Tower Bridge is one of the hallmarks of London and Britain as a whole along with Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. The age of the construction 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.
Bridge location
Tower Bridge in London (Tower Bridge in English) is often confused with London, which is located somewhat upstream. Outwardly, these two structures are completely different, but there are confusions due to their location. As a matter of fact, when mentioning the first bridge, it is enough to think a little about its name, and everything will become clear. It is called Tower in connection with the fact that it is located in close proximity to the Tower fortress on the northern bank of the Thames. In the photo below you see the London Bridge.
Location: 51 ° 30'20 ″ s w. 0 ° 04'30 ″ s The Tower Bridge has a great location. The huge windows of his gallery offer scenic views of the city with a recognizable skyscraper, nicknamed the "cucumber", and the building of The Shard. Looking east, you can see the Greenwich Observatory and the Docks of St. Catherine.
Tower Bridge: Description
The bridge is movable and dangling 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 of which weighs more than a thousand tons. To pass the ships sailing along the Thames, they can be raised at an angle of 83 degrees. On the intermediate supports of the bridge towers 65 m high are installed. At the upper level they are connected by two tracks. They are designed to counteract the horizontal tension forces that create suspension sections of the Tower Bridge on land. At the base of each tower are rotating mechanisms.
The current color scheme of the bridge (blue-white) was adopted in 2010. Prior to that, it remained unchanged since 1977, when in honor of the silver anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, the structure was painted in three colors: blue, red and white.
The deck of the bridge is open for both traffic and pedestrians. However, the twin towers, high-level walkways and engine rooms of the Victorian era are part of the Tower Bridge exhibition. Visiting these sites is possible with tickets.
History of creation
The second half of the 19th century was marked by the development and rise of the East End area. Pedestrian and equestrian traffic increased at times, in connection with this the question arose of organizing a crossing across the Thames east of the London Bridge. In 1870, a tower subway tunnel was laid under the river. It served as a metro for a rather short period and eventually began to be 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 supposed to find a way to cross the river.
The committee announced a competition that brought together more than 50 projects. The winner was announced in 1884, at the same time they decided to build the Tower Bridge (in English - Tower Bridge). The construction was authorized by an act of Parliament in 1885. He determined the size of the bridge, as well as the design style - Gothic.
Bridge construction
The construction of the bridge, later called the Tower Bridge, 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. Aarorol. At the construction site, 432 people were involved. The total cost of the bridge at that time amounted to 1, 184 thousand pounds. The construction took more than 11 thousand tons of steel.
The official opening of the Tower Bridge took place on June 30, 1894. The Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) and his wife Alexandra of Denmark attended the ceremony.
Already in the first years of its work, the pedestrian paths between the bridge towers gained an unpleasant reputation as a shelter for pickpockets and prostitutes. Since they were rarely used by ordinary pedestrians, they were closed in 1910. The galleries were reopened only in 1982. Now they are used as an observation deck and museum.
Bridge hydraulic system
Tower Bridge, as mentioned above, has a central span, divided into two lifting wings. They rise at an angle of 83 degrees. Thanks to counterweights that minimize all efforts, the bridge can be pulled out in just one minute. The span is driven by a hydraulic system. Initially, it was water with a working pressure of 50 bar. Water was pumped by two steam engines with a total capacity of 360 liters. This system was developed by Hamilton Owen Rendel.
The hydraulic mechanism and gas lighting system were installed by William Sugg & Co Ltd, a well-known company in Westminster. Lanterns shone initially from an open gas burner inside them. Later, the system was upgraded to modern incandescent lamps.
The hydraulic system was completely updated only in 1974. The only component that is still used is the final gears. They are controlled by a modern hydraulic gear motor that uses oil rather than water. The original mechanisms were partially retained. Now they are not used and are open to the public, forming the basis of the museum, which has a Tower Bridge in London.
Bridge modernization
In 1974, work began on replacing the outdated original mechanism with an electro-hydraulic drive system. In 2000, a modern computer system was installed to remotely control the raising and lowering of the stands. However, in reality, it turned out to be unreliable, and as a result, the bridge repeatedly got stuck in the open or closed position, until its sensors were replaced in 2005.
In 2008-2012. the bridge underwent cosmetic repairs or, as it was called in the press, “facelift”. The procedure took four years and cost 4 million pounds. Existing paint on the structure was erased to bare metal. To prevent its remnants from falling into the Thames, each section of the bridge was covered with scaffolding and plastic sheeting. The design was painted blue and white. In addition, the bridge has 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, control was carried out using a red semaphore, which was installed on small cabs on both sides of the bridge piers. At night they used multi-colored lights: two red - the passage is closed and two green - the bridge is open. In foggy weather, light signals accompanied the gong.
Passing through the bridge ships also had to display certain signals. In the afternoon, it was a black ball with a diameter of less than 0.61 m, mounted at a height accessible to the eyes. At night in the same place red lights came on. In foggy weather, multiple ship whistle signals were required.
Part of the signaling equipment has been preserved and at present, it is presented in the museum.
It is interesting that the bridge is more than a hundred years old, it is a busy place thanks to numerous tourists and at the same time maintains a large flow of traffic. Every day more than 40 thousand people cross it (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists). In order to preserve the integrity of the structure, there is a limitation of the speed of travel over the bridge - not more than 32 km / h - and by vehicle weight - not 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. Opening times are published on the official website. The fare is free.
The name of the bridge and its appearance are familiar to the whole world, and therefore are often used for advertising purposes. For example, many educational institutions are called Tower Bridge. In particular, a commercial Moscow institution with in-depth study of English. In order to have an idea of the institution, read the reviews about the Tower Bridge School school left by its students and their parents.
