• 22,000 litres of paint will be used on Tower Bridge
• 44,000 man hours to complete the Tower Bridge job over a three- year period
• Tower Bridge will retain its traditional blue and white colour dating back to 1894
• 1,500 tonnes of expendable abrasive will be used to blast Tower Bridge back to its metal framework before repainting
• 40,000 motorists and pedestrians cross Tower Bridge every day
• Revolutionary new paint used will last for 25 years with a top – up every 12 years
• Whole bridge sections will be encapsulated to catch old paintwork as it falls, protecting Thames river life

An ancient City trust, Bridge House Estates, of which the City of London Corporation is the sole trustee, have started a £4million programme to revitalise Tower Bridge.

Follow the restoration of Tower Bridge on our dedicated website: www.thetowerbridge.info

As one of the world’s most iconic and internationally recognised landmarks, and arguably one of the most ambitious engineering projects of its age, the smart appearance and imposing grandeur of Tower Bridge resonates strongly with national pride.

However, thanks to canny investment by the medieval monks who founded the ancient City charity, the three-year maintenance project will go ahead alongside continued grant-giving totalling £60million to charities in Greater London.

The ancient City trust, now worth £700million, can trace its roots back to 1097 when Londoners paid a toll if they wanted to cross the original London Bridge, the only bridge over the Thames until Westminster Bridge opened in 1750.

The primary purpose of this trust was and still is to maintain all five City bridges (London, Tower, Southwark, Blackfriars and Millennium Bridges) at no cost to the taxpayer.

However, following an Act of Parliament in 1995, any money surplus to bridge maintenance requirements was allowed to be distributed to help charitable causes within Greater London.The City Bridge Trust was formed to manage the annual distribution of approximately £15mn a year and has since made over 5,000 grants to benefit charities in every London borough. The grants in this 12-year period have totalled well over £200 million.

In order to complete the huge task of repainting Tower and Bridge, a rolling programme will be implemented by expert industrial painting contractor Pyeroy, who were awarded the City of London contract to repaint the two bridges. The programme will see sections of the bridge, accounting for roughly 25% of the total structure each time, alternately shrouded in scaffolding over the next three years until the bridge is immaculately finished.

This section-by-section approach is essential so as not to disrupt road or river traffic too dramatically during the work. The bridge must be completely encapsulated in order to catch the old paintwork that must be blasted off the metal bridge framework before repainting can commence. The paint debris will be collected on a shelf below the bridge which is vacuumed up daily and disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.

Tower Bridge has stood over the River Thames in London since 1894 and is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world. It is the bridge of London you tend to see in movies and on advertising literature for London. Tower Bridge is the only bridge on the Thames which can be raised.

• The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and his wife, Alexandra of Denmark.
• Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge, its proximity to the Tower of London gives it its name.
• It is 60 meters long with towers that rise to a height of 43 meters. Its middle section can be raised to permit large vessels to pass the Tower Bridge. Massive engines raise the bridge sections, which weigh about 1000 tonnes each, in just over a minute.
• The Bridge used to be raised about 50 times a day, but nowadays it is only raised around 1000 times a year
• Tower Bridge is still a busy and vital crossing of the Thames: it is crossed by over 40,000 people (motorists and pedestrians) every day

The restoration is being filmed and photographed by Harris Digital Productions, who have set up the website www.thetowerbridge.info to show work in progress and updated information about the project.

Volunteers with Bacchus vines

Volunteers gathered at Forty Hall Organic Farm in Enfield on Tuesday 5th May to plant the first acre of a groundbreaking new project – to plant London’s first commercial vineyard since medieval times.

Forty Hall Vineyard is a new social enterprise led by Capel Manor Horticultural College, which is planting fifteen acres of top quality vines in the London Borough of Enfield for the purpose of producing wine for the London market.  Forty Hall Vineyard will pick up the tradition of winemaking in England introduced by the Romans, and not seen in London on a commercial scale since the Middle Ages.

