Some cool strategic China sourcing process images:
AP photo – Panjwai, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, March 11, 2012 … US Soldier Held for Shooting Afghan Civilians (March 11, 2012 ) …item 2.. US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians – video …item 3.. Mail Online – 12 March 2012 …
Image by marsmet511
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, could offer only a few details about the shooting that took place in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar Province.
“What we know so far is that, in the very early morning hours of this morning, under the hours of darkness, a U.S. soldier left a forward operating base in the Panjwai area in the west of Kandahar. He went into the nearby village and shot innocent civilians under circumstances which still have to be investigated, then returned to the base and handed himself in, and he is in U.S. custody at the moment,” he said.
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…..item 1)…. Voice of America … www.voanews.com/english/news … News RSS Feed
March 11, 2012
US Soldier Held for Shooting Afghan Civilians
Brian Padden | Islamabad
www.voanews.com/english/news/US-Soldier-Held-for-Shooting…
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Afghan National Army soldiers keep watch as Afghans gather outside a U.S. base in Panjwai district Kandahar province, March 11, 2012.
Photo: Reuters
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In Afghanistan, a U.S. soldier has been detained after shooting Afghan civilians Sunday. Afghan officials report at least 16 dead.
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, could offer only a few details about the shooting that took place in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar Province.
“What we know so far is that, in the very early morning hours of this morning, under the hours of darkness, a U.S. soldier left a forward operating base in the Panjwai area in the west of Kandahar. He went into the nearby village and shot innocent civilians under circumstances which still have to be investigated, then returned to the base and handed himself in, and he is in U.S. custody at the moment,” he said.
Jacobson could not confirm the number of casualties, nor the motivation behind the attack but said a full investigation would soon be underway.
Asadullah Khalid, the Afghan minister of border and tribal affairs, says the U.S. soldier went on an unprovoked killing spree in the nearby villages.
—–11 people killed in one home
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An elderly Afghan man sits in a minivan next to the covered body of a person allegedly shot dead by a U.S. service member in Panjwai, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, March 11, 2012.
AP
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He says a number of people were martyred in a few houses, in one house 11 people were martyred and in another house many people were wounded and one was martyred.
Both ISAF and Afghan officials have condemned the incident and expressed concern for the victims and their families.
The Panjwai district in Kandahar had been considered a Taliban stronghold in the recent past. In 2010 it was the scene of heavy fighting between U.S. forces and the Taliban. General Jacobson says the military is concerned that this incident could jeopardize progress made to stabilize the region.
“ISAF has made great progress in recent weeks and months in stabilizing an area that was once very much hardcore land of the Taliban," he said. "So we are looking at this incident also from the perspective, does it do any damage to what we are doing, to the work that is done there in the hand-over process of responsibility to Afghan national security forces.”
—–Concerns over anti-American sentiment
There is concern that this shooting could further increase anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan. Relations between the two countries have been tense since U.S. soldiers inadvertently burned Qurans at an American military base in February. That incident sparked a week of violent protests nationwide and a number of deadly attacks against U.S. soldiers. The U.S. military has temporarily recalled staff from Afghan ministries.
An official military inquiry into the Quran burnings is still pending and American soldiers involved in the incident could face disciplinary actions.
Andrew Wilder, director of Afghanistan and Pakistan programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace says this attack against Afghan civilians will fuel more anger against the U.S. but it will probably not significantly alter the complicated relationship between the two countries.
"Afghans are very ambivalent about the presence of international forces in Afghanistan," said Wilder. "I think primarily because they are not perceived to have brought security that is probably the biggest cause of resentment. However, they also fear the rapid withdraw of international forces as they fear that would be very destabilizing. So even despite these kinds of incidents rightfully anger Afghans, I don’t think that necessarily translates to the majority of Afghans wanting international forces rushing to the exits."
As late as Friday, relations seemed to be mending as the two countries agreed to transfer full control of an American detention facility to Afghanistan in six months. The agreement removed a major obstacle in developing a strategic partnership that will define a U.S. role in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdraws most of its 98,000 combat soldiers in 2014.
