Tower Bridge: An Icon of London

this video is brought to you by squarespace from websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics squarespaces the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful online presence and run your business check out squarespace through the link in the description below more on them in a bit [Music] with the mighty river tens snakey through it london has many iconic buildings some of which cross the river itself none of these bridges are more eye-catching than tower bridge with its ability to open up to let passing ships through its technologies were beyond ambitious for their time and are still used to this day this icon of victorian engineering sits next to the medieval castle of the tower of london the futuristic glass motorcycle helmet of the mayor's office three areas of the city's history are encapsulated in this one area today dow bridge [Music] at the end of the 19th century commercial development in the east end of london had increased there was demand from traders and the public for a new river crossing downstream from london bridge the traffic situation on london bridge had become so bad that during a two-day survey conducted in august 1882 it was found that london bridge's traffic was 22 242 vehicles and 110 525 pedestrians in a 24-hour period with the population of london at the time being nearly 5 million people this amount of congestion in one area was unsustainable and threatened trade in the newly developed east end to alleviate this congestion options were looked at such as widening london bridge but this was seen as too costly and would cause further disruption finally it was decided that a new bridge would be needed closer to the east end of london however building a new bridge would be difficult a traditional fixed bridge at street level would not be viable due to the disruption of river traffic effectively cutting off access by sailing ships to the port facilities in the pool of london a stretch of water between london bridge and the tower of london with this huge challenge laid out in front of them the city of london corporation the metropolitan governing body of the city of london formed in 1876 the special bridge or subway committee to generate ideas they thought the best course of action would be to hold a competition to see if anyone had a workable solution to their bridge problem the committee chaired by sir albert joseph hartman had over 50 entries submitted one of these was from civil engineer sir joseph basilget who cv included designing london's sewage system however his bridge design was rejected because of a lack of sufficient headroom for passing ships other designs included were low-level bridges which would have blocked the trade ships from passing underneath duplex bridges with a lock gate system allowing for road and river access simultaneously also there were bridges with a rolling road opening to let ships through after many rejections a design was finally approved in 1884. the design by architect sir horace jones who also happened to be one of the competition's judges opted for a bascule bridge which comes from the french word the seesaw essentially a vascular bridge is a type of drawbridge which works on a pivot with a heavy weight at one end to balance the length of the other end the architects and engineers agreed the bascule design was the most viable causing the least disruption to pedestrians and road traffic it consisted of two piers and a central opening span once raised this would allow for river traffic to pass through while high-level walkways would provide continued access to pedestrians the design may have been improved but it looked slightly different to how the bridge does today boasting a big arch where the high-level walkways are now located the design needed some refinement so it could serve both pedestrians and river traffic before construction could begin [Music] sir john wolf barry was appointed engineer serving with the architect sir horace jones barry also appointed his friend henry mark brunell as assistant engineer now that signing might sound familiar to you henry was the son of isimbard kingdom brunel who knew a single two about bridges himself side note here the engineer of tabridge was the youngest son of sir charles barry who designed the houses of parliament in november 1885 the design of tower bridge was finalized and a bill was presented to the uk parliament to allow construction to begin the bill contained many elements from the size of the bridge to its location and who would be responsible for its operation it specified that the opening span of the bridge would provide a clear width of 200 feet at 61 metres and headroom of 135 feet or 41 meters when the bridge was open however once construction began these measurements were exceeded by 5 feet or 1.5 meters and 6 inches or 15 centimeters respectively the site chosen for tower bridge just north of the tower of london is in an area surrounded by wharves the ares where ships could be moored to load and unload this location was chosen due to access to the pool of london the area had been used since roman times for ships carrying goods to be loaded and unloaded as for the design of tower bridge the bill stated that the design had to be in style in keeping with victorian london a gothic style similar to the houses of parliament whilst the brickwork would maintain visual continuity with the tower of london other parts of the bill concerned the running of the bridge and contingencies if the bridge failed one way of alleviating danger from the river traffic was that a tugboat should be stationed at the bridge at all times to assist any vessels in danger when crossing the bridge this requirement stayed in place until the 1960s once the bill was passed and the tower bridge act was signed into law it regulated the bridge's use something which it still does to this day construction of tabridge began in 1886 with the first job being to lay the foundations of the peers [Music] before work could commence on the building of tower bridge the area the bridge was to cross had to be surveyed leveled and prepared this process involved the blowing of large metal cages called caissons these were lowered into where the piers would be built in the thames these caissons created a barrier between the river