The Albert Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Thames from Chelsea to Battersea in London, England. It is named after Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Consort to Queen Victoria.

Although authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1864, the bridge, designed by Rowland Mason Ordish originally as a cantilever bridge with a total span of 710 feet, did not open to traffic until 1873.

The Albert Bridge Company also owned the adjacent Battersea Bridge, but neither bridge generated sufficient toll income to cover their maintenance costs. In 1878, both were purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works and both ceased to be toll bridges the following year.

In 1884 Sir Joseph Bazalgette strengthened and modernised Albert Bridge, rendering it more like a conventional suspension bridge.

The bridge came close to being replaced after World War 2, but a concerted campaign led by, among others, Sir John Betjeman led to its conservation. Weight restrictions have been in place since Bazalgette's time, as have notices urging soldiers from nearby Chelsea Barracks to break step when marching over the bridge for fear that vibrations caused by marching might damage the structure.

See also

• Crossings of the River Thames