It replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn superseded a 600-year-old stone-built medieval structure. The original pumping engines, accumulators and boilers are now on display within Tower Bridge’s Engine Rooms. The Great Fires of London. Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The "Old" London Bridge of nursery rhyme fame was a stone bridge built by Peter of Colechurch, an architect and priest, between 1176 and 1209. When London declined after the Romans left, the river went back to being a natural border between the Anglo Saxon regions of Mercia and Wessex. The three major iterations of London Bridge … Today’s low key London Bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1983 and uses pre-stressed concrete girders. It was not the earliest station in the London metropolitan area, as the London and Greenwich Railway had opened stations at Spa Road (in Bermondsey) and Deptford on 8 February 1836. It was constructed by contractors John Mowlem and Co from 1967 to 1972, and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 March 1973. Throughout its history, London bridge has been a busy thoroughfare, and was once lined with shops. In an effort to reclaim the English… Like the Millennium Bridge, it too had structural problems when it was first built in 1873 and had to undergo a great deal of renovation work. As a result, it is sometimes confused with London Bridge, about half a mile upstream. These bascules were operated by hydraulics, using steam to power the enormous pumping engines. The new bridge, wide and spacious was busy at once and even more so when the railways came to London, and London Bridge Station opened just south of London Bridge. The bridge was completed in 1894. History Roman bridge. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. For over 600 years this bridge was the key crossing point of the Thames in London, ferrying people, goods and livestock across the river. 1952 - The number 78 London bus driven by Albert Gunter on its way across the Bridge, had to leap from one bascule to the other when the Bridge began to rise. London Bridge station was opened on 14 December 1836, making it the oldest London railway terminus that is still running. History Edit. Despite the complexity of the system, the bascules only took about a minute to raise to their maximum angle of 86 degrees. By the 16th century, structures shot up from the bridge seven stories high and crossing it in peak periods could take an hour. The bridge was only a box girder. London Bridge was made of concrete and steel. London Bridge is not the one you’re probably thinking of, that’s, © S M / Flickr © Dun.can / Flickr © Michael Jefferies / Flickr, © S M / Flickr | Dun.can / Flickr | Michael Jefferies / Flickr. Discover how Tower Bridge works and how it is powered. When it was built, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever completed ('bascule' comes from the French word for 'seesaw'). In 1962, London Bridge was falling down. A bridge has existed at or near the present site over the period from the Roman occupation of the area, nearly 2,000 years ago. Facts about London Bridge 2: the stone arched bridge. In the year 1209, the London Bridge was demolished and rebuilt by a stone bridge lined with houses and shops next to its side. The first was erected over 2,000 years ago, with successive bridges built by the Romans, William the Conqueror and King John. Luckin knew that London Bridge might be a tough sell. A bridge has existed at or near the present site over the period from the Roman occupation of the area, nearly 2,000 years ago. The British government decided to put the bridge up for sale, and Robert McCulloch, Founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation, submitted the winning bid of $2,460,000. The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and has become a world-famous symbol of London. Tower Bridge, one of the London’s most famous landmarks, is a bascule and suspension bridge on River Thames.It has two towers, in Victorian Gothic style, that are connected with two walkways that are constructed so they can resist horizontal forces from suspended parts of the bridge. 2. Within the span of just 33 years, London Bridge suffered from a pair of fires. Dan Cruickshank explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what it is. Between Southwark and the City of London on the north shore the river estuary is much shallower so this was a natural place for the Romans to build a bridge to consolidate their new city, Londinium, which was where the City of London is now. What next? The modern bridge has sleek lines and is adorned with red lights. Several parts of the bridge collapsed over the years, leading to the famous nursery rhyme, “London Bridge is Falling Down”. The five-span reinforced concrete bridge was built entirely on … In 1014 the Danes had seized London. In 1831, the stone bridge was in turn replaced by a granite bridge, and the granite