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…US Service Member Kills At Least 16 Afghan Civilians
…Afghanistan Blast Kills Six British Soldiers
…Karzai: US-Afghan Strategic Deal Makes Progress
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…..item 2)…. the guardian … www.guardian.co.uk/world … News … World news
Afghanistan
guardian.co.uk, Monday 12 March 2012
www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/mar/12/us-soldier-kil…
US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians – videoAn American member of the Nato force in Afghanistan has left his base in Zangabad, Kandahar province, and shot dead 16 civilians including children in an adjoining village. The soldier was later arrested. The case adds to tensions between the US and Afghanistan over the continued foreign military presence and the deaths of civilians in drone strikes and other attacks
Source: Reuters
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…..item 3)…. Mail Online … www.dailymail.co.uk … Taliban vows revenge after U.S. Sergeant on SEAL team ‘shoots dead nine sleeping Afghan children before burning their bodies’ in deadly rampage that killed 16
…U.S. and British officials warn of reprisals against troops after massacre
…Taliban vows to avenge deaths, saying more than one soldier involved
…Shooter identified as Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington
…Base regarded as ‘most troubled in the military’ with history of killings
…’Entered three homes, shot 16 dead after suffering mental breakdown’
…Nine children and three women among those reported dead
…Relative: He ‘poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them’
By BETH STEBNER and THOMAS DURANTE
PUBLISHED: 08:54 EST, 11 March 2012 | UPDATED: 04:22 EST, 12 March 2012
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113410/US-soldier-kills…
NATO troops in Afghanistan are on high alert after the Taliban vowed to avenge the deaths of 16 innocent civilians – including nine children and three women – who were shot and killed by a rogue U.S. soldier who opened fire after suffering a ‘mental breakdown’ early Sunday morning.
The Army staff sergeant, stationed at a U.S. base in Kandahar, entered three Afghan family’s homes at 3am and began the vicious killing spree. Relatives of the dead said he then ‘poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them.’
The shooter is an Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis-McChord in Washington state, and was believed to have acted alone.
Military officials are investigating the incident and working to discover what made the soldier – believed to be a father of three – snap to such extremes that he would embark on a killing mission.
With tensions rising in the region, U.S. and British officials said they were now braced for a backlash as the Taliban claimed the killings were the work of ‘more than one soldier’.
Militants condemned the ‘blood-soaked and inhumane crime’ by ‘sick-minded American savages’ on its website and vowed to take revenge ‘for every single martyr with the help of Allah’.
—–Scroll down for videos WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
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Disbelief: Two grief-stricken Afghan men look into the van where the body of a badly burned child lays, wrapped in a blue blanket
EPA
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Horrific: The bodies of an elderly Afghan man and a child killed in the Alkozai village of Panjwayi district are shown wrapped in blankets
AFP / Getty Images
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img code photo .. Joint Base Lewis-McChord … Fort Lewis, Washington State
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Station: The shooter was identified by U.S. officials as an Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington, which has troubling history
AP
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Initial reports indicated the gunman returned to his base after the shooting, calmly turned himself in and was taken into custody at a NATO base in Afghanistan.
In a statement, Afghan President Hamid Karzai left open the possibility of more than one shooter. He initially spoke of a single U.S. gunman, then referred to ‘American forces’ entering houses.
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The statement quoted a 15-year-old survivor named Rafiullah, shot in the leg, as telling Karzai in a phone call that ‘soldiers’ broke into his house, woke up his family and began shooting them.
Mr Karzai condemned the attacks as ‘an assassination’ and furiously demanded an explanation from the U.S.
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High alert: American soldiers keep watch at the entrance of a military base near Alkozai village following the shooting of Afghan civilians, after which the Afghan Taliban vowed revenge
AFP / Getty Images
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Little is known about the soldier who committed the atrocities, including his name, but a U.S. official said he is married with three children, and served three separate tours in Iraq.
He was assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs engaged in a village stability operation.
Such operations are among NATO’s best hopes for transitioning out of Afghanistan, pairing special operations troops with villagers chosen by village elders to become essentially a sanctioned, armed neighbourhood watch. He has reportedly been stationed in Afghanistan since December.
Fort Lewis-McChord is about 45 miles south of Seattle and home to about 100,000 military and civilian personnel.
A former soldier out of Fort Lewis shot and injured a Salt Lake City police officer in 2010, and on January 1, a 24-year-old Iraq War veteran shot and killed a Mount Rainier National Park ranger.
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Watchful eye: Afghan soldiers stand guard outside the houses where 16 civilians were shot dead by a U.S. soldier
KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex features
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Tragedy: Locals people gather outside the houses where 17 civilians were murdered by a U.S. soldier in a horrific house-to-house killing spree
KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex featues
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Four Lewis-McChord soldiers were convicted in the deliberate thrill killings of three Afghan civilians in 2010. The military newspaper Stars and Stripes called it ‘the most troubled base in the military’ that year.
