Tower Bridge

51°30′20″N 0°04′32″W / 51.50556°N 0.07556°W / 51.50556; -0.07556

Tower Bridge
Coordinates	51°30′20″N 0°04′31″W / 51.5055°N 0.075406°W / 51.5055; -0.075406
Carries	2 lanes of A100 Tower Bridge Road, cyclists, and pedestrians
Crosses	River Thames
Locale	London boroughs: – north side: Tower Hamlets – south side: Southwark
Maintained by	Bridge House Estates
Heritage status	Grade I listed structure
Preceded by	London Bridge
Followed by	Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Bascule bridge / Suspension Bridge
Total length	801 ft (244 m)
Height	213 ft (65 m)
Longest span	270 ft (82.3 m)
Clearance below	28 ft (8.6 m) (closed) 139 ft (42.5 m) (open) (mean high water spring tide)
History
Opened	30 June 1894; 130 years ago (1894-06-30)
Location

Tower Bridge is a drawbridge in London. It crosses the River Thames near the Tower of London. It allows ships through the bridge deck when is raised at an angle in the centre.

The north side of the bridge is Tower Hill, and the south side of the bridge comes down into Bermondsey, an area in Southwark. Tower Bridge is far more visible than London Bridge, which people often mistake it for. Many tourists go to London to see the Tower Bridge. It has its own exhibition centre in the horizontal walkway. This gives one of the best vantage points in London.

The "bascules" are the surfaces raised to allow tall ships to pass through: this happens about 900 times per year. The bridge's decks (bascules) can be raised to 83^o from the horizontal.