14 interesting facts about Tower Bridge in London

More than 50 designs were submitted to the City of London Corporation when the idea was first proposed. Some are on display at Tower Bridge even today. It took 8 years for the Special Bridge or Subway Committee to approve a design. Finally, in October of 1884, the bascule and suspension design of City Architect, Sir Horace Jones, and Sir John Wolfe Barry was chosen.

On 30 June 1894, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and his wife, The Princess of Wales, officially inaugurated the Tower Bridge London with great celebration. The opening of this bridge was an important moment in the history of London because before the bridge opened, people used the Tower Subway which ran under the Thames.

On 30 December 1952, a bus leaped over one bascule to the other. Bus driver Albert Gunter was driving bus number 78 over the bridge when it suddenly began opening. Back then, a watchman was supposed to ring a warning bell and close the gates before Tower Bridge opened, which did not happen on that particular day. Acting quickly, Albert managed to accelerate and jump over to the other bascule without injuring anybody. He was also awarded for his bravery.

The Tower Bridge unveiled two new glass floor walkways in 2014. This was one of the more significant developments to the bridge structure and experience ever since it was first opened to the public. Located 42 meters above the River Thames, the Glass Walkway allows for some very interesting views of London.

Tower Bridge opens its bascules 800 times a year, which amounts to roughly twice a day. Although this seems like a big number, it is nothing compared to the first year of operation. In 1894, the Tower Bridge bascules were lifted 6,194 times, that is 17 times a day! Things have been more streamlined since, clearly!

In 1951, Frank Miller flew a plane through the Tower Bridge on account of a dare his 13-year-old son challenged him to. The dare got Frank 35 shillings but also cost him a heavy £100 fine in court. Interestingly, in 1912, another Frank flew his biplane between the bridge but his reason wasn't as amusing.

Tower Bridge was the highlight of the 2012 London Olympics. Not only were the Olympic rings suspended from the walkways here but the James Bond movie sequence of 007 and The Queen (read: stunt double) flying through the bridge in a helicopter was also shot during the London Olympics opening ceremony.

The original color of the Tower Bridge was a shade of chocolate brown. It was only in 1977 that the Tower Bridge was painted red, white, and blue to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Between 2008 and 2016, the bridge went through some more transformations. It was around this time that Tower Bridge took on the bright blue and white colors that we see today.

The Tower Bridge has continued to function as a vital crossing of the Thames. The Tower Bridge is used by over a whopping 40,000 people and nearly 21,000 vehicles per day. This excludes the 800 times that the bascules raise to let ships through. This does amount to a lot of wear and tear. To maintain the integrity of the structure, the City of London Corporation has imposed a 32 km/h speed restriction, and an 18-ton weight limit on vehicles using the bridge.

A record-breaking 13-meter high Lego version of Tower Bridge was built for the launch of the New Discovery car by Land Rover. Made using a total of 5,805,846 individual pieces, it beat the previous record by 470,646 bricks. If laid end to end, the bricks used in the construction would stretch for almost 200 miles, which is the same distance between Tower Bridge in London to Paris.