Published: Tuesday 20 May 2025
Albert Bridge will be closed for five days for essential maintenance during the summer half term holidays from Tuesday 27 May until Monday 2 June 2025.
Council engineers and contractors are carrying out essential maintenance work to the carriageway’s deck panels. The 715 panels form part of the listed structure and require care to ensure the bridge remains in a good condition. The panels deteriorate with the weather and traffic which can affect the surface of the carriageway and allow water to seep into the timber sections below. Around 10 per cent of the entire deck, including the deteriorated sections of timber sub-deck will be replaced during the closure.
During this closure work will also take place to the expansion joints. At each end of the bridge, there is a "movement joint" that allows the bridge to move – expanding and contracting with temperature changes, as well as adjusting to the weight of vehicles and wind. A rubber section is placed between these joints to prevent water from reaching the bearings beneath the bridge. Over time this rubber degrades. It will be replaced during this closure.
When is Albert Bridge closed?
Drivers are asked to allow more time for their journeys and avoid Albert Bridge next week, from 7am on Tuesday 27 May 2025 to 6am on Monday 2 June 2025.
Works are taking place during the summer half term to try to minimise the impact on drivers. Works will be taking place to the pavements too, but this will be done in stages so that one footway will be open to pedestrians at all times. Cyclists can pass the bridge but are encouraged to dismount.
Is there a diversion?
A diversion will be in place for drivers via Chelsea Bridge or Battersea Bridge.
Albert Bridge as an icon of the London skyline
The bridge was originally built in 1873 and is an English Heritage Grade II* listed structure. It is one of only two bridges in London to never have been replaced – the other being Tower Bridge.
It has appeared in numerous television programmes and films, including Bridget Jones’ Baby, A Clockwork Orange, Sliding Doors, Doctor Who, The Sweeney and Poirot.
Protecting the bridge – weight restriction
In January 2024, the Council began to enforce a three-tonne weight restriction on the bridge for good vehicles. Since January 2024 the Council has issued 37,954 penalty charge notices for drivers breaching the weight restriction, putting unnecessary strain on the bridge. In line with Government regulations, enforcement is based on the vehicle’s official revenue weight, also known as the maximum gross weight. Drivers can find this out using the DVLA’s website. This is the most accurate way to check as some vehicle log books provide a different measure of weight.