Tower Bridge was designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It was constructed to give better access to the East End, which had expanded its commercial potential in the 19th century. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1894.
It is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust founded in 1282.
The bridge is 240 m in length and consists of two 65 m bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. Originally hydraulically powered, the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. It remains an important traffic route with 40 000 crossings every day. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians.
