The installation of the new electro-hydraulic system was begun in 1974. Leveraging the continual advances in hydraulic technology Furthermore, the city had clean air objectives to meet. Keeping the coal-fired furnaces running to produce the steam required to power the hydraulic system was no longer an efficient way of working. Switching to an electric hydraulic systemīy 1970, the bridge was opened only a few hundred times each year. However, as the river traffic declined over the 20th century, steam was no longer an efficient way to power the bridge’s mechanism. In the first year after the bridge was first built, more than 6,000 ships sailed through the open bascules of Tower Bridge. The cogs then connect to a rack on the rear of each of the bascules to open them so that ships can sail up the river. The drive engines powered the pistons which turned the cogs. The water would be released into the drive engines when the bridge was required to open. The accumulators hold the water under high pressure – thereby storing the energy, a bit like giant batteries. The Tower Bridge steam engines powered a set of hydraulic pumps, which pushed water into large storage containers called accumulators. In the 1990s, Tower Bridge was at the centre of a diplomatic incident after Tony Blair took Bill Clinton to lunch at the Pont de la Tour restaurant beside the Thames… However, this notion seems to be roundly disproved by a picture of McCulloch standing on the old London Bridge when signing the purchase paperwork! It was suggested McCulloch made the investment thinking the bridge he was buying was, in fact, Tower Bridge. American businessman Robert McCulloch bought London Bridge in 1968 for a cool $2.4 million as a focal point for a development in Arizona.
In the latter part of the twentieth century, rumours persist e d that Tower Bridge was part of an elaborate ruse. Luckily, Gunter cleared the gap and landed all of the twenty passengers on board, back to earth safely. It seemed that on that day, the watchman had failed to ring the warning bell and close the gates before the bridge opened. Realising his bus was on a rising bascule, Gunter slammed his foot on the accelerator and cleared the gap.
#Old tower bridge driver#
In 1952 bus driver Albert Gunter was happily driving the number 78 bus over Tower Bridge towards Shoreditch when the road in front of him seemed to drop away. London’s iconic Tower Bridge has been the subject of some amazing stories over the years…
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