and the work side once the casons were in place divers would work within them it was a time consuming process of excavating the clay mud and gravel that made up the riverbed much of this was done by shoveling the exhumed material onto a crane that hoisted the removed material on shore as the excavating progressed over the next three years the caisson sank inch by inch into the clay under their own weight when they had reached a depth of 19.6 feet or 6 meters the water in the caissons could be pumped out and work on the piers could begin due to the skill required to set the foundations and the prestige of the project only the best in the world would do six of the best dives of the time were employed led by quaker friend samuel penny who specified that he had his own daughter operate the air pump for him during his excavation of the foundations because he trusted no one else to do it the other divers were john william bateman thomas clicker stephen not fry james rouse and james thacker who are now memorialized by a bronze plaque inside the north tower of the bridge now just before we continue with today's video a quick word from our sponsor squarespace so it's still early in the year still time to make 2022 the year that you take the next steps on that big web project that you've been thinking about fortunately squarespace gives you all of the possible tools that you would need to make your dream into a reality whether it's a small business a sports blog creative portfolio or just a page full of excellent memes it doesn't matter if you can dream it you can build it with squarespace are you looking to get in and out quick without thinking 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your new site go to squarespace.com forward slash megaprojects to save 10 of your first purchase of a website or a domain and now back to today's video over the course of the next eight years construction took place on tower bridge 432 workers were employed over this period most of them coming from scotland despite being over 300 miles away the 11 000 ton steel skeleton forming the main structure of the bridge was constructed by the scottish civil engineering company sir william arlenko based in glasgow this company had built some of the uk's most famous bridges including the fourth bridge and the tail rail bridge skilled experienced labor was essential in such a project it was essential that no expense was spared when it came to that it's because of the high number of experienced bridge builders working on tower bridge which has been credited for the reason that so few injuries took place during construction however building such a project doesn't come risk-free and 10 workers lost their lives during building nevertheless this is still a low number considering the time frame and the number of workers involved [Music] the 11 000 tons of steel framework of tower bridge may be remarkable but most of it's hidden beneath the iconic stonework it's made from 235 thousand cubic feet of cornish granite and portland stone and backed with traditional brickwork a staggering 31 million bricks makeup tower bridge this masonry was used specifically to complement the tower of london just north of the bridge but not all that steel was covered beside the towers of the bridge is the striking steel suspension with an estimated 3 million rivet holes drilled into it to keep the bridge held up and anchor the bridge to the banks for the vascules to work tower bridge doesn't just rely on deep foundations and a steel frame to stay upright but it is part suspension bridge these thick chains also help keep the bridge upright and take the strain off when it's raised for passing ships originally painted chocolate brown not the most desirable color but one which fitted its surroundings at the time it has received several paint jobs over the years notable times were during the queen silver jubilee when it was painted red white and blue now it sports a vibrant blue and white color scheme [Music] as i said the bascule design allowed ships to pass through by allowing the bridge to split in two to attain this the bridge needed some big engines so william armstrong had the solution with his new invention the hydraulic accumulator but before we go into the complexities of the accumulator the hydraulics needed powering and this being the victorian period there was only one readily available option in keeping with the rest of the industrial revolution it was of course steam power this was the energy of choice through most of the 1800s the london hydraulic power company powered much of london including cranes lifts workshops theater machinery and it was the company that provided power and workers for the bridge three large boilers housed within the towers generated the power for the lifting mechanism these boilers were continuously fueled by stokers working in 24-hour shifts to ensure there was enough energy available to lift the bridge whenever required at its peak use tower bridge was opened 20 to 30 times a week that amount of demand required a staggering 20 tons of coal a week to fuel the fires and the steam to power the large steam pumping engines in the engine room it resembled a steam train with its bright green and red color scheme and it ran like one when in motion the engine's pistons turned a large flywheel at the same time as powering a set of hydraulic pumps which pushes water into six huge storage containers of the hydraulic accumulators acting like batteries storing up the energy by holding the water under high pressure allowed for users to store potential energy and access it when required in turn this meant the power was always readily available when tower bridge was required to open the water was released into the drive engines powering yet more pistons to turn a set of cogs these cogs connect to a rack on the back of the baskills opening them for passing river vessels despite the complexity of the system the vascules only take about a minute to raise to their maximum angle of 86 degrees today the best skills are still operated by hydraulic power but since 1976 they've been driven by oil and electricity rather than steam the original pumping engines accumulators and boilers are still in the towers but merely display pieces in the engine rooms a consideration for pedestrians was also built