River Itchen floating bridge
Early years of the floating bridge
After many months of wrangling, the decision was made to build a
floating bridge to cross the river Itchen between Chapel and Itchen
Ferry. This would be able to cope with the passengers and vehicles
crossing the river here to reach new houses on the east bank of the
river. It would be financed by charging tolls to passengers and
vehicles using it to cross the river. Building the floating bridge
Once Parliament had approved the floating bridge across the River
Itchen, construction started straight away. The ferry was built to
a design by engineer James Meadows Rendel. He had designed similar
wooden floating bridges at Dartmouth and Saltash in Devon (south
west England). 
 The floating bridge |
The floating bridge was like a large barge, capable of carrying
several motor vehicles. It was powered by steam. Chains were laid
across the river bed and machinery on the bridge used the chains to
pull the bridge across the Itchen. On 23rd November 1836, the Mayor opened the Itchen floating
bridge with much ceremony. Two years later, local historian Robert
Mudie wrote, "The Itchen Ferry is one of the neatest ... boat
passages in Europe, across which carriages ... and all manner of
wheeled vehicles are conducted without disturbing a buckle of their
harness. Foot passengers may regale themselves with fruits, pastry
... and beverages". It provided the missing link in the journey
between Southampton and Portsmouth and took only four minutes to
cross the river. 
Floating bridge toll
house |
Financial troubles
The tolls were relatively high, at up to sixpence per journey
(equivalent to £1.40 today). Even so, the income generated by the
bridge was not as great as expected. The ferry could only carry
sixteen people at a time. Within thirty years, the company had gone
bankrupt twice. The floating bridge had actually cost nearly
£14,000 (over £750,000 today) more to build than the proposed fixed
bridge! The operating company decided to increase the tolls they
charged. In 1853, a new iron floating bridge was ordered to replace
the wooden one, whose condition had rapidly deteriorated. These changes made the Itchen Bridge Company profitable for the
first time. A second set of chains was laid across the river in
1881 to allow two ferries to cross the river at the same time.
Although it started off as a temporary structure, the floating
bridge was set to become a permanent feature of Southampton`s
waterways.
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