The attack is sure to further tarnish relations between Afghanistan and the U.S., as it comes weeks after NATO soldiers burned copies of the Koran – the Muslim holy book – sparking a violent protest that has left some 30 people dead.
And the former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, said British troops could now be targeted in revenge and that the massacre would also erode the vital trust allied forces have built up with Afghan civilians over the course of the war.
He told ITV’s Daybreak: ‘I think every soldier in Afghanistan, British, American and other allies, will be sickened by a person wearing their own uniform literally going door to door and killing people as they sleep in their houses.
‘These are the very people that this soldier and his comrades are supposed to be in Afghanistan to protect not kill.
‘You would have to make a very persuasive case that these actions were due to mental stress, that’s not to say that the stress isn’t there for every soldier in Afghanistan.’
Neighbours said they had awoken to crackling gunfire from American soldiers, who they described as laughing and drunk.
‘They were all drunk and shooting all over the place,’ said Agha Lala, who visited one of the homes where killings took place. ‘Their [the victims’] bodies were riddled with bullets.’
A senior U.S. defence official in Washington rejected witness accounts that several apparently drunk soldiers were involved.
‘Based on the preliminary information we have this account is flatly wrong,’ the official said. ‘We believe one U.S. service member acted alone, not a group of U.S. soldiers.’
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TALIBAN DOUBTS ‘BLOOD-SOAKED’ CRIME WORK OF ONE SOLDIER
The Taliban posted on its website today that ‘American savages’ committed the ‘blood-soaked and inhumane crime’.
It also expressed doubt that a single soldier could have carried out the shootings in houses over a mile apart.
Villagers told Afghan officials they heard shots being fired from several directions.
Abdul Rahim Ayubi, a lawmaker from Kandahar province, said the distance between the houses raised questions about how a single soldier could have carried out all of the shootings.
He said: ‘It is not possible for only one American soldier to come out of his base, kill a number of people far away, burn the bodies, go to another house and kill civilians there, then walk at least 2 kilometers and enter another house, kill civilians and burn them.’
Abdul Ghani, a local councilman in Panjwai district, said local villagers reported seeing two groups of soldiers.
He said: ‘The villagers said they were hearing machine gun fire and pistol fire from different directions.’
But a spokesman for U.S.-led forces, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, said that their reports still indicate a single soldier carried out the attacks.
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Tears of grief: An Afghan youth mourns for his relatives, who were allegedly killed by the U.S. service member
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Aftermath: Families gather in the Panjwayi district hours after the rogue U.S. soldier opened fire on innocents in three houses, killing 16 people, including nine children
KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex features
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An AP photographer reported that he saw 15 bodies of Afghans – some of them burned and some covered with blankets – in the villages of Alkozai and Balandi in Kandahar province’s Panjwai district.
One man told the AFP news agency of his great loss. ‘Eleven members of my family are dead. They are all dead,’ Haji Samad said.
‘They [Americans] poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them,’ a weeping Mr Samad told Reuters at the scene.
According to Al Jazeera, the soldier went into three separate houses at 3am local time when it was pitch black and shot the civilians, who were sleeping in their beds.
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Bloody Sunday: Afghan soldiers and villagers congregate outside the houses where 17 civilians were killed by a U.S. soldier
KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex features
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Perched: An elderly Afghan man sits next to the covered body of a person who was killed early today by a U.S. service member
AP
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Scene of the crime: Afghan men investigate at the site of an shooting incident in Kandahar province
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In shock: Relatives sat in shock in a van also carrying the bodies of their kin wrapped in blankets
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Beyond tears: A grieving Afghan sits in a van next to one of the bodies (left) while another man sits in a truck bed keeping watch over the body of a young boy
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Beyond tears: A grieving Afghan sits in a van next to one of the bodies (left) while another man sits in a truck bed keeping watch over the body of a young boy
AP
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A resident of Alkozai, where the shootings took place, said 16 people were killed as the U.S. service member went into three different houses and started shooting.
The villager, Abdul Baqi, said he had not seen the bodies himself, but had talked to the family members of the dead.
‘When it was happening in the middle of the night we were inside our houses. I heard gunshots and then silence and then gunshots again,’ Mr Baqi said.
