Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London, linking the City side with Southwark. It was built between 1886 and 1894 to a design by the City Architect Horace Jones and the engineer John Wolfe Barry, after the growth of the East End created demand for a crossing that would still let ships reach the Pool of London.

The solution was a bascule bridge: two roadway leaves that rise to let tall ships pass. They were first powered by steam pumping water into hydraulic accumulators, a system converted to electro-hydraulic operation in the 1970s. The bridge is still raised about a thousand times a year for river traffic. It was opened by the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, on 30 June 1894.

The bridge is about 290 metres long including its abutments, with two towers 65 metres high joined at the top by two high-level walkways. The steel frame is clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone in a Gothic style chosen to suit the nearby Tower. The walkways, about 44 metres above the river at high tide, now have glass floors, and the Victorian Engine Rooms on the south bank show the original steam engines and accumulators. The bridge is owned and maintained by the City Bridge Foundation, a charity of the City of London Corporation.

Crossing the bridge on foot is free. The Tower Bridge exhibition, covering the towers, walkways and engine rooms, requires a ticket. Bridge lift times are published in advance on the official website.

North tower lift and the high-level walkways

The visit starts in the north tower, where a lift takes visitors up to the high-level walkways. Films and displays in the walkways cover the competition to design a new crossing, the construction and the people who built it.

Catching a bridge lift from the glass floor

Lift times are posted on the official website about a week ahead, and each lift is listed with the name of the vessel passing through. Watching a lift from the glass floor, with the roadway parting 40 metres below, is the highlight for many visitors, so it is worth timing the visit around one. From street level, the best views of a lift are from the riverside path by the Tower of London or from Butler's Wharf on the south bank.

After the walkways, a marked route along the bridge leads to the Victorian Engine Rooms, where the original steam engines, boilers and accumulators are on display. Allow about 90 minutes for the whole route. Tower Hill and London Bridge stations are each about ten minutes on foot.