The bridges over the Thames River They are a vital part of London's transport infrastructure. Among the main ones stand out.
The Tower Bridge
This famous bridge is a monument in the English capital built in 1894. Today some 40.000 vehicles cross Tower Bridge every day and it opens for river traffic about 900 times a year.
Its Victorian Gothic style stems from a law that forced designers to create a structure that could be in harmony with the nearby Tower of London.
Plans for Tower Bridge have been conceived around 1876, when East London became very crowded and the Thames Bridge in the area of the city seemed in need. It would take another eight years - and a lot of discussion about the design - before construction of the bridge began.
About 450 workers were involved in the construction of the 265-meter-long bridge. It took 11,000 tons of steel to build the frame.
The Blackfriars Bridge
The Blackfriars Bridge remains one of the busiest bridges, with an average of 54,000 vehicles passing over it each day. Again there is the weight limit.
The north end is close to the Inns of Court and the Temple Church, along with Blackfriars Station. The southern end is near the Tate Modern art gallery and the Oxo Tower.
It was the third bridge over the Thames in the then urban London area, complementing the old London Bridge and was originally named "William Pitt Bridge" (after Prime Minister William Pitt) But shortly after renamed Blackfriars monastery, a Dominican convent That was ever close
The current bridge is 923 feet long, made up of five wrought iron arches built to a design by Thomas Cubitt. Due to the volume of traffic on the bridge, which was expanded between 1907-10, from 70 feet (21 m) to its current 105 feet (32 m).
