Editing Tower Bridge (section)

=== Construction ===
Construction was funded by the [[City Bridge Foundation]], a charity established in 1282 for maintenance of London Bridge that subsequently expanded to cover Tower Bridge, [[Blackfriars Bridge]], [[Southwark Bridge]] and the [[Millennium Bridge (London)|Millennium Bridge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bridge House Estates |url=https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/about-us/city-of-london/bhe |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184527/https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/about-us/city-of-london/bhe |archive-date=9 July 2021 |access-date=1 July 2021 |website=Tower Bridge |publisher=[[City of London Corporation]] }}</ref>

Sir [[John Wolfe Barry]] was appointed engineer and Sir [[Horace Jones (architect)|Horace Jones]] the architect (who, as the City Architect, was also one of the judges).{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=922}}{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=148}} Jones and Barry designed a bridge with two [[bridge tower]]s built on piers. The central [[span (engineering)|span]] was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side spans were suspension bridges, with rods anchored both at the [[abutment]]s and through rods contained in the bridge's upper walkways.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=922}}
[[File:Tower bridge works 1892.jpg|left|thumb|Tower Bridge under construction, 1892]]
Construction – overseen by [[Edward Cruttwell]] – started on 22 April 1886,<ref name=":5" /> with the [[cornerstone|foundation stone]] laid by the [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]] on 21 June, and took eight years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thames – Bridges – Tower Bridge |url=https://www.victorianlondon.org/thames/towerbridge.htm |website=Victorian London |access-date=29 June 2021 |quote=Further communication across the Thames at this point had been urgently needed for many years. The necessary Act was passed in 1885, the foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales on June 21, 1886, and the work completed, at a cost of about a million sterling, in 1894. |archive-date=29 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629154420/https://www.victorianlondon.org/thames/towerbridge.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=times_opening>{{cite news |title=The Opening Of The Towerbridge |newspaper=The Times |date=2 July 1894 |page=11 |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS184736482/TTDA?u=kccl&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=9a3982e1 |access-date=23 June 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The work was divided into eight contracts. Mr (later Sir) [[John Jackson (UK politician)|John Jackson]] won three of those contracts and was responsible for the northern approach to the bridge (which started in February 1887), the foundations of the piers and the abutments of the bridge (started February 1887),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/discover/people/divers |title=The Divers |website=Tower Bridge |publisher=[[City of London Corporation]] |access-date=23 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203844/https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/discover/people/divers |url-status=live }}</ref> and the cast iron parapet for the northern approach (December 1887) at a total accepted tender cost of £189,732;<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Tuit |first=J. E. |date=15 December 1893 |title=The Tower Bridge |journal=The Engineer |pages=556 }}</ref> Sir W. G. [[William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|Armstrong, Mitchell, and Co. Ltd]], was awarded the hydraulics contract for which they tendered £85,232 (December 1887); Mr [[William Webster (builder)|William Webster]] was responsible for the southern approach{{sfn|Welch|Barry|Benham|1894|p=219}} at £38,383 (July 1888); [[Sir William Arrol & Co.]] had the contract for the metalwork of the superstructure<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/discover/people/sir-william-arrol |title=Sir William Arrol |website=Tower Bridge |publisher=[[City of London Corporation]] |access-date=24 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205012/https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/discover/people/sir-william-arrol |url-status=live }}</ref> at £337,113 (May 1889), which amounted to about 12,100 tons;<ref name=":0" /> Messrs Perry & Co won two contracts covering the masonry superstructure (May 1889), and paving and lighting (May 1892) for a total accepted tender of £179,455.<ref name=":1" /> The total accepted tender for the eight contracts was £830,005.<ref name=":1" />

On average 432 people worked on the site,<ref name=":0" /> although at least 1,200 worked on its construction overall and received invitations to the entertainment provided for the workmen at its opening.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=4 July 1894 |title=The Workmen Entertained |work=City Press }}</ref> Cruttwell was the resident engineer throughout the period of construction{{sfn|Tower Bridge|1994|p=47}} (and remained associated with the bridge until his death in 1933).<ref name="Cruttwell">{{Cite web |title=About Edward Cruttwell |url=https://heritage.towerbridge.org.uk/about-edward-cruttwell/ |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=Heritage – Tower Bridge |language=en-GB |archive-date=28 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828153532/https://heritage.towerbridge.org.uk/about-edward-cruttwell/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He noted that there were "only" ten fatal accidents during the construction: four in sinking the foundations, one on the approaches, and the remaining five on the superstructure.<ref name=":0" />

Two piers, containing over {{cvt|70,000|LT|ST t|0}} of concrete, were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction.{{sfn|Jepson|Porges|2014}} The first caisson was started in September 1886 and it was not until January 1890 that both piers were complete. The reason for the long duration of the foundation works was the need to defer excavation of the second pier until the staging for the first pier had been removed to allow 160 feet of clear water-way for shipping.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cruttwell |first=George Edward Wilson |date=28 March 1893 |title=The Foundations of the River-Piers of Tower Bridge |journal=Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |volume=113 |issue=1893 |pages=117–136 |doi=10.1680/imotp.1893.20434 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2245542 |access-date=13 June 2024 |archive-date=29 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240929053428/https://zenodo.org/records/2245542 |url-status=live }}</ref>

More than {{cvt|11,000|LT|ST t|0}} of steel were used in the framework for the towers and walkways, which were then clad in [[Cornwall|Cornish]] [[granite]] and [[Portland stone]] to protect the underlying steelwork, and achieve the stipulation that the bridge should fit architecturally with the Tower of London.{{sfn|Jones|2005|p=285}}

Jones died in 1887, and Barry took over as architect. Barry later summarised the contributions to the construction of Tower Bridge: "Mr Fyson, who undertook much of the preparation of the detailed drawings; Mr Stevenson, who had been his assistant with the architectural work; and...most of all...Mr Cruttwell, the Resident Engineer, and Mr Homfray, who superintended the machinery."<ref name=":3" /> Stevenson replaced Jones's original brick façade with the more ornate [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic]] style, which made the bridge a distinctive landmark and was intended to harmonise the bridge with the nearby Tower of London.{{sfn|Tower Bridge|1994|p=47}}{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=150}} The total cost of construction was £1,184,000<ref name=times_opening/>{{sfn|Tower Bridge|1994|p=47}} (equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|1184000|1894|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=-4}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}