London Weekend Break

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge was completed and opened in 1894 during the Victorian era and is one of London's most famous landmarks. The bridge has a distinctive appearance with its two stone towers and high level pedestrian walkway. The pedestrian walkway was included in the design so that people could cross the bridge on foot, even when the main crossing was elevated.

Tower Bridge took eight years to build and was the first bridge to cross the Thames in the then rapidly developing eastern area of London. Designed by Horace Jones, the Tower Bridge that stands today was selected from over fifty different designs, all with a brief of creating a crossing that would not disrupt the busy river traffic. The mechanism that raises the vehicular traffic section of the bridge originally used massive steam engines (featured on a Fred Dibner TV program), but have since been replaced by oil and electric turbines. Even in the days of steam power, the mechanism (which was very advanced for its time) could raise the movable sections of the traffic platform in approximately one minute.