Address: UK, London, near the Tower of London
Opening date: 1894 year
Total length: 244 m
Construction height: 65 m
Architect: Horace Jones
Coordinates: 51 ° 30'20.0 "N 0 ° 04'31.2" W
Content:
Short description
Europe has quite a few countries and the UK is one of them. Moreover, Great Britain is distinguished by its own special, purely English flavor.
Bird's-eye view of the bridge
Anyone who visited its capital London, probably noticed one of the most striking sights - Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is remembered immediately and for a long time - a similar architectural structure consisting of 2 towers built in the Gothic style with connecting galleries for pedestrians is probably no longer anywhere in the world. The colors of the Tower Bridge have also been tastefully chosen: the light gray stone cladding matches the metal supports painted in red, white and blue.
Interestingly, the presence of red can only be attested by those who managed to see the Tower Bridge up close. Unfortunately, in panoramic photos, where the entire bridge is visible, the red color cannot be seen. The fact is that the coloring of the supporting structures of the bridge in white, blue and red have a symbolic meaning - after all, these are colors that coincide with the colors of the state flag of the United Kingdom.
View of the bridge from the Thames
Interestingly, before the entire bridge was painted in one color - dark brown. And the way it is now, he became in 1977 - when the anniversary of the Queen of England was celebrated. The bridge looks especially beautiful in the evening and at night, when its illumination is turned on. The lamps glow with a deep blue color, transforming Tower Bridge into a very beautiful and fabulous place.
Tower Bridge has its own characteristics - for example, it is the only bridge across the Thames that is so low above the water surface. If you follow the river from the North Sea, Tower Bridge will be the very first. In addition, this bridge on the Thames is unique in that it is the only one that has a drawbridge structure.
View of the bridge from the south bank of the Thames
Why is Tower Bridge called that?
In this case, there are no secrets and everything is very simply explained - the bridge is called Tower Bridge only because it is located near the Tower... Moreover, the southeastern corner of the Tower rests against the end of the bridge in the north. And the route, which is a continuation of the bridge, runs along the eastern wall of the Tower.
About the history of the construction of Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge was built relatively recently by the standards of history - in the second half of the 19th century. The main reason for making a decision on its construction was the rapid development of the East End - the east region of London. Residents complained that it was not very convenient for them to cross to the other side of the river via London Bridge. The authorities went to meet the townspeople, and in 1870 they built a tunnel (Tower Subway) under the Thames. Initially, it was supposed to run subway trains through this tunnel. However, it never came to that.
View of one of the towers of the bridge
As for pedestrians, the tunnel did not solve their problems in the best way. The tunnel was still inconvenient to navigate. And again, the city authorities meet the townspeople halfway and create a special committee whose task was to determine the exact place of the new bridge construction. Also, members of the committee took up the selection of the best project of the future bridge from those presented in the competition. In 1884 the project by the architect Horace Jones won. Tower Bridge took 8 years to build, starting in the summer of 1886.
In 1894, the official opening of the completed Tower Bridge took place, which was attended by Edward, the Prince of Wales and his wife Alexandra.
View of one of the towers of the bridge, pedestrian galleries
Tower Bridge Construction
As already mentioned, of all the bridges across the Thames, only the Tower Bridge is characterized by a swing-out structure and a pedestrian gallery on the "second floor". By the way, a powerful hydraulic mechanism, which is located at the base of 2 towers, is responsible for lifting the drawbridge trusses of the bridge. In the 19th century, this mechanism worked with steam. Coal was burned in huge furnaces, and pumps began to work with the help of steam under high pressure, pumping water from the Thames into special tanks. When the tanks were filled with water, it was enough to turn the tap and the water flowing out of them began to rotate the gears, which formed a turning mechanism. The technical solution was as simple as it was elegant - for that time, of course.
Broken bridge trusses
In an upright position, the trusses became at an angle of 86 degrees to the water surface, that is, almost vertically. But that's not all. The capabilities of this rather powerful hydraulic mechanism were fully utilized - it set in motion elevators for pedestrians, and a crane operated from it. The crane unloaded up to 20 tons of coal in a week - so much was needed to keep the Tower Bridge operational! The bridge underwent serious structural modifications only in 1976 - the hydraulic system was replaced with an oil system, and the motors were replaced with electric ones.
