Tower Bridge in London: description, history, features and interesting facts

Bridge Tower Bridge is one of the business cards of London and Britain as a whole on a par with Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. The age of the structure has exceeded one hundred years. However, the bridge is still beautiful, lively and interesting to the public, and also brilliantly copes with its original function.

The location of the bridge

The Tower Bridge in London (Tower Bridge in English) is often confused with London, which is located slightly upstream. Outwardly, these two structures are completely different, but due to their location, there are confusions. Strictly speaking, when you mention the first bridge, it's enough to think about its name a little, and everything will become clear. Towersky he named because of the fact that it is located in close proximity to the fortress Tower, which stands on the northern bank of the Thames. In the photo below you see the London Bridge.

Site coordinates: 51 ° 30'20 "s. W. 0 ° 04'30 "W The Tower Bridge has an excellent location. From the huge windows of his gallery you can see a picturesque view of the city with the recognizable skyscraper, called "cucumber", and the building of The Shard. Turning your eyes to the east, you can see the Greenwich Observatory and the Docks of St. Catherine.

Tower Bridge: description

The bridge is movable and suspended at the same time. Its length is 244 m, and the maximum width (on the central span) reaches 61 m. The middle part of the bridge is divided into two lifting wings, each weighing more than a thousand tons. To skip the ships going over the Thames, they can be raised at an angle of 83 degrees. On the intermediate pillars of the bridge are towers 65 m high. On the upper level, they are connected by two tracks. They are designed to counteract the horizontal tension forces that create the suspended sections of the Tower Bridge on land. At the base of each tower are placed rotating mechanisms.

The existing color scheme of the bridge (blue and white) was adopted in 2010. Before that, it remained unchanged since 1977, when in honor of the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II the structure was painted in three colors: blue, red and white.

The deck of the bridge is open for both vehicular traffic and pedestrians. However, twin towers, high-level tracks and Victorian engine rooms are part of the Tower Bridge exhibition. Visiting these sites is possible by ticket.

History of creation

The second half of the 19th century was marked by the development and upswing of the East End. Pedestrian and equestrian traffic increased at times, in connection with this, the question of organizing a ferry across the Thames east of the London Bridge was ripe. In 1870, under the river, the Tower-Subway tunnel was laid. As a metro, it served a rather short period and eventually became used only by pedestrians. Now it has a water main. Thus, the tunnel did not solve the problem, so in 1876 a special committee was created under the leadership of Sir A. Altman, who was to find a way to cross the river.

The Committee announced a competition, which gathered more than 50 projects. The winner was announced in 1884, at the same time decided to build a Bridge Bridge (in English - Tower Bridge). The construction was sanctioned by the Act of Parliament in 1885. He determined the size of the bridge, and also the style of construction - Gothic.

Bridge construction

The construction of the bridge, later named Tower, began in 1886 and lasted eight years. During this time, five major contractors took part in the process: D. Jackson, Baron Armstrong, W. Webster, H. Bartlett and W. Arrol. At the construction site, 432 people were involved. The total cost of the bridge for those times was 1,184 thousand pounds sterling. The construction took more than 11 thousand tons of steel.

The official opening of the Bridge Bridge took place on June 30, 1894. The ceremony was attended by the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) and his wife Alexandra of Denmark.

Already in the first years of its work, the pedestrian paths between the towers of the bridge acquired an unpleasant reputation as a shelter for pickpockets and prostitutes. Since they were rarely used by ordinary pedestrians, they were closed in 1910. Once again, the galleries were opened only in 1982. Now they are used as a viewing platform and a museum.

Hydraulic system of the bridge

Tower Bridge, as already mentioned above, has a central span, divided into two lifting wings. They rise to an angle of 83 degrees. Thanks to counterbalances that minimize all efforts, the bridge can be diluted in just one minute. Span is driven by a hydraulic system. Initially, it was water with a working pressure of 50 bar. Water was injected by two steam engines with a total capacity of 360 liters. This system was developed by Hamilton Owen Rendel.

The hydraulic mechanism and the gas lighting system were installed by William Sugg & Co Ltd, widely known in Westminster. The lanterns shone initially from the open gas burner inside them. Later the system was updated to modern incandescent lamps.

The hydraulic system was completely renewed only in 1974. The only components that are used so far are the final gears. They are controlled by a modern hydraulic motor with gears, where oil is used, and not water. The original mechanisms were partially preserved. Now they are not used and open to the public, forming the basis of the museum, which has a bridge in London Tower Bridge.

Modernization of the bridge

In 1974, work began to replace the obsolete original mechanism with a drive electrohydraulic system. In 2000, a computer-based modern system was installed for remote control of the lifting and lowering of supports. However, in practice it proved to be unreliable, and as a result, the bridge repeatedly got stuck in an open or closed position, until its sensors were replaced in 2005.

In the years 2008-2012. The bridge underwent cosmetic repair or, as it was called in the press, a "facelift". The procedure took four years and cost 4 million pounds sterling. The existing paint on the structure was wiped off to bare metal. To ensure that its remains do not fall into the Thames, each section of the bridge was covered with forests and plastic film. The design was painted in a blue-white color. In addition, the bridge acquired a new lighting design.

Bridge Management

In order to effectively manage the bridge and regulate river traffic, a number of rules and signals were applied. In the daytime, the control was carried out using a red semaphore, which was installed in small cabins on both sides of the bridge piers. At night colored lights were used: two red ones - the passage is closed and two green ones - the bridge is open. In the misty weather, the gong accompanied the light signals.

The vessels passing through the bridge also had to display certain signals. In the afternoon it was a black ball with a diameter of less than 0.61 m, installed at a height accessible to the eyes. At night in the same place, red lights lit up. In the misty weather, repeated signals of the ship's steam whistle were required.

Part of the signal equipment has survived and now it is represented in the museum.

It is interesting that the bridge has been more than a hundred years old, it is a lively place thanks to numerous tourists and at the same time it maintains a great flow of traffic. Every day it is crossed by more than 40 thousand people (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists). In order to maintain the integrity of the design, there is a restriction of the speed of travel on the bridge - no more than 32 km / h - and by weight of transport - no more than 18 tons.

In former times the bridge opened daily and more than once. Now, to drive under it, you should notify the administration 24 hours in advance. The opening time is published on the official website. The journey is free.

The name of the bridge and its external appearance are familiar to the whole world, and therefore are often used for advertising purposes. For example, many schools are called Tower Bridge. In particular, a commercial Moscow institution with in-depth study of English. In order to have an idea about the institution, read reviews about the school "Tower Bridge School", left by her students and their parents.

Public response to the bridge

It is noteworthy that the Bridge Bridge Bridge, without which modern London is simply impossible, was criticized at the beginning of the 20th century. He was called the vice of idleness, falsification and pretentiousness. British artist and designer Frank Brangvin said that a more absurd structure had never been built over strategically important rivers.

Time passed and the public perception of the bridge changed. Now it is a recognized landmark of the capital of the state. The historian and connoisseur of architecture Dan Cruickshank chose him as one of four objects, which he described in his film "The Best Buildings of Great Britain."