#DidYouKnow that Tower Bridge’s stokers used to shovel 20 tonnes of coal per week? Or that there were up to 30 men working in the Engine Rooms, every day of the year? 😮
In our first year of operation, 1894, the then steam-powered bascules were raised more than 6,100 times. By the late 1960s, however, Tower Bridge only opened a few hundred times a year, and steam was no longer an efficient way to raise it.
So, in 1976, the Bridge switched steam power to electricity. The coal burners and accumulators were replaced by an electro-hydraulic system, which uses high-pressure oil rather than water. 💡
The original steam engines were restored and are now on display at Tower Bridge’s Engine Rooms.

Discover more: http://ow.ly/o2V550Dwqfy 
How does Tower Bridge work? | Tower Bridge

Discover how Tower Bridge works and how it is powered. Most know Tower Bridge opens to let vessels through, but now we unravel how it really works. From its construction as a bascule bridge to how...

http://ow.ly/o2V550Dwqfy
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