BBC London TV filming at the vineyard

Steve Dowbiggin, Chief Executive of Capel Manor College says:  “Imagine London’s Mayor toasting the opening of the Olympics with our very own London grown wine in 2012!  Our vineyard will produce a range of still and sparkling wines of the highest quality which express the fresh, light and fruity characteristics of the best English wines”.
This is no ordinary commercial venture.  The vineyard forms part of a broader educational initiative which seeks to establish Forty Hall Farm in Enfield as a hub of local, organic food production.  “Forty Hall Vineyard is a social enterprise with profits returned to the college charity to promote education about sustainable urban agriculture,” says Steve Dowbiggin. “The vineyard will provide educational, volunteering and therapeutic horticulture opportunities to a wide range of local people”.
Forty Hall wine will be sold directly to consumers within a ten mile radius of the vineyard making this a truly local enterprise.  “We want to move wine production back to the heart of the local community and to champion quality, distinctiveness, place, sustainability and participation” says Vineyard Manager, Sarah Vaughan-Roberts.  “We are also going to make really delicious wine.”

Students and volunteers planting the first 1,500 vines

South-facing Warren Field, which has wonderful views across north east London to the gleaming spires of the city, will become the “terroir” for London wine. The free-draining, gravelly soil, together with the sloping, south-facing aspect of the field makes the site ideal for vine growing. Nearly 1500 Bacchus vines will be hand-planted on the day.  “Bacchus is ideally suited to cool climate wine production and produces a crisp, light wine white with Sauvignon characteristics of gooseberry and fresh grass, “ says Sarah. “It’s a perfect wine for summer picnics.”
The vineyard is looking for sponsors and volunteers to help raise the funds to plant the remaining acres of land donated by the College. 

For more information go to www.fortyhallvineyard.org.uk

New viewing platform

On Saturday 11 October the streets around the Monument were closed for an exciting landmark event in the Monument restoration project. A massive 100 tonne crane winched a new balustrade and platform cage on to the viewing platform. The balustrade was lifted in two sections before workmen welded it together. The operation took five hours to complete.

The platform cage has been constructed of lightweight cable mesh, stretched over stainless steel tubes. It replaces the former iron bars which were installed in the 1950s. This installation is part of the £4.5 million project which also involves the cleaning and repair of the Monument’s stonework and the regilding of its famous golden orb.

View images of the balustrade and cage installation on the Monument website: www.themonument.info/diary/11102008.asp

Harris Digital Productions filmed and photographed the installation for the City of London.
Repairs to the Monument are carried out every hundred years, the last major work was undertaken in the 1880s. The current project has cost the City of London Corporation £4.5million.

Visitors who climb the 311 spiral steps to admire the view at the top will also be able to use state of the art telescopes which have been designed as part of the new balustrade. The curved stainless tubes of the structure contain the electrical cabling for the services on the viewing platform including CCTV cameras and lighting.

Built in 1671 to commemorate the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Monument is one of the City’s most outstanding landmarks. The Grade 1 listed building has been closed since July 2007 and is due to open in February 2009.

You can follow the restoration of the Monument on our dedicated website www.themonument.info

Monument, London

The Monument, one of the City of London’s most outstanding landmarks and visitor attractions, will close on 30 July for an 18-month programme of improvements and repairs.

The £4.5 million project, funded by the City of London Corporation, will involve the cleaning and repair of the Monument’s stonework and the re-gilding of it’s famous golden orb. A range of new and improved facilities will be created such as a modified gallery “cage”, new lighting and, for people who do not want to climb the 311 stairs to the top, there are plans for live views to be relayed from the gallery to visitors on the ground.

Sir Christopher Wren’s flame-topped Monument to the Great Fire of 1666 is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. Completed in 1677, The Monument stands 202 ft high and is positioned 202 ft from the spot in Pudding Lane on which the Great Fire is believed to have started. Every year, over 100,000 visitors climb the 311 spiral steps to the Monument’s observation gallery to enjoy unique and exhilarating views across the Capital.

Repairs to The Monument have been carried out approximately every hundred years, with work last undertaken in 1888. The Monument is scheduled to re-open to visitors when the restoration work is completed in December 2008.

Pauline Halliday, Chief Commoner and Chairman of the City of London’s City Lands Committee, which is responsible for the Monument, said: “I am delighted that work will soon be underway to protect and enhance this historical landmark for current and future generations of visitors to the City of London”.

The restoration work will be carried out by Cathedral Works Organisation (Chichester) Ltd, which successfully completed the relocation of Temple Bar in 2004 for the City of London Corporation. Hare & Humphreys Ltd will be re-gilding the flaming orb this spring, restoring its brilliant shine with the application of over 30,000 leaves of gold.

The restoration is being filmed and photographed by Harris Digital Productions, who have set up the website www.themonument.info to show work in progress and updated information about the project.