replaced by the present solid bridge. A huge challenge faced the City of London Corporation - how to build a bridge downstream from London Bridge without disrupting river traffic activities. Most of them hardly give it a second thought. The first London Bridge is thought to have been built by the Romans sometime in the first century. It wasn't until October 1884 however, that Sir Horace Jones, the City Architect, in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry, offered the chosen design for Tower Bridge as a solution. Connecting Chelsea and Battersea, Albert Bridge – named after Prince Albert (husband of Queen Victoria) – is one of the most famous landmarks in West London. It is about 240 metres (800 feet) in length and provides an opening 76 metres (250 feet) wide. Traitors and outlaws’ heads would be put on pikes at either end. 1910 - The high-level Walkways, which were designed so that the public could still cross the Bridge when it was raised, were closed due to lack of use. It was dismantled in 1967 and relocated to Arizona. Work began on the bridge in 1824, and the first stone was laid on 15 June 1825. In fact, throughout all these years several bridges had the same name. The Arizona bridge is a reinforced concrete structure clad in the original masonry of the 1830s bridge, which was purchased by Robert P. McCulloch from the City of London. In 1799 the King decided to replace the ancient bridge and hosted a competition for new designs. The bridge was sold to an American in 1968 for $2,460,000 who moved it piece by piece to Arizona and had it rebuilt. The Great Fire of London was different. It was crowded, dangerous and smelly. He then proceeded to followed by fly under at least three other bridges on his way to Westminster. Tower Bridge is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable … Construction was carried out using the cantilever method, with segments being built outward from two piers, each segment tied to the previous one by high-strength steel tendons. Lord Holford designed the current London Bridge. We clear the mix up between Tower Bridge and London Bridge, and share facts you probably did not know about the former. 1886 - The construction of Tower Bridge began on 22 April. Looking to find out more about the Bridge? Albert Bridge. 1982 - Tower Bridge opened to the public for the first time since 1910 with a permanent exhibition inside called The Tower Bridge Experience. London Bridge Facts. Originally it would have had a drawbridge to let ships through and shops existed on the bridge, which caught fire several times before the Great Fire of London. The first phase - Southwark Bridge, Millennium Bridge, London Bridge and Cannon Street Bridge - was switched on on 17 July 2019. Between the towers stretch a pair of glass-covered walkways that are popular among tourists. Built between 1774 and 1777 as a replacement for a ferry crossing, it is now the oldest surviving Thames bridge in London. The accumulators fed the driving engines, which drove the bascules up and down. The history of the London Bridge structure in place today began in 1967 and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on March 17, 1973. In 1969, M. M. Sundt’s heavy civil construction division was already working in the Lake Havasu area on a project to improve Arizona State Route 95, so the company bid on the London Bridge job, and was successful. A stone bridge was erected in the 12th century – it took 33 years to build and had a chapel dedicated to Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, placed in the centre. This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, the first of which was built by the Roman founders of London. Building work started in 1967 and was completed in 1972. It took eight years, five major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction workers each day to build Tower Bridge. The Current London Bridge is widest of all its iterations. London Bridge first was only constructed from concrete and steel when it was opened in 1973 for traffic. Completed in 1831 from a design by engineer John Rennie, it was the less glamorous successor of several other crossings, most notably the medieval London Bridge, which stood for 600 years and was once dotted with buildings and waterwheels. Kingston Bridge It’s a short walk from the Kingston side of Kingston Bridge to the huge park at Hampton Wick. The most famous and longstanding of these was the “Old” Medieval bridge, finished in 1209 during the reign of King John. The first, in 1633, severely damaged the structure and weakened it to some degree. It was from here that pilgrims would set off for Canterbury cathedral. The current London Bridge was designed by architect Lord Holford and engineers Mott, Hay and Anderson. Thirty years later it started to sink.The bridge was sold to an American in 1968 for $2,460,000 who moved it piece by piece to Arizona and had it rebuilt. 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