‘Eleven members of my family are dead. They are all dead.’
-Haji Samad
Reports say that 15 members from two Afghan families were slaughtered, as well as an unidentified sixteenth person.
Mr Karzai also said that five people were wounded. Their conditions are unknown.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta called the Afghan president to express ‘profound regret’ and assure him that ‘this terrible incident does not reflect our shared values or the progress we have made together,’ his office said in a statement.
He concluded: ‘We will bring those responsible to justice.’
Maj Jason Waggoner, another spokesman for ISAF said: ‘The civilian casualties were not the result of any operations. The soldier was acting on his own. After the incident, he returned to the compound and turned himself in.’
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img code photo … President Obama
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‘Deeply saddened’: President Obama talks with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai from the back of his vehicle in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Reuters
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img code photo … Afghan President Hamid Karzai
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Demanding answers: Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the shootings as an ‘assassination’ and said it ‘cannot be forgiven’
AFP / Getty Images
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NATO-led International Security Assistance Force deputy commander Lt Gen Andrian Bradshaw would not speculate the reasoning behind the seemingly random attack.
Mr Karzai said in a statement that he was sending high-level authorities to investigate the shooting and deliver a full report. NATO officials, too, are conducting an inquiry.
‘This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven,’ Mr Karzai said in a statement, adding that he has repeatedly called for the U.S. to stop killing Afghan citizens.
President Obama issued a statement this afternoon saying he is ‘deeply saddened’ by the ‘tragic and shocking’ killing of Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier.
He said: ‘This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan.’
The White House said that Mr Obama phoned Mr Karzai to personally express his regret.
The president also vowed to ‘get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible.’
On Sunday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement: ‘We are deeply concerned by the initial reports of this incident, and are monitoring the situation closely.’
There are precious few details on the alleged shooter. Officials have only said that he was an Army staff sergeant who was acting alone.
On CBS’ Face the Nation, Newt Gingrich commented on the escalating tensions in Afghanistan and elsewhere, saying: ‘I think that we have to reassess the entire region,’ noting Washington’s tumultuous relationship with neighbouring Pakistan as well.
Twelve of the dead were from Balandi, said Samad Khan, a farmer who lost all 11 members of his family, including women and children.
Mr Khan was away from the village when the incident occurred and returned to find his family members shot dead and burned.
One of his neighbours was also killed, he said. It was unclear how or why the bodies were set ablaze.
To prove that the bodies had been set on fire, Afghan villagers brought out badly burned blankets, the New York Times reported. More than 300 people came out to protest the senseless violence.
An AP photo showed the bloodstained corner of a house next to a large black area that was charred by fire. The charred area appeared to be remnants of blankets and possibly bodies that had been set on fire.
Villagers packed inside the minibus looked on with concern as a woman spoke to reporters. She pulled back a blanket to reveal the body of a smaller child wearing what appeared to be red pajamas.
A third dead child lay in a pile of green blankets in the bed of a truck.
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Response: U.S. armoured vehicles parked outside the a U.S. base in Panjwai district Kandahar province following the attacks as Afghan citizens looked on
Reuters
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Standing guard: Afghan National Army soldiers keep watch inside the base after the brutal attacks
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East meets west: A U.S. soldier, part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force the military base and passes a stone-faced Afghan man
AP
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img code photo … Eagle eyes
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Eagle eyes: U.S. Army and Afghan soldiers were perched in a guard tower at their base in Panjwai following the deadly shootings
AP
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‘This is an anti-human and anti-Islamic act,’ said Mr Khan. ‘Nobody is allowed in any religion in the world to kill children and women.’
Mr Khan demanded that Karzai punish the American shooter.
‘Otherwise we will make a decision,’ said Mr Khan. ‘He should be handed over to us,’ he told the Associated Press.
‘I cannot explain the motivation behind such callous acts, but they were in no way part of authorised ISAF military activity,’ he said in a statement.
There were reports of protests in Panjwai following the shooting and the U.S. embassy warned travellers in Kandahar province to ‘exercise caution.’
The Afghan Taliban would take revenge for the deaths, the group said in an e-mailed statement to media.
‘The so-called American peacekeepers have once again quenched their thirst with the blood of innocent Afghan civilians in Kandahar province,’ the Taliban’s statement read.
The shooting comes after weeks of tense relations between U.S. forces and their Afghan hosts following the burning of Korans and other religious materials at an American base.
