The Palace of
Westminster is now the home of the two houses of parliament that run the
United Kingdom, but at one time was a Royal Palace. Very little of the
current building exists from this time with the exception of Westminster
Hall. It has been rebuilt and repaired many times over the years. Today it
contains 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 3 miles (5 Km) of passageways.
Plans for the Tower Bridge were devised around 1876 when the east of
London became extremely crowded and a bridge across the Thames in that
area of the city seemed a necessity. It would take another eight years -
and lots of discussions about the design - before construction of the
bridge started.
The bridge, designed by city architect Horace Jones in collaboration
with John Wolfe Barry, would eventually be completed in 1894. Five
contractors and nearly 450 workers were involved in the construction of
the 265 meter long bridge. It took 11,000 tons of steel to build the
framework. At the time many people disliked its Victorian Gothic design,
but over time the bridge became one of London's most famous symbols.
