Tower Bridge facts are easier to hold on to when they come with dates, so this page gives you a timeline, the story by period and a numbered list of facts with a source for each. I wrote it from Wikipedia, Wikidata and the official Tower Bridge site, and where the sources disagree I give both figures. The history ends where a visit begins: if you want to stand on the glass floor yourself, my page on tickets for Tower Bridge compares all 7 options.
Tower Bridge History Timeline
Year
What happened
1876
A committee recommends a bridge or subway east of London Bridge (7 December)
1885
The Tower Bridge Act receives royal assent on 14 August
1886
Construction starts on 22 April; the Prince of Wales lays the foundation stone on 21 June
1887
Horace Jones, the architect, dies
1894
Opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on 30 June
1910
The high-level walkways are closed
1912
Francis McClean flies a floatplane between the bascules and walkways on 10 August
1940
The high-level span takes a direct hit, disabling the hydraulic mechanism
1949
The southern section is Grade I listed on 6 December
1952
A London bus jumps the gap on 30 December
1973
The rest of the bridge is listed on 27 September
1977
Painted red, white and blue for the Silver Jubilee
1982
The Tower Bridge Exhibition opens and the walkways reopen
2008
A £4 million refurbishment is announced; the bridge is later repainted blue and white
2016
Closed to road traffic from 1 October to 30 December for maintenance
2021
Stuck open after a technical failure on 9 August, closing for about 12 hours
Tower Bridge History: Why a Bridge That Opens
By the 1870s the East End and Southwark needed another crossing below London Bridge, but ships still had to reach the Pool of London. A bridge with a fixed deck would have blocked them. According to Wikipedia, a committee proposed in 1884 a low-level bridge with mechanical opening spans, and Design C, a bascule bridge, was recommended to the Court of Common Council on 28 October 1884. Parliament passed the Corporation of London (Tower Bridge) Act on 14 August 1885, and building started the following spring.
Horace Jones was the architect and Sir John Wolfe Barry the engineer, assisted by Henry Marc Brunel. Jones died in 1887, so most of the building was seen through by others. The design was a compromise: a Gothic look in keeping with the nearby Tower of London on the outside, and a steel frame underneath.
Tower Bridge Facts on the Building Work, 1886 to 1894
The Tower Bridge facts about the work itself are big numbers. Wikipedia says more than 70,000 long tons of concrete went into the two piers and more than 11,000 long tons of steel into the towers and walkways, with the steel contractor Sir William Arrol and Co. quoted at £337,113 in May 1889. Both piers were complete by January 1890. An average of 432 men worked on site, at least 1,200 worked on the construction overall, and ten men died in accidents, according to the resident engineer Edward Cruttwell.
The schedule slipped. Parliament extended the construction deadline in 1889 and again in 1893, and the bridge opened on 30 June 1894. The accepted tenders totalled £830,005, but the final cost was £1,184,000, which Wikipedia puts at about £133 million in 2025 money.
Tower Bridge Facts: How the Lift Works
Each of the two bascules weighs about 1,070 tons, per Wikipedia. The central opening span is 200 feet (61 m) and the two side spans are 270 feet (82 m) each, for a total length of 940 feet (290 m) including the abutments. When closed, the clearance for ships is 29 feet; when open it is 135 feet, which are the figures Parliament required.
The first system ran on pressurised water. Water at 750 psi was stored in six accumulators and drove eight three-cylinder engines, two pairs in each pier. Wikipedia says that was replaced by an electro-hydraulic system designed by Geoffrey Beresford Hartwell, and it gives two dates for the change: 1972 in the introduction and 1974 in the body text. I would treat it as the early 1970s. The Victorian engines are the ones you see in the engine rooms today, which I describe on my Tower Bridge map page with a route through the towers.
Tower Bridge Facts From Its Odd Moments
The most repeated Tower Bridge facts are stories, so here they are with dates.
The bridge has a record of stunts and scrapes. In the first twelve months it opened 6,160 times, about seventeen a day, and Wikipedia says it opens about a thousand times a year now. On 10 August 1912, Francis McClean flew a Short Brothers floatplane between the bascules and the walkways. On 30 December 1952, bus driver Albert Gunter was on a route 78 double-decker when the bridge began to lift; he accelerated over a gap of about 3 feet (1 m) and dropped about 6 feet (2 m) onto the north bascule. The conductor broke a leg and twelve of the twenty passengers had minor injuries.
War also left marks. The high-level span took a direct hit in 1940 that disabled the hydraulic mechanism, and a parachute mine exploded close by in April 1941. A third engine was installed in 1942.
Tower Bridge Facts: Walkways, Colours and Myths
Some Tower Bridge facts you may have heard are wrong, so I separate the sourced ones from the legends.
The high-level walkways closed in 1910 and were later converted from cantilever to suspension, which Wikipedia dates to 1960. They reopened as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition in 1982, and in 2019 the exhibition had 889,338 visitors. The bridge was painted red, white and blue in 1977 for the Silver Jubilee and later restored to blue and white; a refurbishment from 2008 stripped it to bare metal and repainted it.