Though U.S. officials apologised and said the burning was purely accidental, the incident sparked violent protests and attacks that killed some 30 people and a host of anti-American protests.
Six U.S. troops have been killed in attacks by their Afghan colleagues since news of the Koran burnings came to light.
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OBAMA ‘DEEPLY SADDENED’ BY ‘SHOCKING’ AFGHAN SHOOTING
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img code photo … President Obama
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President Obama issued a statement Sunday saying he is ‘deeply saddened’ by the ‘tragic and shocking’ killing of Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier.
He said: ‘This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan.’
The president also vowed to ‘get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible.’
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Age of innocence: Afghan boys sit on the ground near the scene where Afghans were killed by a U.S. service member
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Furious: Afghan civilians gathered outside the military base today; tensions between the U.S. and Afghanistan have been tense at best for the past decade
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In the capital, meanwhile, Mr Karzai said the government still expects to sign a strategic partnership agreement with the United States by the time a NATO summit convenes in Chicago in May.
The agreement would formalize the U.S.-Afghan relationship and the role of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after NATO’s scheduled transfer of security responsibility to the Afghan government at the end of 2014.
‘The so-called American peacekeepers have once again quenched their thirst with the blood of innocent Afghan civilians in Kandahar province.’
-Afghan Taliban
But Mr Karzai stressed the China importance of foreign forces leaving Afghanistan to preserve the country’s national sovereignty.
Any international forces that remain after 2014 would have to operate under strict guidelines governing their responsibilities and when they could leave their bases, he said.
‘We have a strong army and police, so it is to our benefit to have good relations with the international community, not have international troops in our country,’ Mr Karzai said at a public event in Kabul.
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Retaliation: The political and religious party Jamat-e-Islami burn an effigy of President Obama in response to Koran burnings last month at a NATO base, heightening tensions
Reuters
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The president has demanded that international forces stop night raids on the homes of suspected militants as a condition to signing the strategic partnership agreement.
The raids have caused widespread anger among Afghans.
All foreign combat troops are slated to withdraw by end of 2014 from a costly war that has become increasingly unpopular.
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img code photo … Prominent Afghan women’s rights activist Malalai Joya
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Assassination attempt: Prominent Afghan women’s rights activist Malalai Joya said a gunman tried to take her life Sunday
AFP / Getty Images
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Also Sunday, a prominent Afghan women’s rights activist said gunmen attacked her office in a western province in an apparent assassination attempt.
Malalai Joya, a former Afghan lawmaker and vocal critic of both the Taliban and of criminality in the Afghan government, said the attack on her office in Farah province was the sixth attempt on her life to date.
Armed men tried to storm the compound before dawn on Saturday, she said.
The attackers did not get into the building but two of her guards were seriously injured and are currently in the hospital.
Ms Joya said she was in Kabul at the time but had planned a trip to Farah soon and news of that may have leaked out.
She said she believes the attackers thought she was in the building.
The shooting spree took place in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province this morning.
Captain Justin Brockhoff, Nato spokesman confirmed a U.S. service member had been detained following the attack.
The wounded are receiving treatment at a medical base and U.S. forces are investigating the shooting with Afghan authorities.
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TOWER BRIDGE HDR
Image by k.kazantzoglou Life is full of surprises!!! 🙂
Tower Bridge (built 1886-1894) is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name. It has become an iconic symbol of London.
The bridge consists of two towers tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bascule pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. The bridge’s present colour scheme dates from 1977, when it was painted red, white and blue for the Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee. Originally it was painted a chocolate brown colour.[2]
Tower Bridge is sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge,[3] which is the next bridge upstream.
The nearest London Underground station is Tower Hill on the Circle and District lines, and the nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway.[4]
History
[edit] Background
Elevation, with dimensions
In the second half of the 19th century, increased commercial development in the East End of London led to a requirement for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access by tall-masted ships to the port facilities in the Pool of London, between London Bridge and the Tower of London.
A Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1876, chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman, to find a solution to the river crossing problem. It opened the design of the crossing to public competition. Over 50 designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The evaluation of the designs was surrounded by controversy, and it was not until 1884 that a design submitted by Sir Horace Jones, the City Architect (who was also one of the judges),[5] was approved.
Jones’ engineer, Sir John Wolfe Barry, devised the idea of a bascule bridge with two towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side-spans were suspension bridges, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge’s upper walkways.
