Blackfriars Railway Bridge

The first bridge was opened in 1864 and was designed by Joseph Cubitt for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Massive abutments at each end carried the railway’s in­signia, preserved and restored on the south side. Following the formation of the Southern Railway in 1924, inter-city and continental services were concentrated on Waterloo, and St Paul’s Station became a local and suburban stop. For this reason, the use of the original bridge gradually declined.

It eventually became too weak to support modern trains, and was therefore removed in 1985 – all that remains is a series of columns crossing the Thames and the southern abutment, which is a Grade II listed structure.

The second bridge, built slightly further downstream (to the east), was originally called St Paul’s Railway Bridge and opened in 1886. It was designed by John Wolfe-Barry and Henry Marc Brunel and is made of wrought iron. It was built by Lucas & Aird. When St Paul’s railway station changed its name to Blackfriars in 1937 the bridge name changed as well.

Work on the new refurbish­ment initially started back in Spring 2010 when Balfour Beatty set about creating the foundation work on the bridge. Following the refurbishment and a multi-million pound refit, which includes extend­ing the platform, partially supported by the 1864 bridge piers, Blackfriars bridge will be the first station in London to span the Thames. But it’s not just the first station to span the Thames, there are also a number of other first’s that the bridge will take.

Now nearing completion, the Victorian bridge will play host to some 6,000 square metres of photovoltaic (PV) panels, making it London’s largest so­lar array. Further green initia­tives include the installation of 200mm BLÜCHER® EuroPipe as part of the rain harvesting systems, all of which will sig­nificantly contribute to Net­work Rail’s plans to reduce carbon emissions by 25 per cent per passenger kilometre by 2020.

For BLÜCHER UK Ltd the bridge was the first project where its new range of stainless steel rainwater outlets for Siphonic and gravity systems were installed. It also featured BLÜCHER® EuroPipe for vacuum, siphonic and gravity applications. A testament to the flexibility of the stainless steel push fit pipework system.

Terry Thorne of Thorne Rain­water Systems who are one of the UK leaders in siphonic roof drainage systems com­mented:

“ This was a prestigious project for Thorne. We found BLÜCHER® EuroPipe offered the performance and durability of a traditional metallic system with the light weight and ease of installation associated with push fit systems. The close working relation­ship between Thorne, Balfour Beatty and Blucher was a key factor in ensuring a timely deliv­ery of the project..”

Lindsay Vamplew, Network Rail’s project director for Blackfriars, said

“the refurbishment will make the station a tem­plate for green stations around the world”.

Due for completion soon, the new Blackfriars station will capable of dealing with three times as many trains and passengers as it did before refurbishment.