7 April 2008
Ancient City Trust pays for four-year-long Tower Bridge and
Southwark Bridge facelift
Tower Bridge
- 22,000 litres of paint will be used on Tower Bridge alone
- 44,000 man hours to complete the Tower Bridge job over a four-
year period
- £4million alone to complete Tower Bridge facelift
- Tower Bridge will retain its traditional blue and white colour
dating back to 1894
- 1,500 tonnes of expendable abrasive will be used to blast Tower
Bridge back to its metal framework before repainting
- 40,000 motorists and pedestrians cross Tower Bridge every
day
- Revolutionary new paint used will last for 25 years with a top
- up every 12 years
- Whole bridge sections will be encapsulated to catch old
paintwork as it falls, protecting Thames river life
Southwark Bridge
- Southwark Bridge will be returned to its original bright
colours of green and yellow
- 13,000 litres of paint will be used on Southwark Bridge
- 26,000 man hours to complete the Southwark Bridge job over a
four - year period
- £2.5 million to complete Southwark Bridge facelift
- 1,000 tonnes of expendable abrasive will be used to blast
Southwark Bridge back to its metal framework before repainting
- The four - year rolling programme will start with
Southwark Bridge next week
An ancient City trust, Bridge House Estates, of which the City
of London Corporation is the sole trustee, will next week start a
£6.5million programme to revitalise Tower Bridge and Southwark
Bridge.
As one of the world’s most iconic and internationally recognised
landmarks, and arguably one of the most ambitious engineering
projects of its age, the smart appearance and imposing grandeur of
Tower Bridge resonates strongly with national pride.
However, thanks to canny investment by the medieval monks who
founded the ancient City charity, the four-year maintenance project
will go ahead alongside continued grant-giving totalling £60million
to charities in Greater London.
The ancient City trust, now worth £700million, can trace its
roots back to 1097 when Londoners paid a toll if they wanted to
cross the original London Bridge, the only bridge over the Thames
until Westminster Bridge opened in 1750.
The primary purpose of this trust was and still is to maintain
all five City bridges (London, Tower, Southwark, Blackfriars and
Millennium Bridges) at no cost to the taxpayer.
However, following an Act of Parliament in 1995, any money
surplus to bridge maintenance requirements was allowed to be
distributed to help charitable causes within Greater London. The
City Bridge Trust was formed to manage the annual distribution of
approximately £15mn a year and has since made over 5,000 grants to
benefit charities in every London borough. The grants in this
12-year period have totalled well over £200 million.
In order to complete the huge task of repainting Tower and
Southwark Bridges, a rolling programme will be implemented by
expert industrial painting contractor Pyeroy, who were this week
awarded the City of London contract to repaint the two bridges. The
programme will see sections of the two bridges, accounting for
roughly 25% of their total structure each time, alternately
shrouded in scaffolding over the next four years until both bridges
are immaculately finished.
This section-by-section approach is essential so as not to
disrupt road or river traffic too dramatically during the work. The
bridges must be completely encapsulated in order to catch the old
paintwork that must be blasted off the metal bridge framework
before repainting can commence. The paint debris will be collected
on a shelf below the bridge which is vacuumed up daily and disposed
of in an environmentally friendly manner.
Clare Thomas, Chief Grants Officer for The City Bridge Trust,
highlights the vital importance of The City Bridge Trust’s grants
to London’s social landscape, “Over the next four years, two of
London’s most precious and iconic resources, Tower Bridge and
Southwark Bridge, will be restored to their former glory - a
tribute to London’s past but also a powerful symbol of all the good
that City of London bridges enable us to do for Londoners. The City
Bridge Trust builds bridges between communities right across London
with its grants to London charities, big and small. Groups working
with old people, disabled people and young people at risk are all
supported. Literally thousands of Londoners will benefit from our
£60 million in grants over the next four years.”
Paul Monaghan, whose work in maintaining the five City of London
bridges is key, added, “These bridges are steeped in history and
play a vital part in everyday London life - it is an honour as an
engineer to play a part in keeping them in good working order.”
Bridge Biographies:
Tower Bridge - £4million facelift over four
years
Tower Bridge has stood over the River Thames in London since 1894
and is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world. It is
the bridge of London you tend to see in movies and on advertising
literature for London. Tower Bridge is the only bridge on the
Thames which can be raised.
- The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince
of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and his wife, Alexandra of
Denmark.
- Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge, its
proximity to the Tower of London gives it its name.
- It is 60 meters long with towers that rise to a height of 43
meters. Its middle section can be raised to permit large vessels to
pass the Tower Bridge. Massive engines raise the bridge sections,
which weigh about 1000 tonnes each, in just over a minute.
- The Bridge used to be raised about 50 times a day, but nowadays
it is only raised around 1000 times a year
- Tower Bridge is still a busy and vital crossing of the Thames:
it is crossed by over 40,000 people (motorists and pedestrians)
every day
Southwark Bridge - £2.5million facelift over four
years
Southwark Bridge is an arch bridge linking Southwark and the City
across the River Thames. It was designed by Ernest George and Basil
Mott and opened in 1921.
- A previous bridge on the site, designed by John Rennie, opened
in 1819. This was known as the "Iron Bridge" in comparison to
London Bridge, the "Stone Bridge". It is frequently referenced by
Charles Dickens, for example in Little Dorritt and Our Mutual
Friend.
- Below the bridge on the south side are some old steps, which
were once used by Thames watermen as a place to moor their boats
and wait for customers. Southwark Bridge was built into the
steps.
- The next bridge upstream is the London Millennium Bridge and
the next downstream is Cannon Street Railway Bridge.
- The south end is near the Tate Modern, the Clink Prison Museum
and the Financial Times building. The north end is near Cannon
Street station.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
The City Bridge Trust The City Bridge Trust is London’s largest
independent grant-making trust, of which the City of London
Corporation is the sole trustee. Through its grant-making and
strategic initiatives, the City Bridge Trust works closely with
voluntary groups and charities to reduce disadvantage in London.
The City Bridge Trust was set up in 1995 as the grant making arm of
Bridge House Estates whose original purpose was to maintain the
first stone bridge across the River Thames – London Bridge.
www.citybridgetrust.org.uk
Bridge House Estates
The parent charity
is The Bridge House Estates. This was set up to fund the
maintenance and development of the City’s bridges with an annual
provision set aside for this purpose. It receives no financial
support from the Government or from any other fund to conserve and
maintain the City bridges. The fund paid for: the building of
Blackfriars Bridge; the purchase of Southwark Bridge and the
construction of Tower Bridge. Most recently, in February 2002 the
fund took over the ownership and maintenance of the pedestrian-only
Millennium Bridge. The primary function of the Bridge House Estates
remains the maintenance of London, Tower, Southwark, Blackfriars
and the Millennium Bridge.
City of London Corporation
The ancient City of London Corporation has a 21st- century role
supporting the business City as the world's leading international
financial and business centre. The City of London Corporation
provides local government services for the City of London “Square
Mile” at the heart of London - but its responsibilities also extend
far beyond the City boundaries and include paying for and running
the Barbican Centre, Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, and three
wholesale food markets, as well as acting as the London Port Health
Authority. The City of London Corporation is the sole trustee of
The City Bridge Trust. It acts as sole trustee of bridge funds.
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