[edit] Construction
Tower Bridge under construction, 1892
Construction started in 1886 and took eight years with five major contractors – Sir John Jackson (foundations), Baron Armstrong (hydraulics), William Webster, Sir H.H. Bartlett, and Sir William Arrol & Co.[6] – and employed 432 construction workers. E W Crutwell was the resident engineer for the construction.[7]
Two massive piers, containing over 70,000 tons of concrete,[5] were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction. Over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the towers and walkways.[5] This was then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the bridge a pleasing appearance.
Jones died in 1887 and George D. Stevenson took over the project.[5] Stevenson replaced Jones’s original brick façade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which makes the bridge a distinctive landmark, and was intended to harmonise the bridge with the nearby Tower of London.[7] The total cost of construction was £1,184,000[7] (£100 million as of 2012).[8]
[edit] Opening
The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), and his wife, The Princess of Wales (Alexandra of Denmark).[9]
The bridge connected Iron Gate, on the north bank of the river, with Horselydown Lane, on the south – now known as Tower Bridge Approach and Tower Bridge Road, respectively.[7] Until the bridge was opened, the Tower Subway – 400 m to the west – was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark. Opened in 1870, Tower Subway was the world’s first underground (‘tube’) railway, but closed after just three months and was re-opened as a pedestrian foot tunnel. Once Tower Bridge was open, the majority of foot traffic transferred to using the bridge, there being no toll to pay to use it. Having lost most of its income, the tunnel was closed in 1898.[10]
Tower Bridge is one of five London bridges now owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. It is the only one of the Trust’s bridges not to connect the City of London to the Southwark bank, the northern landfall being in Tower Hamlets.
[edit] Design
Tower Bridge viewed from the top of London City Hall.
Oblique view of north tower from Tower Bridge Road.
The bridge is 800 feet (244 m) in length with two towers each 213 feet (65 m) high, built on piers. The central span of 200 feet (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules or leaves, which can be raised to an angle of 83 degrees to allow river traffic to pass. The bascules, weighing over 1,000 tons each, are counterbalanced to minimise the force required and allow raising in five minutes.
The two side-spans are suspension bridges, each 270 feet (82 m) long, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge’s upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 143 feet (44 m) above the river at high tide.[7]
[edit] Hydraulic system
One of the original steam engines: a 360 hp horizontal twin-tandem compound engine, fitted with Meyer expansion slide valves
The original raising mechanism was powered by pressurised water stored in several hydraulic accumulators.[11] The system was designed and installed by the self-effacing Hamilton Owen Rendel (born 1843)[12] while working for Sir W. G. Armstrong Mitchell & China Company of Newcastle upon Tyne. Water, at a pressure of 750 psi, was pumped into the accumulators by two 360 hp stationary steam engines, each driving a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch ram on which sits a very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure.
In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only components of the original system still in use are the final pinions, which engage with the racks fitted to the bascules. These are driven by modern hydraulic motors and gearing, using oil rather than water as the hydraulic fluid.[13] Some of the original hydraulic machinery has been retained, although it is no longer in use. It is open to the public and forms the basis for the bridge’s museum, which resides in the old engine rooms on the south side of the bridge. The museum includes the steam engines, two of the accumulators and one of the hydraulic engines that moved the bascules, along with other related artefacts.
[edit] Third steam engine
The third engine in working order,
at Forncett Industrial Steam Museum
During World War II, as a precaution against the existing engines being damaged by enemy action, a third engine was installed in 1942:[14] a 150 hp horizontal cross-compound engine, built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. at their Elswick works in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was fitted with a flywheel having a 9-foot (2.7 m) diameter and weighing 9 tons, and was governed to a speed of 30 rpm.[14] The engine became redundant when the rest of the system was modernised in 1974, and was donated to the Forncett Industrial Steam Museum by the Corporation of the City of London.[14]
[edit] Navigation control
To control the passage of river traffic through the bridge, a number of different rules and signals were employed. Daytime control was provided by red semaphore signals, mounted on small control cabins on either end of both bridge piers. At night, coloured lights were used, in either direction, on both piers: two red lights to show that the bridge was closed, and two green to show that it was open. In foggy weather, a gong was sounded as well.[7]
Vessels passing through the bridge had to display signals too: by day, a black ball at least 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter was to be mounted high up where it could be seen; by night, two red lights in the same position. Foggy weather required repeated blasts from the ship’s steam whistle.[7]
If a black ball was suspended from the middle of each walkway (or a red light at night) this indicated that the bridge could not be opened. These signals were repeated about 1,000 yards (910 m) downstream, at Cherry Garden Pier, where boats needing to pass through the bridge had to hoist their signals/lights and sound their horn, as appropriate, to alert the Bridge Master.[7]
Some of the control mechanism for the signalling equipment has been preserved and may be seen working in the bridge’s museum.
