Tower Bridge Exhibition
Tower Bridge Exhibitition
River Thames, Tower Bridge,
London SE1 2UP
Tel: 020 7403 3761
About Tower Bridge Exhibition
Tower Bridge Exhibition is a great family day out in London, packed with informative and fun displays about the history, life and times of one of the most famous bridges in the world.
Tower Bridge itself was opened in 1894 and has continued to operate as a working suspension bridge over the River Thames since,
becoming a family attraction to boot in 1982, when the Tower Bridge Exhibition - mostly housed in the bridge's twin towers - was unveiled. Ticket holders can access its high-level walkways for a breathtaking panorama over the city through special viewing windows. The Tower Bridge Exhibition also features a tour around the Victorian Engine Rooms in a building close to the south end of the bridge. It houses the beautifully maintained original steam engines that power the Bridge bascules (bascule, from the French for see-saw). Besides photos, holograms and a film detailing the building of the bridge, the Tower Bridge Exhibition has hands-on mechanisms and information panels about the ingenious technology used to keep Tower Bridge in motion for over 100 years.
A Behind The Scenes tour makes it possible to see the bridge's command centre, from where the raising of the bascules is controlled for a vessel to pass, and to go down into the bascule chambers – just the ticket. The Tower Bridge was designed by Wolfe Barry and Horace Jones, having been commissioned in the light of the growth of the east end of London, leading to public pressure in 1876 for a bridge to the east of London Bridge, to ease journeys for pedestrians and vehicles. Their design had to incorporate a raisable middle section to permit the passage of waterborne vessels. The Bridge used to be raised about 50 times a day, but today it’s three times a week (approximately 1000 times a year, to allow tall ships, cruise ships, naval vessels and other large craft pass – a grand sight on a family day out to the Tower Bridge Exhibition. Details of impending raisings can beacquired from the Tower, via its website).
The Tower Bridge Exhibition details the growth of the river’s traffic, as well as the construction of the bridge, which has a weight limit of 18 tons and is 244 metres (800 feet) in length. The side-spans over the water are each 270 feet (82 metres) long, while its towers rise to a height of 43 metres, on their piers, 65 metres (213 feet). The two side-span suspensions have rods anchored to abutments and the bridge's upper walkways, while the pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 metres) above the Thames at high tide.
Over 50 designs were initially proposed when the Corporation of London put its construction out to public competition. Jones & Wolfe’s design was selected in 1884, and became reality within a decade. Jones died in 1887 and George Stevenson oversaw construction. It took eight years, with five contractors employing 432 workers throughout the period, and Stevenson replacing Jones’ brick façade plan with gothic finery. The fruit of their labours stands testament to their craft and makes for a fascinating family attraction in any weather, comprising as it does mainly internal elements in the Tower Bridge Exhibition. Using 11,000 tons of steel built on two huge piers constructed from 70,000 tons of concrete, and clad in protective and ornate Cornish granite and Portland stone, at the time, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever. It was hydraulically operated using steam-powered pumping engines and its bascules, weighing over 1000 tons each, were counterbalanced to minimise the force required to raise them. Among its most impressive workings are six giant accumulators that feed the bascule driving engines, which raise them up to about 85 degrees in a few minutes.
The bridge was opened in June 1894 by Edward, the Prince of Wales, and his wife, Alexandra of Denmark. It connected Iron Gate on the north bank of the Thames to Horsleydown Lane on the south, and it cost £1,184,000. A ticket to the Tower Bridge Exhibition is considerably less, and it grants access to areas that even royalty could not reach! Among them are the original 360 horsepower horizontal twin-tandem compound steam engines, with Meyer expansion slide valves, designed and installed by Sir W. G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company of Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 1974, the original pumps were replaced by an electro-hydraulic system from BHA Cromwell House. The oil and electricity plant came on line in 1976, while the original pumping engine ram accumulators and boilers can be seen as part of a captivating family day out to the Tower Bridge Exhibition. The current machinery and control cabins and some of the wartime control mechanisms for special signalling equipment are preserved and can be viewed on the Behind The Scenes Tour, which can be pre-booked by ticket holders.
Additionally, the Tower Bridge Exhibition details key events, including the closure of the high-level walkways in 1910, officially because of lack of use, but likely due to high level crime – mostly pick-pocketing and solicitation. An even more daring feat occurred a couple of years later when, during an aerial emergency to avoid a collision, Frank McClean flew between the bascules and high-level walkways in his Short biplane. Not something you’d expect on a family day out, though Al Qaida’s plans in the aftermath of 9/11 were said to include a plot to fly a plane into Tower Bridge!
Disaster at the family attraction was narrowly avoided in December 1952 when a crowded 78 double-decker bus to Dulwich had to put the pedal to the metal and fly from one bascule to the other when the Bridge began to rise with the bus half way across! In 1977, the Bridge was painted red, white and blue to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, and in 1982 the permanent Tower Bridge Exhibition was unveiled, Tower Bridge being open to the public for the first time since 1910. In 1993, the centenary exhibition - The Tower Bridge Experience - opened, featuring animatronic models and, four years later, the motorcade of US President Bill Clinton was divided by the opening of the bridge for the barge Gladys, en route to St. Katharine’s Docks. Another unusual occurrence was an August 1999 incident when Jeff Smith, a Freeman of the City of London, drove two sheep across the bridge, exercising an ancient right granted to Freemen.
In 2002, the current Tower Bridge Exhibition displays were unveiled, refocusing on views from the Walkways and the Bridge’s history, though it became the centre of world attention for another reason a year later, when American illusionist David Blaine set up shop in a plastic box, apparently spending a month there suspended from a crane, supposedly without food. Fortunately, the family attraction has ample facilities including four exquisite, unique venues, ideal for Corporate Hospitality and Private events such as cocktail receptions, promotional evenings, dinners and weddings. Indeed, Tower Bridge holds the silver prize for the Best UK Unusual Venue 2007, and the Tower Bridge Exhibition is itself a prize family day out and a quite unique family attraction.