The best-known myth is that the buyer of the old London Bridge, who moved it to Lake Havasu City, thought he was buying Tower Bridge. Wikipedia reports that Robert P. McCulloch denied it and that the seller, Ivan Luckin, debunked it. London Bridge is a different crossing about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream.
12 Tower Bridge Facts With Sources
Construction started on 22 April 1886 and the bridge opened on 30 June 1894 (Wikipedia).
Wikidata gives 1894 as the opening year and Horace Jones as the architect (Wikidata).
The towers are 213 feet (65 m) high, and Wikidata also gives a height of 65 metres (Wikipedia).
The high-level walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above high tide, though one passage in the article says 138 feet (42 m) (Wikipedia).
The central span is 200 feet (61 m) and the total length is 940 feet (290 m) (Wikipedia).
The total cost was £1,184,000, about £133 million in 2025 money (Wikipedia).
More than 70,000 long tons of concrete and more than 11,000 long tons of steel were used (Wikipedia).
Ten men died during construction, according to the resident engineer (Wikipedia).
It opened 6,160 times in its first year and about a thousand times a year today (Wikipedia).
The southern section was Grade I listed on 6 December 1949 and the rest on 27 September 1973 (Wikipedia).
The Tower Bridge Exhibition had 889,338 visitors in 2019 (Wikipedia).
See the Tower Bridge Facts on a Guided Walk
A guide can bring these Tower Bridge facts to life in a way a plain ticket will not, and the guided option I would pick for the history is the Top 30 Sights Walking Tour. It is a small-group walk that includes the Tower Bridge exhibition for $87, rated 4.7 from 41 reviews, so the sample is small and I would read the recent reviews before booking.
Top Sights Tours LLC.
Top 30 Sights Walking Tour and Tower Bridge Exhibit
★4.7 (41 reviews)
7 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: The best-reviewed guided option that includes the exhibition: 4.7 from 41 reviews, a small-group walk with the Tower Bridge ticket included.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Entrance ticket to Tower Bridge exhibition
✓ Walking tour of the top 30 sights in London
✓ Small-group tour
✓ Fun local guide
Not included / not suitable
✕ Hotel pickup and drop-off
✕ Snacks and drinks
Meeting point: We meet outside the Ritz Hotel (W1J 9BR). Next to two red telephone boxes. Nearest underground station is Green Park.
Once you have booked, we will send you a confirmation email with all the details of how, where, and who to meet on the day of your tour. 150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 7 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“To our Guide: Thank you, Brandon! That was a great tour - very entertaining and informative. It couldn't be better. Thank you for the great experience!” – GetYourGuide review
If you just want the towers, the walkways and the engine rooms, the entry ticket is the one with the review volume behind it.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge Entry Ticket
★4.7 (18,913 reviews)
24-hour ticket
Free cancellation
My pick: The plain entry ticket at $24: 4.7 from 18,913 reviews, with both towers, the glass-floor walkways and the engine rooms.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Entrance to Tower Bridge
✓ Access to both towers, the walkways, the glass floor, and the engine rooms
Not included / not suitable
✕ Skip-the-line access
✕ Guided tours
Meeting point: The entrance to Tower Bridge is on the western side of the North Tower.
Join the outside queue and the Tower Bridge team will be on hand to help you enter the Bridge. Tower Bridge Rd, London SE1 2UP, UK
Duration: 1 day
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“While you're waiting in the room before I think you should be allowed a glass of champagne there too” – GetYourGuide review
Construction started on 22 April 1886 and the bridge was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on 30 June 1894, per Wikipedia. Wikidata gives the opening year as 1894. Building took eight years, and the deadline set by Parliament had to be extended twice.
Who designed Tower Bridge?+
Horace Jones designed it and Sir John Wolfe Barry engineered it, with help from Henry Marc Brunel, according to Wikipedia. Jones died in 1887, so he never saw it finished. Wikidata lists Horace Jones as the architect.
How tall is Tower Bridge?+
Wikidata gives a height of 65 metres, and Wikipedia gives the towers as 213 feet (65 m). The high-level walkways sit 143 feet (44 m) above high tide, although another passage in the same article gives 138 feet (42 m), so I would call it about 42 to 44 metres.
How much did Tower Bridge cost to build?+
Wikipedia gives a total cost of £1,184,000, which it equates to £133 million in 2025. The accepted tenders came to £830,005, so the final bill ran well above the early figure. About 432 workers were on site on average and ten died in accidents, per the resident engineer.
How often does Tower Bridge open?+
Wikipedia says the bridge opened 6,160 times in its first twelve months, about seventeen a day, and about a thousand times a year today. I would check the official Tower Bridge lift times page for the dates you are in London.
Is Tower Bridge the same as London Bridge?+
No. London Bridge is about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, per Wikipedia. A popular story says an American buyer of London Bridge thought he was buying Tower Bridge, but Wikipedia reports that he denied it and the seller debunked it.
