Control Levers
In the control cabin
From the Behind-the-Scenes Tour around Tower Bridge: Towers, high-level Walkways and Victorian Engine Rooms down to its hidden depths, normally out of bounds to the public...views from the Glass Floor and high-level Walkway, then the original steam engines, accumulators and boilers in the Victorian Engine Rooms...the Bridge’s operational areas including the Control Cabin, Machinery Room and the immense Bascule Chambers, which house the 422-ton counterweights.
Built between 1886 and 1894, the Bridge has spent more than a century as London's defining landmark, an icon of London and the United Kingdom.
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 a public competition was launched to find a design for the new crossing.
Over 50 designs were submitted to the Committee for consideration, some of which are on display at Tower Bridge. It wasn't until October 1884 however, that Sir Horace Jones, the City Architect, in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry, offered the chosen design for Tower Bridge as a solution.
It took eight years, five major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction workers each day to build Tower Bridge under the watchful eye of Sir John Wolfe Barry.
Two massive piers were built on foundations sunk into the riverbed 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.
When it was built, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever completed ('bascule' comes from the French word for 'seesaw'). These bascules were operated by hydraulics, using steam to power the enormous pumping engines. The energy created was stored in six massive accumulators, meaning that as soon as power was required to lift the Bridge, it was always readily available. The accumulators fed the driving engines, which drove the bascules up and down. Despite the complexity of the system, the bascules only took about a minute to raise to their maximum angle of 86 degrees. Find out more about this process.
Today, the bascules are still operated by hydraulic power, but since 1976 they have been driven by oil and electricity rather than steam. The original pumping engines, accumulators and boilers are now on display within Tower Bridge’s Engine Rooms.
[TowerBridge.org.uk]
Control Levers
In the control cabin
From the Behind-the-Scenes Tour around Tower Bridge: Towers, high-level Walkways and Victorian Engine Rooms down to its hidden depths, normally out of bounds to the public...views from the Glass Floor and high-level Walkway, then the original steam engines, accumulators and boilers in the Victorian Engine Rooms...the Bridge’s operational areas including the Control Cabin, Machinery Room and the immense Bascule Chambers, which house the 422-ton counterweights.
Built between 1886 and 1894, the Bridge has spent more than a century as London's defining landmark, an icon of London and the United Kingdom.
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 a public competition was launched to find a design for the new crossing.
Over 50 designs were submitted to the Committee for consideration, some of which are on display at Tower Bridge. It wasn't until October 1884 however, that Sir Horace Jones, the City Architect, in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry, offered the chosen design for Tower Bridge as a solution.
It took eight years, five major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction workers each day to build Tower Bridge under the watchful eye of Sir John Wolfe Barry.
Two massive piers were built on foundations sunk into the riverbed 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.
When it was built, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever completed ('bascule' comes from the French word for 'seesaw'). These bascules were operated by hydraulics, using steam to power the enormous pumping engines. The energy created was stored in six massive accumulators, meaning that as soon as power was required to lift the Bridge, it was always readily available. The accumulators fed the driving engines, which drove the bascules up and down. Despite the complexity of the system, the bascules only took about a minute to raise to their maximum angle of 86 degrees. Find out more about this process.
Today, the bascules are still operated by hydraulic power, but since 1976 they have been driven by oil and electricity rather than steam. The original pumping engines, accumulators and boilers are now on display within Tower Bridge’s Engine Rooms.
[TowerBridge.org.uk]