Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge
View from Shad Thames
Coordinates	51°30′20″N 0°4′31″W / 51.50556°N 0.07528°W / 51.50556; -0.07528
Carries	London Inner Ring Road
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	London boroughs: – north side: Tower Hamlets – south side: Southwark
Named for	Tower of London
Maintained by	City Bridge Foundation
Heritage status	Grade I listed building
Website	www.towerbridge.org.uk
Preceded by	London Bridge
Followed by	Elizabeth II Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Bascule bridge / Suspension Bridge
Total length	940 ft (290 m)
Height	213 ft (65 m)
History
Architect	Horace Jones
Construction start	22 April 1886
Construction end	1894
Opened	30 June 1894
Location

Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule, suspension, and, until 1960, cantilever bridge^[1] in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel.^[2] It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the City Bridge Foundation, a charitable trust founded in 1282.

The bridge was constructed to connect the 39 per cent of London's population that lived east of London Bridge, equivalent to the populations of "Manchester on the one side, and Liverpool on the other",^[3] while allowing shipping to access the Pool of London between the Tower of London and London Bridge. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, and Alexandra, Princess of Wales, on 30 June 1894.

The bridge is 940 feet (290 m) in length including the abutments^[4] and consists of two 213-foot (65 m) bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. Originally hydraulically powered, the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. The bridge is part of the London Inner Ring Road and thus the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, and remains an important traffic route with 40,000 crossings every day. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, whereas the bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways, and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Tower Bridge has become a recognisable London landmark. It is sometimes confused with London Bridge, about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, which has led to a persistent urban legend about an American purchasing the wrong bridge.