The opening ceremony was attended by the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Carrington and the Home Secretary, H. Tower Bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Opening 1895 painting of the opening of Tower Bridge, William Lionel Wyllie The total cost of construction was £1,184,000 (equivalent to £143 million in 2021). Stevenson replaced Jones's original brick façade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which made the bridge a distinctive landmark and was intended to harmonise the bridge with the nearby Tower of London. More than 11,000 long tons (12,320 short tons 11,177 t) of steel were used in the framework for the towers and walkways, which were then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone to protect the underlying steelwork. Two piers, containing over 70,000 long tons (78,400 short tons 71,123 t) of concrete, were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction. 432 people worked on the site E W Crutwell was the resident engineer for the construction. Major contractors included Sir John Jackson (foundations), Armstrong, Mitchell and Company (hydraulics), William Webster, and Sir William Arrol & Co. Construction Tower Bridge under construction, 1892Ĭonstruction started in 1886, with the foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales on 21 June, and took eight years. The two side spans were suspension bridges, with rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained in the bridge's upper walkways. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. īarry designed a bridge with two bridge towers built on piers. Construction was funded by the Bridge House Estates, a charity established in 1282 for maintenance of London Bridge that subsequently expanded to cover Tower Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge and the Millennium Bridge. It specified that the opening span would provide a clear width of 200 feet (61 m) and headroom of 135 feet (41 m). An Act of Parliament authorising construction was passed in 1885. Sir John Wolfe Barry was appointed engineer and Sir Horace Jones the architect (who was also one of the judges). A design was not approved until 1884 when it was decided to build a bascule bridge. More than fifty designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, which was rejected because of a lack of sufficient headroom. Ī Special Bridge or Subway Committee chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman was formed in 1877 to find a solution. A traditional fixed bridge at street level could not be built because it would cut off access by sailing ships to the port facilities in the Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London. In the late 19th century, commercial development in the East End of London increased, leading to demand for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. History Inception Elevation, with dimensions It is sometimes confused with London Bridge, about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, which has led to a persistent urban legend about an American purchasing the wrong bridge. Tower Bridge has become a recognisable London landmark. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, whereas the bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways, and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition. The bridge is part of the London Inner Ring Road and thus the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, and remains an important traffic route with 40,000 crossings every day. Originally hydraulically powered, the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. The bridge is 800 feet (240 m) in length and consists of two 213-foot (65 m) bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1894. The bridge was constructed to give better access to the East End of London, which had expanded its commercial potential in the 19th century. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust founded in 1282. Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 18, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel.
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