英国伦敦塔桥.doc

英国伦敦塔桥（附图） 　　TOWER BRIDGE LONDON 　　Originally, London Bridge was the only crossing over the Thames. As London grew, so more bridges were added, but these were all to the west of London Bridge, since the area east of London 　　Finally in 1876, the Corporation of London, who were responsible for that part of the Thames, decided that the problem could be put off no longer.? Tower Bridge was completed in 1894, after 8 years of construction. However, many people dont realise why it is so different from 　　How a Design was Chosen 　　The big problem for the Corporation of London was how to build a bridge downstream from London Bridge without disrupting river traffic activities. To get as many ideas as possible, the 　　Over 50 designs were put forward for consideration, some of which you can see if you visit The Tower Bridge Exhibition. However, it wasnt until October 1884 that Horace Jones, the City Architect, in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry, offered the chosen design for Tower 　　The Building of the Bridge 　　It took 8 years, 5 major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction workers to build Tower 　　Two massive piers had to be sunk into the river bed to support the construction, over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the towers and walkways. This was then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the bridge a more pleasing appearance. 　　How it Works - Then? Now 　　When it was built, Tower Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge ever built （bascule comes from the French for see-saw）. It was a hydraulically operated bridge, using steam to power the enormous pumping engines. The energy created was then stored in six massive accumulators so that, as soon as power was required to lift the bridge, it was readily available. The accumulators fed the driving engines, which drove the bascules up and down. Despite the complexity of the system, the bascules only took about a