Towering Effort: Bridge that Stopped a President
By David Ellis
WHEN British businessman Sir Chay Blyth decided in 1997 to
organise a rowing race across the Atlantic from England to America, he
thought he’d publicise it by having some of the participants row up the
River Thames to St Katherine’s Dock, including passing under the iconic
Tower Bridge. But he didn’t quite expect the publicity his little
promotion would create – particularly in splitting a security convoy
that had been weeks in the planning into two parts, and subsequently
leaving one of the world’s most powerful men, America’s President Bill
Clinton on one side of the Thames, and most of his forward bodyguards
and other security men on the other. One of the rowing team’s
sponsors had taken some VIP clients aboard a little luxury yacht called
Gladys to watch their team pass up the river. And has been tradition
since the Tower Bridge was built a couple of centuries ago, when Gladys
reached the bridge, and her masts were too tall to pass under, the
operator raised its double-drawbridge roadway to give the yacht clear
passage. But President Clinton was returning late and behind
schedule to the American Embassy from a lunch with British Prime
Minister Tony Blair at a restaurant on the banks of the Thames – and to
the horror of his forward security detail who had already crossed the
Tower Bridge and cleared traffic for the President’s safe journey, the
bridge suddenly opened behind them for yacht Gladys... exactly on a
scheduled time previously agreed to by the Embassy. A fuming Bill
Clinton was left on one side of the Thames, and most of his security
men on the other. When asked how the bridge could have been opened at
such a delicate moment, even though the President was late-running, a
spokesman for the bridge told London media: ”We tried to contact the
American Embassy, but they wouldn’t answer their phone.” The
Tower Bridge was the second bridge built across the Thames in the
centre of London, the first being London Bridge, made famous by the
nursery rhyme “London Bridge Is Falling Down.” The Tower Bridge
was built in the second half of the 19th century during a boom in
commercial activity in London’s east, and to get around the long detour
over London Bridge and a haphazard ferry services. A competition
for its design attracted 50 entrants, and after several years of
argument a winner was finally named – that eventual winner,
incidentally, turning out to also be one of the judges. Yes, well… Two
huge towers were built in the river itself and joined by two bascules
(or draw-bridges) that could be raised to allow river traffic to pass.
The Towers were connected to the shore by mini-suspension bridges. There
were also two walkways between the tops of the 65m towers that are now
used as a museum and a spot from which to take spectacular photos of
the Thames and nearby London landmarks. Construction began in
1886 and the bridge was opened eight years later by the Prince of
Wales. It cost £1.2 million – the equivalent of $A160 million in
today’s currency. Its design attracted much criticism, including
such snide remarks such as “it represents the vice of tawdriness and
pretentiousness” and “a more absurd structure than the Tower Bridge was
never thrown across a strategic river”. There is no such disapproval today... although President Clinton’s security chief would doubtless not agree. To
celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, the bridge
was re-painted from its dull brown to red, white and blue...and that’s
the way it’s been ever since. Some 40,000 people cross the Tower
Bridge every day – local pedestrians, motorists, cyclists and, of
course, the multitude of meandering tourists. And buses, one of
which, a double-decker, in 1952 was on the bridge deck when it suddenly
started to rise. It’s claimed one of two warning bells for traffic had
not been rung, and showing true Bulldog spirit the bus driver, Albert
Gunter planted his foot on the accelerator and drove across the growing
already metre-wide gap – landing two metre below on the opposite
bascule, which had not yet started to rise. Next time you are visiting London make the Tower Bridge a must – and recall the Day It Stopped A President.
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