Tower Bridge

London, EnglandMy color picture:

(Actually of Tacoma Narrows bridge)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/architecture/launch_pan_tower_bridge.shtml

• A Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1876 to find a solution to the river crossing problem. It opened the design of the crossing to public competition

• Horace Jones ended up winning the competition.

Tower Information

• The tower construction lasted from 1886-1894.

• Cost was around $3,000,000.

• The twin hydraulic bascules ("bascule" comes from the French for "see-saw") weigh 1,000 tons each.

• The two towers each contain over 70,000 tons of concrete.

Function

• The function of the bridge is to allow car, buses cross the river, while allowing boats to also pass.

• It is a bascule bridge.• The bridge can open and close in

5 minutes.

Tower Information Continued

• There is a walkway that is 112 feet above water level so that people did not have to wait for the bridge to lower, it was closed in 1910

• It was closed due to pickpockets and prostitutes.

• It was also closed due to lack of use (people preferred to wait for the bridge and watch it).

• It has now been reopened as part of the museum they put in there.

http://www.civeng.carleton.ca/Exhibits/Tacoma_Narrows/TacomaNarrowsBridge.mpg

The Tower Bridge is

better than that.

Works Cited• http://www.angelfire.com/in/uktravelinfo/towerbridge.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge

• http://www.answers.com/topic/tower-bridge

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/architecture/launch_pan_tower_bridge.shtml

• http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/TowerBridge/English/BridgeHistory/

• http://london.allinfo-about.com/features/towerbridge.html

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/architecture/launch_pan_tower_bridge.shtml#

• http://www.civeng.carleton.ca/Exhibits/Tacoma_Narrows/TacomaNarrowsBridge.mpg• http://www.hartwell.demon.co.uk/tbpic.htm

THE END

Designer: Bus Driver

Created 1993

Dimensions: length of a bus

Type: Bus Bridge

Function: movement of people through back of bus out the front.