Around the corner, Mr Monkey found the accumulators. Water was pumped into these accumulators and held under high pressure, so it could be used to open the bridge whenever it was needed without having to start the pumping engines up. This was very important when the Thames was a major commercial route: the bridge was opened 655 times in its first month of operation. Mr Monkey worked out that was about 21 times a day.
Return to Mr Monkey at Tower Bridge
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 10 October 2006