Tag Archives: Millennium Bridge

Bridge Madness 2026 – Elite Eight

Posted on by

Rules

In the 2026 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 bridges that cross the Thames River in London go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features bridges visited by urbantraipsing on a 2012 bridge-walking expedition.

Results of the Sweet Sixteen:

  • Battersea Railway Bridge vs. Tower Bridge – 24% to 76%
  • Battersea Bridge vs. London Bridge – 43% to 57%
  • Albert Bridge vs. Cannon Street Bridge – 100% to 0%
  • Chelsea Bridge vs. Southwark Bridge – 67% to 33%
  • Grosvenor Bridge vs. Millennium Bridge – 38% to 62%
  • Vauxhall Bridge vs. Blackfriars Bridge – 33% to 67%
  • Lambeth Bridge vs. Waterloo Bridge – 92% to 8%
  • Westminster Bridge vs. Jubilee Bridges – 58% to 42%

Below are the brackets for the Elite Eight. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Saturday, March 14th, and then return on March 15th to vote for the Final Four.

To learn more about the bridges, revisit the introduction which has links to posts on each bridge.

The Bridge Brackets

Tower Bridge
London Bridge
Albert Bridge
Chelsea Bridge
Millennium Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Lambeth Bridge
Westminster Bridge

Bridge Madness 2026 Map

Bridge Madness 2026 – Sweet Sixteen

Posted on by

Rules

In the 2026 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 bridges that cross the Thames River in London go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features bridges visited by urbantraipsing on a 2012 bridge-walking expedition. Below are the brackets for the Sweet Sixteen. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Saturday, March 7th, and then return on March 8th to vote for the Elite Eight.

To learn more about the bridges, revisit the introduction which has links to posts on each bridge.

The Bridges

Battersea Railroad Bridge
Tower Bridge
Battersea Bridge
London Bridge
Albert Bridge
Cannon Street Railway Bridge
Chelsea Bridge
Southwark Bridge
Grosvenor Bridge
Millennium Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Lambeth Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Jubilee Bridges

Bridge Madness 2026 Map

Bridge Madness 2026 – Introduction

Posted on by

Rules

In the 2026 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 London bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. I engaged with approximately 18 bridges across the River Thames on my last trip to London. Because the Blackfriars Station Railway Bridge was under construction when I was there, it is not included in this tournament. The Jubilee-Hungerford Bridges are either 1 or 3 bridges depending on how you count them. For the purposes of this tournament, we are counting them as 1 bridge to stay with our usual 16 tournament bridges.

Beginning March 1, you will be able to vote for your favorite bridge in each bracket. The champion bridge will be announced on March 29. Don’t forget to come back each week to vote your favorite bridge to #1!

Each round of voting will go live at 8 AM on the scheduled Sunday and close at noon the following Saturday. The schedule is:

  • March 1 – Sweet Sixteen
  • March 8 – Elite Eight
  • March 15 – Final Four
  • March 22 – Championship
  • March 29 – Winner announced

The 16 London Bridges in this tournament are listed below. Click on the links to learn more about urbantraipsing’s encounter with each bridge.

  • Albert Bridge
  • Battersea Bridge
  • Battersea Railroad Bridge
  • Blackfriars Bridge
  • Cannon Street Railway Bridge
  • Chelsea Bridge
  • Grosvenor Bridge
  • Jubilee Bridges
  • Lambeth Bridge
  • London Bridge
  • Millennium Bridge
  • Southwark Bridge
  • Tower Bridge
  • Vauxhall Bridge
  • Waterloo Bridge
  • Westminster Bridge

Bridge Madness 2026 Map

Millennium Bridge

Posted on by

The Millennium Bridge is the first of two pedestrian bridges that cross the Thames.  The second, the Jubilee Bridge (click to see post), opened 3 years later in 2003.  While the Millennium Bridge is sadly only one color, I think it was probably the most photogenic bridge I walked in London.  Although I like the picture above less for the bridge and more for the buildings behind it, which show the city’s transition from a time when church steeples were the tallest thing around to today when that honor belongs to the skyscrapers.

The location of the bridge was very good.  It leads directly to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  In some ways I am surprised that it wasn’t until 2000 that a bridge was built at this location.  (I picked up some souvenir maps while in London depicting the city in 1520, 1666, 1843 and 1902 and none have a bridge or even ferry boat at this location.)  On the other hand, the other side of the bridge connects to the Tate Modern, which didn’t open as the international modern and contemporary art museum until 2000.  Before then the site was a power plant from 1947 until 1981 when it became redundant and closed, remaining vacant until the Tate took it.

The views from the Millennium Bridge show two things of interest related to the other city bridges.  First, upriver is a view of the first rail station to span the Thames and the longest solar bridge in the world (see July 31 post).  Downriver, the Tower Bridge, which I believe is the most iconic London bridge, comes into view for the first time.

I started this post by claiming that the Millennium Bridge was the most photogenic of the London bridges.  The views of it above are pretty interesting, but the best shot was the one I took from the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral looking down.