London's Tower Bridge stuck: City curses malfunctioning landmark

Stuck: The 135-year-old landmark refused to cooperate on Saturday, leading to traffic woes. Photo / AP

London's famous Tower Bridge, which crosses the River Thames in the heart of the British capital, was stuck open on Saturday, leaving traffic in chaos and onlookers amazed at the sight.

It was first brought to the attention of the London Metropolitan Police around 10 am, by which time the traffic was already backing up.

#towerbridge waiting to be able to cross the bridge, about 20mins now pic.twitter.com/R5CyHUSQ0W

— Sam Tabahriti (@samtabahriti) August 22, 2020

The historic bascule (or "see-saw") suspension bridge failed to close after opening to allow ships to pass underneath on the Thames. City of London police tweeted shortly after 5 pm that the bridge was closed to pedestrians and traffic and mechanics were working to fix the problem.

#TowerBridge remains closed to traffic, the bridge is open to pedestrians and cyclists. Thank you for your patience. @Squarehighways @TfLTrafficNews @TowerBridge

— City of London Police (@CityPolice) August 23, 2020

A busy crossing point between south London and the City of London's financial district, there were scenes as bicycle couriers, traffic and pedestrians walked up to the bridge's gates to see what the hold up was.

"According to the security radios we overheard there are multiple failures," a witness told the Guardian.

I suggest the Tower Bridge engineers consult this handy guide to fixing everything: https://t.co/e5lxp4kHQY pic.twitter.com/yUjFZ2pfGd

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) August 22, 2020

The bridge remained stuck well into Saturday evening, amusing onlookers and frustrating travellers.

Scenes from Tower Bridge. pic.twitter.com/s2NXAHiMuv

— reverend61 (@reverend61a) August 22, 2020

Tower Bridge is still stuck. Years of watching Blues Brothers has prepared me for this pic.twitter.com/JCBOb6kQVw

— James Cleverley (@JamesCleverley1) August 22, 2020

As of Sunday morning it remained closed to vehicles during repairs, with only cyclist and pedestrians being able to cross - prolonging the traffic woes caused by other bridge closures.

This is hardly the first time the bridge has suffered an embarrassing malfunction. The last time this happened was 2005 when it was left agape for 10 hours.

Then again the historic landmark is getting on a bit as it approaches its 135th year.

Tower Bridge is 244 meters long and its towers are 65 meters high. It was built between 1886 and 1894.

- With AP reporting

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