Restoration Works
It’s a Wrap! Major Restoration of Tower Bridge Completed
AFTER three years of grit-blasting, paint analysis, abseiling
engineers, scaffolding, cradles and polyethylene wraps, the most
famous bridge in the world has been restored to all its majestic
glory – and the raising of the Bridge is back!
The major restoration of Tower Bridge, which only takes place
every 25 years, was completed at the end of March and with the
polyethylene wraps removed from the freshly painted bascules, the
bridge is now back in full operational mode and open to shipping.
The first vessel to pass through will be the MV Dixie Queen at
5.30pm on Saturday 2 April.
“As custodians of one of the world’s most iconic and much-loved
structures, it is a privilege to be trusted with the responsibility
of ensuring it is preserved for future generations to enjoy,” said
Tower Bridge Bridge Master Eric Sutherns MBE.
“As Tower Bridge is both a very busy London thoroughfare and a
tourist attraction that’s open 363 days of the year, the works had
to be phased to have minimum impact on the public which is why it
took three years to complete. It’s fantastic to see the Bridge
finally divested of all wraps, scaffolding and cradles and standing
proud in pristine condition again.”
Beginning in March 2008, the scope of the essential works was to
strip away the old layers of paint and repaint all the steelwork.
The Tower Bridge Exhibition remained open throughout the process
but the impressive spectacle of the raising of the immense bascules
had to be suspended from November 2010 to allow the contractors to
carry out the work.
Tower Bridge was the creation of architect Sir Horace Jones and
civil engineer Sir John Wolfe-Barry. It took eight years to
complete and was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince
and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen
Alexandra). It was originally painted a greenish-blue colour and
was a chocolate brown before adopting its present colours of blue,
white and red for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1976.
The £4 million cost of the works has been funded by Bridge House
Estates, an ancient City trust that dates back to 1097 when
medieval monks founded a charity that charged Londoners a toll for
crossing London Bridge. The primary purpose of this trust was, and
still is, to maintain all five City bridges (London, Tower,
Southwark, Blackfriars and Millennium Bridge) at no cost to the
taxpayer. The trust is now worth £700million and continues to give
grants totalling millions every year to charities in Greater
London.
22,000 litres of paint forming six layers of primers and top
coats were used in the state-of-the-art high performance coating
system and around 1,500 tonnes of abrasive material were used to
blast away the old paint and reveal the original metal framework
underneath.
When the repainting began in 2008, paint specialist Patrick Baty
of Papers and Paints was brought in to establish how the Bridge was
painted when it was erected in 1894. By taking samples of paint
from all over the Bridge he was able to analyse the many layers
laid down over the life of the Bridge and record the decorative
history before the evidence was lost. The process revealed more
than just layers of old paint - by removing all the coats of paint
from over the past 116 years it was clear to see how the Clean Air
Act of 1956 improved the quality of London’s atmosphere - no more
soot between layers!
Since the restoration project began it has been recorded and
documented in a dedicated website by Harris Digital Productions,
see
www.thetowerbridge.info
for a comprehensive record of images and procedures used.