Hammersmith and Albert bridges are shut to traffic and three more carry 18-tonne limits. The Assembly questions bridge owners at City Hall on Tuesday at 10am.

Barnet drivers heading south of the river have fewer ways across than they did five years ago. Two Thames road bridges, Hammersmith and Albert, are closed to vehicle traffic, and Tower, Richmond and Vauxhall bridges all carry 18-tonne weight restrictions, according to the London Assembly.

Its Transport Committee will question the people responsible for the bridges at City Hall on Tuesday 3 November from 10am. Members of the public can attend or watch online.

The committee looked at the same problem in 2021, after Hammersmith Bridge closed in 2019, and published London’s river crossings: Bridging the Thames. Tuesday’s session goes back over what has been done since then to keep the bridges in repair and to deal with what the Assembly calls “the deteriorating condition of several at-risk structures”.

Why the bridges are failing

The Assembly says London’s bridges are “facing increased pressure from age, climate impacts and underinvestment”, and that many were built in the 19th century, so “were not built to withstand current traffic demands or recent climate extremes”.

It points to what the two councils with the most troubled crossings have said themselves:

  • Hammersmith and Fulham Council has said the micro-fractures in Hammersmith Bridge’s cast iron pedestals, which closed the bridge in April 2019, were “most likely” caused by a heatwave.
  • Richmond Council has said Richmond Bridge has deteriorated through “weathering, water ingress, temperature fluctuations and exposure to the tidal river environment”, and that more frequent extreme weather is “likely to accelerate structural deterioration, increase maintenance costs and reduce network reliability”, in its Structures Fund submission.

TfL keeps a list of the current river crossing restrictions in central London, and Kensington and Chelsea Council has a page on the Albert Bridge repairs.

The money behind it

The background paper prepared for the committee, the report on the condition of Thames road bridges, sets out the scale of the repair bill. It says:

  • TfL stated in December 2025 that it needs £1.1 billion to £1.2 billion a year to keep its assets in a good state of repair.
  • TfL’s renewals spending has averaged £700 million a year over the five years to 2025-26.
  • TfL now has a £6.5 billion backlog of capital renewals, of which £1,075 million is road network structures.

The paper also notes that no single body is in charge of London’s road bridges: responsibility is split between TfL, the London boroughs and the City Bridge Foundation. Since the 2021 report, it says, “several more of London’s road bridges have been closed or had traffic restrictions put in place, as a result of their deteriorating condition.”

Closer to home

The hearing falls on the same morning that one of Barnet’s own big road structures changes layout. From 7am on Tuesday the A41 Brent Cross flyover, which TfL is rebuilding, runs as a contraflow with one lane each way. Every date TfL has booked is in our Brent Cross flyover report, and the week’s other works are in Barnet roadworks this week.

Who is giving evidence

From 10am to noon, on the condition of the Thames road bridges:

  • Simon Latham, Managing Director, City Bridge Foundation
  • Andrew Burton, Director of Highway and Regulatory Services, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
  • Satbir Gill, Chairman, London Technical Advisors Group
  • Mark Averill, Interim Assistant Director Highways, Hammersmith and Fulham Council

From 12.10pm to 12.40pm the committee turns to the London TravelWatch budget, with Helen Ewen, Executive Director, Secretariat.

The committee is chaired by Caroline Russell AM.

How to watch or go

The committee will agree any report or letter that comes out of the meeting afterwards.