Tower bridge of London

Tower Bridge, is a type os suspension structure and is supported to traction.
Is a bridge that crosses the River Thames in London. It combines the characteristics of swinging bridge and suspension bridge. It is built in neo-Gothic Victorian style, and is located near the Tower of London, which gives it its name.

During the second part of the 19th century, economic development in East London led to the need for a new passage over the river, below the London Bridge. The traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access to the port that at that time was located in the Pool of London, between the London Bridge and the Tower of London. A tunnel under the Thames, Tower Subway, was opened in 1870, but only served for pedestrian traffic.

In 1875 a special committee was created to find a solution to the passage over the river, which called for a contest to choose the design of the future bridge. More than fifty designs were proposed, including one by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The evaluation of the designs was surrounded by controversy, and it was not until 1884 when the one created by Horace Jones, the Architect of the City, was approved.

Jones' design was a tipping bridge 244 m long and 7 m wide, with two towers 65 m high. The central distance of 61 m between the two towers is divided into two cams, which can be raised to an angle of 83 degrees to allow river traffic to pass. Although each cam weighs more than 1000 tons, they are counterbalanced to minimize the energy required to lift them, which takes a minute. The original hydraulic mechanism, designed by William Armstrong used pressurized water stored in six accumulators. Water was pumped into the accumulators by steam engines. The bridge can load more than 2000 tons.

Currently, the original hydraulic machinery still opens the bridge, although it has been modified to use oil instead of water, and electric motors have replaced the place of steam engines and accumulators. The old machine rooms are open to the public.

The bridge was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales on June 30, 1894, six years after the death of Jones, and after eight years of construction, on the same day of its inauguration, the prestigious magazine The Builder called it " monstrous and grotesque »