European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Noble mock gothic confection by Gregory Jensen United press International o be Hundred years ago the foundation Stone was Laid for what has beco Elondon s oddest tourist attraction. Who wants to spend a vacation clambering around a Bridge lots of people when it s what we Call the wonder Bridge of London " said it. Col. Roy Dalton on a glassed in Walkway giddily High above the River thames. We had 356,000 visitors last year Dalton said. We d like to see half a million added an aide. Dalton is Bridge master of Tower Bridge that Noble mock gothic confection which hoists its Center arms called Bascule to let ships pass. This Bridge is the veritable Symbol of London though myriads of people mistake it for London Bridge of the falling Down Nursery rhyme which is the next one upstream. Tower Bridge has been open to tourists since a multimillion Dollar refit in 1982. Most come for the vast panoramic views from its twin walkways 140 feet above water level a spectacular look straight Down at the Tower of London West Over All London landmarks and East to redeveloping docklands and the capital s lesser known quarters. But tourists take second place. This is still a working Bridge Dalton said although it is not so Busy As when it was up More often than it was  the demise of London s seaport traffic savagely slashed the Bridge s operation. In 1955 it opened 325,358 times. Now it s about 250 times a year. Even so visitors get a rare exposure to a feat of victorian Era engineering so monumental so ingenious and so Safe that assistant Bridge master Keith Bywater still shakes his head in disbelief. We Don t have engineers like the blokes who designed this sort of thing Bywater said on a recent tour. This is unique. There s not another exactly like  Bywater gestured at a Hydraulic engine which cranked the 1,200-ton Bascule up and Down. Each of the two lifting sections had four such engines. But Only one was needed to do the Job Bywater said. It not Only lifted the Bascule it kept the other three engines going so they could take Over if it failed a fantastic amount of Over Power. And you find the same safety margins right throughout the  that is precisely where today s visitors go for their $3 admission half Price for children right throughout the  they clamber up through the North Tower s Gargantuan Steelwork Tower Bridge is a steel Bridge although cosmetically dressed in Granite to the Glass enclosed West Walkway and its fantastic View. Then Down through the South Tower and along the Bridge to a separate building on the South Shore. This houses a victorian Era boiler room and two giant steam engines one kept turning Over for show which powered the Complex Hydraulic system used to raise the Bascule from 1894 to 1971. Back up the South Tower to the East Walkway whose Diamond pane windows open onto the whole Eastern half of London. Information panels along the Way fill in Tower Bridge s Rich ancestry. Its family tree reaches Back to a roman Bridge nearly 2,000 years ago and the ancient London Bridge which was crowded with houses and shops. The panels abound in statistics enough Concrete in the Bridge to Span the English Channel with a 10-foot slab 27,260 tons of bricks 30,000 tons of Stone foundation Laid 1886, Bridge open 1894, Bascule mechanism electrified 1971. It s easy among the figures to miss the amazing Story behind Tower Bridge London Bridge and two others the Story of the Bridge House estates Trust. It began of hundreds of years ago when someone left a bit of property to As he put it god and London Bridge " Dalton said in an interview. That was in the Early 12th Century when Only one Bridge spanned the thames. That became the favored phrase god and London Bridge and Over the centuries lots of people made similar  this mass of property and the untold millions it generates in rents and leases was put into a charitable Trust. For More than 800 years it has been dedicated solely to helping people Cross the thames. Tower Bridge was built from the proceeds. Its tourist facilities were installed with Trust Money. The Bridge is maintained and kept toll free no charge to Cross it or pass under it by these funds without a Penny of taxpayers Money being used. The same applies to the other three Bridges to the West of this one Bywater said. It s quite a set up i Don t know of another in the world like  today Tower Bridge is everyone s favorite viewed fondly As an architectural fantasy of great Charm. But in 1894 when it opened the professional Magazine the builder was outraged. A monstrous and preposterous architectural Sham it thundered in an article reproduced on one information panel. A discredit to the generation which has erected  sunday March 2, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13