Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge - One of London's great Victorian landmarks Work began on Tower Bridge in 1886, following many years of debate on whether a suitable design could be found to accommodate all interested trades and parties. Until that time, the only real method of crossing the Thames was at London Bridge, which was by now becoming hugely congested. An estimated 168,000 people and 20,498 vehicles were crossing the bridge daily, and not without long delays.

There were two main criteria that the final design needed to comply with: firstly, to offer 140ft (43m) clearance for the tall masted ships to enter London pool, and also to allow continuous movement of people and traffic. In effect, this meant that the approach to the bridge had to be shallow enough so as not to impede horses pulling heavy loads.

An agreed design was finally submitted in 1884, by Sir Horace Jones and John Wolfe Barry, which would offer major architectural challenges for the time. Comprising of two towers, linked by an overhead walkway spanning some 200ft (61m), and having the roadway span constructed of two counterweighted Bascules that could be raised to an angle of 86 degrees, thus ensuring the required 140ft (43m) clearance.

The towers would be in the popular Gothic style, stone clad on a steel frame, and with high-pitched slate roofs. The Bascules, and passenger lifts to the walkway, were driven by Hydraulic power on a scale never seen before, and required some 20 tons of coal to fuel its boilers each week. Despite the complexity of the mechanism, the Bascules could be raised in just 60 seconds.

Taking eight years to complete, at an approximate cost of £750,000 and claiming ten lives, Tower Bridge was officially opened on 20th June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales - one of the great Royal occasions seen in the Capital. 100 years on and Tower Bridge remains as one of London's great landmarks, and is the only bridge in the world to have its own museum. In 1982 it was opened as a tourist attraction for the first time and attracts many thousands of visitors from the world over every year.