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Tower Bridge Special
Much Loved Landmark
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Much Loved Landmark
Tower Bridge of London attracted a lot of attention throughout the world by the end of the 19th century. Its original steam hydraulic drive system was regarded as a revolution amongst the professionals and the Londoners were highly impressed with their moving bridge.
Catwalk not only for cats
This London structure was designed by the then top-flight architect, Sir Horace Jones. Following eight years construction, the bridge was finally completed in 1894, latterly under the supervision of Sir John Wolf-Barry. The bridge consists of two 63-metre high, Neogothic-type towers. Looks can be deceptive they are not built from stone, but rather are steel frames encased in granite and sandstone. The towers were connected by 43-metre high, glass-covered footbridges referred to as the catwalk. Nowadays, pedestrians only cross the bridge along the lower part of the bridge. The catwalk is a museum and attracts millions of tourists who enjoy the wonderful views.
Ridiculed yet loved
The famous bascule bridge was built in order to meet the demands of the ever-increasing volume of traffic in London. Up to that time, there was only one single bridge over the Thames in London. During its first year, the bridge was opened 6000 times i.e. 6 times more than is the case today to allow the tall sailing ships to pass through.
Tower Bridge as a national symbol
However, at that time the gigantic structure not only had its admirers. An architecture magazine featured the following after its opening: ...the most monstrous and absurd architectural piece of charlatanry ever to be experienced... But this initial scepticism soon became a thing of the past. Nowadays, Tower Bridge is a national symbol, well loved by Londoners and famous throughout the world.
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