Mr Monkey studied an advert from 1894 attempting to link the newly built bridge to indigestion tablets, then scampered into the South Tower. Here he watched a film about building the bridge, and peered up into the roof to see some slightly ghostly mannequins at work. Only 10 of the 432 workers who laboured on Tower Bridge between 1886 and 1894 died during the work, which Mr Monkey thinks is pretty good for the ninteenth century.
Not including the machinery to make the bridge actually work, the following materials were used building Tower Bridge:
Concrete 36,857 tons Brickwork 27,260 tons Masonry 30,000 tons Granite paving & kerbs 3,900 tons Wood paving 5,700 square yards Footway paving 9,500 square yards Portland cement 20,000 tons Iron & steel 11,300 tons Cast iron 1,500 tons Total cost (parts & labour) £1,184,000
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Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 10 October 2006