Every great city has some iconic structure that identifies the city for the world. Rio de Janeiro has Christ the Redeemer Statue sitting above the city or Sydney has the opera house sitting in the harbor. Some of the world’s most important cities have many icons like Paris with the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe. With London there is Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and plenty more. Not the least of which is the Tower Bridge.

The Tower Bridge in London is a recognizable feature the world over. Finished after eight years work in 1894, the Tower Bridge still opens to allow ships to pass through. It uses hydraulics to open the bridge. Though now open to foot traffic on the walkway, the walkway had been closed to visitors for many decades because the number of suicides and prostitutes it attracted. The walkway sits 42 meters above the River Thames. Still, over 40,000 people use the bridge every day with all manner of traffic coming over the bridge.

The construction of the Tower Bridge was proudly built with the United Kingdom’s finest materials. The cover for the towers are Portland stone and Cornish granite, with the framework made of Scottish steel, 11,000 tons of steel. The towers took 70,000 tons of concrete to be sunk to support them. It was designed by Sir Horace Jones to be a combination bascule (draw) and suspension bridge. Inside the towers are presentations and exhibits about the constructing of the bridge.