As if there weren’t already enough crises, London’s bridges were “falling down” in 2020. Three were closed for vital repairs. Hammersmith Bridge remains suspended in limbo while the other two, London Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge, reopened after months of work. Yet, none are totally in the clear. London Bridge’s reopening included significant daytime traffic restrictions. Traffic restrictions may be implemented for Vauxhall Bridge, if money cannot be found for more repairs. Financial straits threaten Hammersmith Bridge as well. It was first closed to vehicular traffic in April 2019 and closed to all traffic, pedestrian and bicycles over and boat traffic under, in August 2020 due to widened cracks feared to portend imminent collapse. The estimate to repair this bridge is £140 million and nearly seven years of work.
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady.
In my experiences walking bridges, it seems common to wait until a bridge is almost falling down to invest in it. It appears politically unappealing to direct funds to maintaining bridges, so we live in a world with a dire refrain of our collapsing infrastructure.
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair Lady.
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair Lady.
In Pittsburgh, bridges are often left to run the course of their lives without regular maintenance, then are replaced with a new bridge. The resulting demolition ceremonies and ribbon cuttings make splashy political news stories. The river bridges are an exception. Probably because of their character and contribution to the city’s photogenetic downtown, they are occasionally partially or completely closed for maintenance.
Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, iron and steel,
Build it up with iron and steel,
My fair Lady.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My fair Lady.
London’s river bridges have more history and, sometimes, more character than Pittsburgh’s bridges. Hammersmith Bridge is one of the city’s unique and historical bridges. The steep price tag to repair this bridge, perhaps the result of mounting deferred maintenance, begs the question of at what point in the decades of non-investment is the threshold crossed beyond which repair is no longer an option.
Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold,
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair Lady.
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair Lady.
The decades of neglect in Pittsburgh and London overlooks bridges’ frequent role as practical infrastructure built to assist in crossing an obstacle. Even temporary closings can cause extreme headaches and delays to those who rely on the bridge. Hammersmith Bridge was left to deteriorate so long, it had to be closed before a plan was in place. As funds and a repair approach are sought, the residents and businesses of Hammersmith continue to be seriously inconvenienced by not being able to cross the river close to home.
Note: Lyrics to “London Bridge is Falling Down” were taken from https://allnurseryrhymes.com/london-bridge-is-falling-down/.
urbantraipsing 
I wonder if you should modify your time frame. There are bridge stories about bridge replacements like the replacements of Pittsburgh’s Manchester? I may have two others I came across this year. I will try to look them up.
I am playing catch-up with my bridge posts. I have a few about the bridges replaced in Pittsburgh since I started my blog. Heth’s Run Bridge is the only one that I have published the before and after so far. The Highland Ave and Greenfield bridges are next in my queue. I have not gone farther back in time to those like the Manchester Bridge, but I will keep that in mind. The Brookline Connection site you shared with me has a story about the Manchester Bridge: http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/Manchester.html
I don’t think I’ve ever heard more than the refrain to the song, or considered that the lyric described a real problem. I’ve blithely assumed it was just about some irrational, Chicken Little-ish childhood anxiety. Whoops!
The politics around finding money for infrastructure maintenance look frustratingly inefficient so long as the eventual repair or replacement of a structure is assumed to be inevitable, but the occasional retired stone piers along river banks are reminders that transit patterns do evolve. Do you know how long it’s been since a Pittsburgh bridge was permanently decommissioned or demolished?
I was not previously familiar with any of the verses, except the first. I found it fascinating that the nursery rhyme incorporates the challenges of deciding how to rebuild and maintain a bridge.
I do not believe there have been any stories of decommissioned or demolished bridges in the nine years I’ve been blogging. The piers near The Point of the former Manchester and Point bridges are the only examples I know from earlier, at least of the top of my head. They were demolished together in 1970 after the completion of the Fort bridges. http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/PointBridge.html
Speaking of retired stone piers, an article in the Pittsburgh Business Times recently announced that the piers of the former Wabash Bridge over the Monongahela River are for sale. The article mentions how challenging it is to sell piers as there is no land included and so the options for use are limited. https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2021/03/03/wabash-piers-up-for-sale.html
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