[edit] Reaction
Although the bridge is an undoubted landmark, professional commentators in the early 20th century were critical of its aesthetics. "It represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure", wrote H. H. Statham,[15] while Frank Brangwyn stated that "A more absurd structure than the Tower Bridge was never thrown across a strategic river".[16]
Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected the bridge as one of his four choices for the 2002 BBC television documentary series Britain’s Best Buildings.[17]
[edit] Mistaken identity
Tower Bridge is sometimes mistaken for London Bridge,[3] the next bridge upstream. A popular urban legend is that in 1968, Robert McCulloch, the purchaser of the old London Bridge that was later shipped to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, believed that he was in fact China buying Tower Bridge. This was denied by McCulloch himself and has been debunked by Ivan Luckin, the vendor of the bridge.[18]
[edit] Traffic
Bridge open to admit a boat with a tall mast
Interior of high-level walkway (used as an exhibition space)
Road
Tower Bridge is still a busy and vital crossing of the Thames: it is crossed by over 40,000 people (motorists, cyclists and pedestrians) every day.[19] The bridge is on the London Inner Ring Road, and is on the eastern boundary of the London congestion charge zone. (Drivers do not incur a charge by crossing the bridge.)
In order to maintain the integrity of the historic structure, the City of London Corporation have imposed a 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) speed restriction, and an 18 tonne weight limit on vehicles using the bridge. A sophisticated camera system measures the speed of traffic crossing the bridge, utilising a number plate recognition system to send fixed penalty charges to speeding drivers.[20]
A second system monitors other vehicle parameters. Induction e.loops and piezoelectric detectors are used to measure the weight, the height of the chassis above ground level, and the number of axles for each vehicle.[20]
River
The bascules are raised around 1000 times a year.[21] River traffic is now much reduced, but it still takes priority over road traffic. Today, 24 hours’ notice is required before opening the bridge. There is no charge for vessels.
A computer system was installed in 2000 to control the raising and lowering of the bascules remotely. It proved unreliable, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on several occasions during 2005 until its sensors were replaced.[19]
[edit] Tower Bridge Exhibition and the tower walkways
The high-level open air walkways between the towers gained an unpleasant reputation as a haunt for prostitutes and pickpockets; they were seldom used by regular pedestrians, as they were only accessible by flights of stairs and were closed in 1910. In 1982 they were reopened as part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition, an exhibition now housed in the bridge’s twin towers, the high-level walkways and the Victorian engine rooms. The exhibition charges an admissions fee. The walkways, which are now enclosed, boast stunning views of the River Thames and many famous London sites, serving as viewing galleries for over 380,000 tourists[citation needed] who visit each year. The exhibition also uses films, photos and interactive displays to explain why and how Tower Bridge was built. Visitors can access the original steam engines that once powered the bridge bascules, housed in a building close to the south end of the bridge.
