51°30′20″N 0°04′32″W / 51.50556°N 0.07556°W / 51.50556; -0.07556

Tower Bridge
Coordinates	51°30′20″N 0°04′31″W / 51.5056°N 0.0753°W / 51.5056; -0.0753
Carries	2 lanes of A100 Tower Bridge Road, cyclists, and pedestrians
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	London boroughs: – north side: Tower Hamlets – south side: Southwark
Maintained by	Bridge House Estates
Heritage status	Grade I listed structure
Preceded by	London Bridge
Followed by	Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Bascule bridge / Suspension Bridge
Total length	801 ft (244 m)
Height	213 ft (65 m)
Longest span	270 ft (82.3 m)
Clearance below	28 ft (8.6 m) (closed) 139 ft (42.5 m) (open) (mean high water spring tide)
History
Opened	30 June 1894; 130 years ago (1894-06-30)
Location

Tower Bridge is a drawbridge in London. It crosses the River Thames near the Tower of London. It allows ships through the bridge deck when is raised at an angle in the centre.

The north side of the bridge is Tower Hill, and the south side of the bridge comes down into Bermondsey, an area in Southwark. Tower Bridge is far more visible than London Bridge, which people often mistake it for. Many tourists go to London to see the Tower Bridge. It has its own exhibition centre in the horizontal walkway. This gives one of the best vantage points in London.

The "bascules" are the surfaces raised to allow tall ships to pass through: this happens about 900 times per year. The bridge's decks (bascules) can be raised to 83^o from the horizontal.

The City of London Corporation held a competition for the design in 1876.^[1] Over 50 designs were entered, and in 1884 Horace Jones and John Wolfe Barry's design was chosen.

Workers began to build the Tower Bridge in April 1886 and the bridge was opened on 30 June 1894.

In June 2012, the bridge was highlighted on the route of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames.^[2]

The bridge is 800 ft (244 m) in length with two towers, each 213 ft (65 m) high, built on piers. The central span of 200 ft (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules or leaves, which can be raised to an angle of 83^o to allow river traffic to pass. The bascules, weighing over 1,100 tons each, are counterbalanced to minimize the force required and allow raising in five minutes. The bascules are raised by huge hydraulic pumps which were first powered by steam engines. In 1976 these were replaced by oil and electricity.^[1] The bridge is made from more than 11,000 tons of steel, and covered with Cornish granite and Portland stone.^[1]

The two side-spans are suspension bridges, each 270 feet (82 m) long, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above the river at high tide.^[3] These walkways allow people to still cross the river, even when the bridge is raised. They were closed in 1910 because not enough people used them, but were reopened in 1982.^[1]

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  Tower_Bridge,London_Getting_Opened_1
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  Tower_Bridge,London_Getting_Opened_2
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  Tower_Bridge,London_Getting_Opened_5
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  Tower_Bridge,London_Getting_Opened_6
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  The Tower Bridge, London completely opened

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  Tower_Bridge,London_Construction_photo_1
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  Tower Bridge, London Under Construction 1
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  Tower Bridge, London Under Construction 2
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  Tower Bridge, London Old photo
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  The invitation of opening of Tower Bridge, London
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  The Tower Bridge, London in the night 1
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  The Tower Bridge, London in the night 2
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  The Tower Bridge, London in the night 3
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  The Tower Bridge, London
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  Tower Bridge during day
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  Tower Bridge at night
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  Tower Bridge area from the air
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  Tower Bridge seen from the north bank of the Thames
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  South view at dusk
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  Close-up of walkways, illuminated at dusk
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  Close-up of opened bascules
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  The south tower, showing pier at river level

• List of crossings of the River Thames

Media related to Tower Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

• Tower Bridge Exhibition Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
• Tower Bridge