Tower Bridge blues
photo by Lars Plougmann

The plans for the bridge's construction were conceived around the year 1876, when the east of London became extremely crowded and a bridge across the Thames was necessary. But it was only eight years after that the design was approved and the construction started.

Because of its proximity to the harbor, the bridge had to allow the passage of large vessels and to accommodate boat traffic. Also, because it was so close to the Tower of London, it had to integrate and be in harmony with it, hence its Victorian Gothic style.

At the time it was built, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever constructed.

Today, the bridge is one of London's landmarks, photographed and visited by many tourists. Inside the bridge there's the Tower Bridge Exhibition, where you can find out the bridge's history, see films and photos. Also, from the walkway between the two towers, you'll have a magnificent view over London.

At the moment, the bridge is undergoing a renovation project that should be completed in 2012.

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The photos displayed on this page are the property of one of the following authors:

Lars Plougmann, Jim Trodel, Stephen, Håkan Dahlström, Jayt74, Garry Knight, Adriano Aurelio Araujo, Cristian Bortes, David Telford

Some photos courtesy of: . The photos provided by Flickr are under the copyright of their owners.

This travel guide also includes text from Wikitravel articles, all available at WikitravelView full credits

This travel guide also includes text from Wikipedia articles, all available at WikipediaView full credits

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