[edit] 2008–2012 facelift
In April 2008 it was announced that the bridge would undergo a ‘facelift’ costing £4 million, and taking four years to complete. The work entailed stripping off the existing paint down to bare metal and repainting in blue and white. Each section was enshrouded in scaffolding and plastic sheeting to prevent the old paint from falling into the Thames and causing pollution. Starting in mid-2008, contractors worked on a quarter of the bridge at a time to minimise disruption, but some road closures were inevitable. It is intended that the completed work will stand for 25 years.[22]
The renovation of the walkway interior was completed in mid 2009. Within the walkways a versatile new lighting system has been installed, designed by Eleni Shiarlis, for when the walkways are in use for exhibitions or functions. The new system provides for both feature and atmospheric lighting, the latter using bespoke RGB LED luminares, designed to be concealed within the bridge superstructure and fixed without the need for drilling (these requirements as a result of the bridge’s Grade I status).[23]
The renovation of the four suspension chains was completed in March 2010 using a state-of-the-art coating system requiring up to six different layers of ‘paint’.[24]
[edit] Incidents
A Short Sunderland of No. 201 Squadron RAF moored at Tower Bridge during the 1956 commemoration of the Battle of Britain
In December 1952, the bridge opened while a number 78 double-decker bus (stock number RT 793, registration plate JXC 156) was crossing from the south bank. At that time, the gateman would ring a warning bell and close the gates when the bridge was clear before the watchman ordered the lift. The process failed while a relief watchman was on duty. The bus was near the edge of the south bascule when it started to rise; driver Albert Gunter (possibly Gunton) made a split-second decision to accelerate, clearing a 3 ft gap to drop 6 ft onto the north bascule, which had not yet started to rise. There were no serious injuries.[25][26]
The Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident occurred on 5 April 1968 when a Royal Air Force Hawker Hunter FGA.9 jet fighter from No. 1 Squadron, flown by Flt Lt Alan Pollock, flew through Tower Bridge. Unimpressed that senior staff were not going to celebrate the RAF’s 50th birthday with a fly-past, Pollock decided to do something himself. Without authorisation, Pollock flew the Hunter at low altitude down the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament, and continued on toward Tower Bridge. He flew the Hunter beneath the bridge’s walkway, remarking afterwards that it was an afterthought when he saw the bridge looming ahead of him. Pollock was placed under arrest upon landing, and discharged from the RAF on medical grounds without the chance to defend himself at a court martial.[27][28]
In summer 1973 a single-engined Beagle Pup was twice flown under the pedestrian walkway of Tower Bridge by 29-year-old stockbroker’s clerk Paul Martin. Martin was on bail following accusations of stockmarket fraud. He then ‘buzzed’ buildings in The City, before flying north towards the Lake District where he died when his aircraft crashed some two hours later.[29]
In May 1997,[30] the motorcade of United States President Bill Clinton was divided by the opening of the bridge. The Thames sailing barge Gladys, on her way to a gathering at St Katharine Docks, arrived on schedule and the bridge was duly opened for her. Returning from a Thames-side lunch at Le Pont de la Tour restaurant, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Clinton was less punctual, and arrived just as the bridge was rising. The bridge opening split the motorcade in two, much to the consternation of security staff. A spokesman for Tower Bridge is quoted as saying, "We tried to contact the American Embassy, but they wouldn’t answer the phone."[31]
On 19 August 1999, Jef Smith, a Freeman of the City of London, drove a "herd" of two sheep across the bridge. He was exercising a claimed ancient permission, granted as a right to Freemen, to make a point about the powers of older citizens and the way in which their rights were being eroded.[32]
Before dawn on 31 October 2003, David Crick, a Fathers 4 Justice campaigner, climbed a 100 ft (30 m) tower crane near Tower Bridge at the start of a six-day protest dressed as Spider-Man.[33] Fearing for his safety, and that of motorists should he fall, police cordoned off the area, closing the bridge and surrounding roads and causing widespread traffic congestion across the City and east London. At the time, the building contractor Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd. was in the midst of constructing a new office tower known as ‘K2’. The Metropolitan Police were later criticised for maintaining the closure for five days when this was not strictly necessary in the eyes of some citizens.[34][35]
On 11 May 2009, six people were trapped and injured after a lift fell 10 ft (3 m) inside the north tower.[36][37]
[edit] Popular culture
Tower Bridge model, Legoland Windsor
External videos
Lego retail model kit of Tower Bridge: the designer describes the near-scale model (over 1m long with 4287 pieces).[38]
Tower Bridge is featured – still under construction, using CGI – in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes. One of the final scenes is played out on the bridge in the movie’s climax. The bridge is also the centre of a large action sequence in the film The Mummy Returns. Despite the bridge having been opened in 1894, it also appears in the 2010 film The Wolfman (which was set in 1891).[citation needed] Also, the bridge under construction appears in many episodes of anime Black Butler and it is featured as a place for final battle between angel Ash and a demon Sebastian.
The bridge is also featured as the home of Air Commodore Colonel William Raymond, played by Peter Cushing, in the film Biggles Adventures in Time (1986).
In the 1975 film Brannigan, John Wayne drives a car over the partially opened bridge during a car chase scene. The Spice Girls perform a similar stunt, with a bus, in the 1997 film Spiceworld. The video game, Midtown Madness 2 allows the player to perform the stunt themselves. In the 2004 film Thunderbirds, when The Hood flies the captured Thunderbird 2 to London, he navigates the craft between the bridge’s towers, the bridge operators having lifted the bascules just in time.
Source: en.wikipedia.org