TOWER BRIDGE OF

LONDON

HE, WHO CANNOT FORGIVE OTHERS DESTROYS

THE BRIDGE OVER WHICH, HE, HIMSELF MUST
PASS.

General information about the Tower Bridge:

The building period:1886-1894
The length of the bridge: 244 m
The height of the superior pedestrian passage: 43 m
Designed by: a local architect Horace Jones in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry

The name of the imposing bridge which passes over the Thames is from the medieval fortress in
the neighborhood.
While the London Tower has almost a millenary existence, the Tower Bridge was built at the end
of the XIX century, in Victorian Gothic style.

A photo of Tower Bridge from 1894

The bridge celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2014, having

been opened on the 30th of June 1894.It was opened
officially by King Edward VII(at the time he was the Prince of
Wales) and his wife, Alexandra of Danemark.

The opening of the Tower Bridge,

30th June 1894

Facts about deck:

Each deck is more than 30 meters wide and can be opened to an angle of 83 degrees. When
opened, the bridge has a clearance of almost 45 meters. It used to be opened almost fifty times
a day but nowadays it is only raised about one thousand times a year. Bridge lifts are prescheduled so visitors can check the bridge's website to find out when it is opened.

Some interesting facts about the bridge:

Tower Bridge has a fascinating history, which is explored in full in
Tower Bridge Exhibition. Heres some to get your started
1910 - the high-level Walkways, which were designed so that the
public could still cross the bridge when it was raised, were closed
down due to lack of use.
1912 - during an emergency, Frank McClean had to fly between
the bascules and the high-level walkways in his Short biplane, to
avoid an accident.
1952 - a London bus driven by Albert Gunter had to leap from
one bascule to the other when the bridge began to rise with the
number 78 bus still on it.
1977 The chocolate brown Tower Bridge was painted red, white
and blue to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
1982 - Tower Bridge has been opened to the public for the first
time since 1910, with a permanent exhibition inside called The
Tower Bridge Experience.

A huge challenge faced the City of London

Corporation - how to build a bridge downstream
from London Bridge without disrupting river
traffic activities. To generate ideas, the "Special
Bridge or Subway Committee" was formed in
1876, and opened the design for the new
crossing to public competition.
Over 50 designs were submitted for
consideration, some of which are on display at
Tower Bridge Exhibition. It wasn't until October
1884 however, that Horace Jones, the City
Architect, in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry,
offered the chosen design for Tower Bridge as a
solution.

Choosing a design

Building the bridge:

It took eight years, five major contractors
and the relentless labour of 432 construction
workers to build Tower Bridge.
Two massive piers were sunk into the river
bed to support the construction and over
11,000 tons of steel provided the framework
for the Towers and Walkways. This
framework was clad in Cornish granite and
Portland stone to protect the underlying
steelwork and to give the Bridge a more
pleasing appearance.

Building the bridge:

Tower Bridge in the morning:

Tower Bridge at night:

Made by:
Istrate Maria Emma,
a IX-a C