into the towers of the bridge walkways across the bridge were open to the public but they closed in 1910 due to lack of use another contributing factor was that their relative obscurity made the walkways a place for muggings and assaults to take place now the walkways are part of the tower bridge exhibition and as of 1982 were fitted with glass floors for visitors to enjoy the views below them with the building complete and once the engines were pitted and tested it was now time for the bridge to open up on june 30th 1894 after a total cost of 1.184 million pounds the equivalent of 136 million pounds today bridge was finally opened by prince edward and princess alexander of wales in a grand celebration also in attendance with the lord chamberlain lord carrington and the home secretary h.h asquith but not in attendance was the original architect horace jones he died a year into construction and never got to see his bridge the momentous achievement in civil engineering and architectural design in all its glory upon its completion the bridge was considered the largest and most sophisticated basketball bridge ever made you may presume that there's some sort of toll for opening the bridge but there isn't as per an act of parliament passing through tower bridge is toll free also there's 24 hours notice given before the bridge is raised although tower bridge is undoubtedly a landmark it hasn't always been seen as one in the early 20th century several people were critical of his aesthetics with architect henry heathgrove statham writing it represents the vice and tawdriness and pretentiousness and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure roughly translating he said i don't like how it looks i think it's over engineered another criticism came from welsh artist frank brangwin stating that a more absurd structure than tower bridge was never thrown across a strategic river sick burn there haven't always been smooth crossings over the bridge it had been repeatedly targeted by german bombers during the second world war sustaining damage to its walkways baskills and knocking out the engine room a third engine was installed after this as a backup but became redundant when the system was modernized in 1974. it has survived bombings and even eccentric pilots flying their planes through the towers over the years one of these was frank miller who in 1951 flew his plane through tower bridge although he was not the first to do this his excuse was somewhat bewildering miller blamed it on his 13 year old son saying that he had dared him to do it for 35 shillings that's around 30 pounds in today's money unfortunately for frank this did not cover the 100-pound fine that he got in court however the next year would see one of the most infamous incidents occur in the history of the bridge on the 30th of december 1952 bus driver albert gunter was happily driving his number 78 red double decker bus on his usual route cross tower bridge as he was making the crossing heading south something unexpected occurred the road appeared to be moving up in front of him the bridge was opening the usual process would have been the gateman ringing the warning bell and closing the gates when the bridge was clear before the watchmen ordered the raising of the bridge this process failed while a relief watchman was on duty as the bus was nearing the edge of the south bascule it started to rise album made a split-second decision and slammed his foot down the diesel engine roared and the bus made a daredevil jump across the clearing was a mere three feet or 0.9 meters but the drop to the other bastille was 6 feet or 1.8 meters landing with the thud the bus was intact and all 20 of the passengers made it safely as a precaution all of them were taken to hospital there were no serious injuries however there was one poor albert had broken his leg albert gunter was given 10 pounds the equivalent of 290 pounds in 2019 by the city of london corporation to honor his act of bravery and he also got a day off work a less dramatic incident happened in may 1997 during the presidential visit of u.s president bill clinton his motorcade was divided up by the opening of the bridge the thames sailing barge gladys on her way back to a gathering at st catherine's docks arrived on schedule and the bridge opened for her returning from a thames side lunch at la pointe to tour restaurant with uk prime minister tony blair president clinton was less punctual and arrived just as the bridge was rising the bridge opening split the motorcade into much of the consternation of the security staff a spokesman for tower bridge is quoted as saying we tried to contact the american embassy but they wouldn't answer the phone [Music] throughout its history tower bridge has become an icon of london a staple in an ever-changing skyscape of a city constantly under construction it makes many appearances in films and television shows whenever there's a drone shot of london one of the images that will tell you you're in london is one of tower bridge in recent memory tower bridge was a focal point for the 2012 london olympics the olympic rings were suspended from the towers and it was also involved in the opening ceremony furthermore the bridge has inspired architects around the world in fact in the chinese city of suzhou there is a replica of tower bridge the bridge could still make headlines as well in 2021 tower bridges bascules got stuck open and the fault was not able to be fixed for 12 hours bringing considerable traffic chaos to that part of the city it's even part of a myth as a tale that tower bridge was bought by an american tycoon who thought he was buying tower bridge but in fact just bought london bridge but that's not true at all it's just a myth revered throughout its time it's now a symbol of london this is more than just a bridge it's a piece of history so i really hope you found this video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe if you've got a suggestion for a future mega projects video please do let me know in the comments below and as always thank you for watching [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Megaprojects

Views: 121,886

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Id: 8GZQ45tlS_M

Length: 18min 24sec (1104 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 02 2022