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London Metropolitan Archives

CHIEF ENGINEER'S DEPARTMENT: ROADS, TUNNELS, BRIDGES AND FERRIES


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): LCC/CE/RB

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: CHIEF ENGINEER'S DEPARTMENT: ROADS, TUNNELS, BRIDGES AND FERRIES

Date(s): 1862-1972

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 3.5 linear metres

Name of creator(s): LCC | London County Council x London County Council

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Chief Engineer was responsible for overseeing construction and maintenance of LCC buildings, bridges, roads and tunnels. He was also responsible for flood prevention measures, drainage and sewerage and other matters of public health.

The maintenance and improvement of traffic facilities for crossing the Thames, whether by bridge, tunnel or ferry, was an important part of the work of the LCC. It was responsible for ten of the Thames bridges: Albert Bridge, Battersea Bridge, Chelsea Bridge, Hammersmith Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Putney Bridge, Vauxhall Bridge, Wandsworth Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. In addition the Council maintained about 50 other bridges, over rivers, streams, canals, railways and roads. These included the bridge over Deptford Creek, Barking Road Bridge and Highgate Archway. The pedestrian tunnels at Greenwich and Woolwich, and the vehicular tunnels at Rotherhithe and Blackwall were also maintained by the Council, as was the Woolwich Ferry. In addition, it was responsible for over 6 miles of river embankment walls, Greenwich Pier and pipe subways allowing access to mains without having to excavate the road surface.

In addition, the LCC was the central authority for street improvements in London, coordinating the work of the Borough Councils because important traffic routes usually run though more than one of the Boroughs. The most important part of this work involved considering improvements to allow greater traffic flow, particularly as the number of cars on the roads increased.

The London County Council Chief Engineer and County Surveyors:
1889: J Gordon and C Dunscombe
1890 Sir Alexander Binnie
1901 Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice
1913 Sir George Humphreys
1930 Sir Peirson Frank
1946 Sir Joseph Rawlinson
1962 FM Fuller

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the London County Council Chief Engineer's Department relating to roads, bridges, tunnels and ferries, including report on the proposed new Battersea Bridge, 1881; report by John Wolfe Barry on the practicality of the Blackwall Tunnel scheme, 1889; further reports regarding Blackwall Tunnel, 1890-1898; Blackwall Tunnel Engineer's Office visitor's books, 1895-1897; reports regarding railway bridges, 1894-1903; reports on LCC bridges, 1890-1960, including Vauxhall Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Hammersmith Bridge; Highway Development Survey, 1937; Strand underpass descriptive brochure, 1964; Chief Engineer's report about new terminals for the Woolwich Free Ferry, 1963; bye laws for the management and regulation of bridges over the River Thames, 1895.

Plans and drawings, 1862-1972, including Woolwich Ferry approaches and piers; Old Lambeth Bridge; Chelsea Bridge; Stanley Bridge, Fulham; steamboat piers; Victoria Embankment; the new County Hall embankment wall; street improvements associated with various 'Artizan's Dwellings Schemes'; Greenwich electricity generating station; road widening schemes; Waterloo Bridge; Surrey Lock Bridge, Rotherhithe; Deptford Creek Bridge and Lea Bridge.

Photographs of the demolition of the old Waterloo Bridge and the construction of the new bridge, 1934-1939.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

LCC/CE/RB/1: Reports and Returns; LCC/CE/RB/2: Visitor's Book; LCC/CE/RB/3: Plans and drawings; LCC/CE/RB/4: Photographs.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: Depositor

Physical characteristics:

Fit

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Acquired with the records of its parent body, the London County Council. Further accession received in 1995 (ACC/3558).

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

For London County Council Chief Engineer's Department see LCC/CE/DO; LCC/CE/GEN; LCC/CE/MD; LCC/CE/MD; LCC/CE/PH; LCC/CE/RB and LCC/CE/WAR. For records relating to those bridges maintained by the Corporation of London (including London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Tower Bridge) see CLA/018-022.

Publication note:

For a detailed history of LCC road and bridge maintenance works see Achievement: A Short History of the London County Council by W Eric Jackson (1965), LMA Library reference 18.0 1965 and The London County Council 1938, LMA Library reference 18.7 SER 4.

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: April to June 2009


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Bridges | Transport infrastructure
Building surveyors | Surveyors | People by occupation | People
Embankments | Built works
Engineers | Scientists | Scientific personnel | Personnel | People by occupation | People
Ferries | Boats | Vessels | Vehicles | Transport
Plans | Visual materials
Public works | Construction industry | Industry
Road maintenance | Maintenance | Engineering
Roads | Transport infrastructure
Underwater tunnels | Tunnels | Transport infrastructure
Engineering personnel

Personal names
Barry | Sir | John Wolfe Wolfe- | 1836-1918 | Knight | civil engineer

Corporate names
Chief Engineer's Department | London County Council
LCC | London County Council x London County Council

Places
London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe