Editing River Thames (section)

===Crossings===
{{Main|List of crossings of the River Thames}}

[[File:Newbridge, Oxfordshire.jpg|thumb|[[Newbridge, Oxfordshire|Newbridge]], in rural Oxfordshire]]
[[File:Railway bridge Maidenhead.jpeg|thumb|The Railway bridge at [[Maidenhead, Berkshire|Maidenhead]]]]
[[File:London millennium wobbly bridge.jpg|thumb|The [[Millennium Bridge (London)|Millennium Footbridge]] with [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in the background]]

Many of the present-day road bridges are on the site of earlier fords, ferries and wooden bridges. [[Swinford Bridge]], known as the five pence toll bridge, replaced a ferry that in turn replaced a ford. The earliest known major crossings of the Thames by the Romans were at [[London Bridge]] and [[Staines Bridge]]. At [[Folly Bridge]] in Oxford the remains of an original Saxon structure can be seen, and medieval stone bridges such as [[Newbridge, Oxfordshire|Newbridge]], [[Wallingford Bridge]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Victoria history of Berkshire |last1=Ditchfield |first1=P. H. |last2=Page |first2=William |date=1906 |publisher=Constable |location=London |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.28982 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/28982 |access-date=31 May 2021 |archive-date=11 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611232657/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/28982 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Abingdon Bridge]] are still in use.

Kingston's growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. During the 18th century, many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing bridges both in London and along the length of the river. These included [[Putney Bridge]], [[Westminster Bridge]], [[Datchet Bridge]], [[Windsor Bridge]] and [[Sonning Bridge]].

Several central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously [[Tower Bridge]], the only [[Bascule bridge]] on the river, designed to allow ocean-going ships to pass beneath it. The most recent road bridges are the bypasses at [[Isis Bridge]] and [[Marlow By-pass Bridge]] and the motorway bridges, most notably the two on the [[M25 motorway|M25]] route: [[Queen Elizabeth II Bridge]] and [[M25 Runnymede Bridge]].

Railway development in the 19th century resulted in a spate of bridge building including [[Blackfriars Railway Bridge]] and [[Hungerford Bridge|Charing Cross (Hungerford) Railway Bridge]] in central London, and the railway bridges by [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] at [[Maidenhead Railway Bridge]], [[Gatehampton Railway Bridge]] and [[Moulsford Railway Bridge]].

The world's first underwater tunnel was Marc Brunel's [[Thames Tunnel]] built in 1843 and now used to carry the [[East London Line]]. The [[Tower Subway]] was the first railway under the Thames, which was followed by all the deep-level tube lines. Road tunnels were built in East London at the end of the 19th century, being the [[Blackwall Tunnel]] and the [[Rotherhithe Tunnel]]. The latest tunnels are the [[Dartford Crossing]]s.

Many foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at [[Benson Lock]]. Others were replaced by a footbridge when the weir was removed as at [[Hart's Weir Footbridge]]. Around 2000, several footbridges were added along the Thames, either as part of the Thames Path or in commemoration of the millennium. These include [[Temple Footbridge]], [[Bloomers Hole Footbridge]], the [[Hungerford Footbridge]]s and the [[London Millennium Bridge|Millennium Bridge]], all of which have distinctive design characteristics.

Before bridges were built, the main means of crossing the river was by ferry. A significant number of ferries were provided specifically for navigation purposes. When the [[towpath]] changed sides, it was necessary to take the towing horse and its driver across the river. This was no longer necessary when barges were powered by steam. Some ferries still operate on the river. The [[Woolwich Ferry]] carries cars and passengers across the river in the Thames Gateway and links the [[North Circular]] and [[South Circular Road, London|South Circular]] roads. Upstream are smaller pedestrian ferries, for example [[Hampton Ferry (River Thames)|Hampton Ferry]] and [[Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry]], the last being the only non-permanent crossing that remains on the Thames Path.