South Eastern Railway

South Eastern Railway (UK)

The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...

, the LCDR's local rival, built a branch line from its nearby railway line

North Kent Line

The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway.-Construction:The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway were able to connect its system to London at London Bridge...

 at across the Medway to its own Rochester station, , opened on 20 July 1891, and its own Chatham station, , opened 1 March 1892, for which it built the massive second railway bridge over the Medway.

The two rivals merged under a Joint Managing Committee in 1899 to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway

South Eastern and Chatham Railway

The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between...

, and subsequent rationalisation saw the SER's Chatham Central branch closed before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 on 1 October 1911. In 1927 the Chatham Mainline was diverted to use the more substantial second railway bridge, and the original LCDR railway bridge was left unused for decades until it was eventually demolished, the piles being used for the second road bridge which opened in 1970.

Rochester Bridge Wardens and Rochester Bridge Trust

These days the road bridges and services bridge are maintained by the Rochester Bridge Trust, the modern incarnation of Sir John de Cobham's Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge. The Trust still owns some of the land gifted to the Wardens and used the income derived from the endowments to pay for the new bridges in 1856 (now the west bound lanes of the A2) and 1970 (east bound A2) as well as meeting all the costs of maintaining those bridges and part of Rochester Esplanade.

The Trust is a charity with 12 trustees, known locally as the Bridge Wardens. Six are nominated by the local Councils and six are local people appointed by the Trust. The Trust in its current form was created by an act of Parliament in 1908 and is regulated by the Charity Commission.

The Trust also contributed to the building of the Medway Tunnel

Medway Tunnel

The Medway Tunnel is a tunnel under the River Medway linking Strood with Chatham in Kent, England. It forms part of the Medway Towns Northern Relief Road...

 (1996), a few miles downstream. Although the freehold is still owned by the Trust, the Tunnel is operated, maintained and funded by Medway Council under a 999 year lease. and there are negotiations underway for the Council to take over the freehold. The Trust has made substantial voluntary contributions to the Council for the maintenance of the Tunnel since it opened. It has been reported by the local press that negotiations are underway for the Council to buy the freehold from the Trust for £1 and to accept a substantial one-off payment from the Trust in place of an annual contribution.

The Medway Tunnel was the first immersed tube

Immersed tube

An immersed tube is a kind of underwater tunnel composed of segments, constructed elsewhere and floated to the tunnel site to be sunk into place and then linked together. They are commonly used for road and rail crossings of rivers, estuaries and sea channels/harbours...

 tunnel to be built in England and only the second of this type in the UK, the other being at Conwy

Conwy

Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd and prior to that in Caernarfonshire. Conwy has a population of 14,208...

, North Wales. The work, which was carried out by an HBM Civil Engineering/Tarmac Construction joint venture[1], started in May 1992 and the Medway Tunnel was opened by the Princess Royal on 12 June 1996.

The Trust has also made grants for local good causes ranging from a few thousand pounds to more significant grants. In particular, contributions have been made to the restoration of many important historic buildings in Kent. The most recent of the larger grants have been for the restoration of the South Transept of Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...

, and to appoint a Professor of Bridge and Tunnel Engineering at the University of Greenwich

University of Greenwich

The University of Greenwich is a British university located in the London Borough of Greenwich, London, England. The main campus is located on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, a central location within the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:The history of the...

(Medway Campus). In the 1880s, the Trust founded Rochester and Maidstone Girls Grammar schools and made large endowments to the boys grammar schools in both towns.

External links

• The Rochester Bridge Trust website
• Rochester Bridge Trust Accessed 2006-09-05. History of the wardens and photos showing construction of current bridges and tunnel.
• The story of Rochester Bridge Medway Council website. Accessed 2006-09-05.