EAW031120 ENGLAND (1950). SS Chitral on the Thames by the Town Pier, Gravesend, 1950

This image shows the site of the southern end of a pontoon bridge erected across the Thames during WW1 to aid the movement of troops.



A pontoon bridge across the tidal Thames was built from Clarendon Lawn, Gravesend, to near Tilbury Fort in Essex. Information about the bridge is sparse and contradictory. The 'Discover Gravesham' council website (http://www.discovergravesham.co.uk/gravesend-chronology/1910-1916.html ) states that it was built in 1914 using 70 lighters (a shallow barge for loading and unloading ships) but was dismantled after a few months. 'Tilbury and Chadwell Memories' (http://www.tilburyandchadwellmemories.org.uk/page/the_tilbury_to_gravesend_pontoon_bridge_1915-1918 ) gives more detail and states that the pontoon was in place from 1915 to 1918, using 67 lighters. The BBC 'World War One at Home' site ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0232hsx ) gives dates of 15th November 1914 until the end of the war.

Details provided and several images on Google show that there were two carriage ways with a total width of about 20 feet. There was also a removable section of about 600 feet to allow shipping through - the Thames was one of the busiest, if not he busiest, river for shipping in the World at this time.