Rotherhithe: Redriff Road bascule bridge

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 18 Apr 2010

A bascule bridge describes any bridge that has a counterweight that continuously balances the span throughout its entire upward swing. There can be double span bascule bridges such as Tower Bridge, or single span ones such as this. The word bascule is from the French term for a seesaw or balance. Reading between the lines of information available on the internet this bridge had a comparatively short working life in this location. When the Greenland Dock was expanded westwards a short waterway cut was created to link it directly to the Canada Dock. Redriff Road passed over this cut by means of a bridge but not this one, which only appears to have been moved here from Deptford Creek in 1959. Probably with the building of the Surrey Quays shopping centre in the 1980s the cut was filled in and the alignment of Redriff Road moved slightly northwards to avoid the bridge, so it now stands out of use along the old route of the road. The pedestrian subway under the newly-aligned Redriff Road leading to the Surrey Quays shopping centre from the former Greenland Dock can just be seen in the shadow under the bascule bridge to the left.

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