{"id":94608390,"date":"2012-01-10T11:38:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T11:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/tower-bridge-in-london\/"},"modified":"2018-11-16T10:06:13","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T10:06:13","slug":"tower-bridge-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/tower-bridge-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Tower Bridge in London"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tower<\/div>\n

The Tower Bridge<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Yes, Tower Bridge is that huge and beautiful bridge with the massive towers on either side of its span which crosses the River Thames at London’s East End. No, it is not also referred to as London Bridge. Well, maybe many people actually do refer to it as “London Bridge” but if they do, then they are wrong (London Bridge is the less iconic bridge a little further west of Tower Bridge<\/strong>).\u00a0 Despite its prominent two towers, Tower Bridge derives its name from its proximity to the Tower of London.\u00a0 It was completed, after eight years of construction, in 1894 and was considered to be one of the greatest engineering feats of its day.\u00a0 More than 400 round-the-clock labourers participated in its construction which was overseen by five major contractors.<\/p>\n

The idea to build the bridge arose out of growing demand for a river crossing in London’s East End.\u00a0 Originally, London Bridge was the furthest east.\u00a0 Upon completion, Tower Bridge was the largest and most advanced bascule bridge in the world.\u00a0 A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight continuously balancing its span, generally to provide clearance for boat traffic.\u00a0 As this area of the Thames was (and still is) a busy waterway, such a moveable bridge was required.\u00a0 Hydraulically operated, Tower Bridge used steam power to run its gigantic pump engines.\u00a0 Today, the bridge’s bascules are still hydraulically operated but now powered by oil and electricity to run its engines.<\/p>\n

However, Tower Bridge is not just a bascule bridge.\u00a0 It is also a suspension bridge. Its two towers are joined by two upper level walkways designed (according to the Tower Bridge Wikipedia entry) to “to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge to the left and the right.”\u00a0 These walkways, set at 42 metres (138 feet) above the Thames are open to the public, offering some of London’s most scenic and panoramic views.<\/p>\n

In addition to providing a major throughway for north-south access in and out of the City of London<\/strong> for car and pedestrian traffic, these days Tower Bridge is a much loved tourist attraction.\u00a0 Information about visiting Tower Bridge is available at the Tower Bridge Exhibition’s website, www.towerbridge.org.uk<\/a>.\u00a0 Interestingly, the bridge is also available to hire for parties and receptions. Its four on-bridge settings (including its Victorian Engine Rooms) are popular venues for everything from promotional events to wedding receptions.<\/p>\n

Be sure to experience the Tower Bridge the next time you book a flight to London<\/a><\/strong> and visit.<\/p>\n

New Yorkers can do so with today’s travel deal, NYC to London<\/strong><\/a>, round-trip for $695, taxes included! Be Sure to use PROMO code SM17 to take up to $17 off service fees!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Chris Osburn<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tower Bridge   Yes, Tower Bridge is that huge and beautiful bridge with the massive towers on either side of its span which crosses the River Thames at London’s East End. No, it is not also referred to as London Bridge. Well, maybe many people actually do refer to it as “London Bridge” but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94608390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94608390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94608390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94608390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97201338,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94608390\/revisions\/97201338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94608390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94608390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94608390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}