I noticed today that some of the lead lattice windows in Tower Bridge have
been replaced with plain glass, so that some sort of cameras can peer down
on the bridge. Does anyone know the purpose of the cameras?

John Rowland wrote:
I noticed today that some of the lead lattice windows in Tower Bridge have
been replaced with plain glass, so that some sort of cameras can peer down
on the bridge. Does anyone know the purpose of the cameras?

I have only just noticed that it is 20mph across Tower Bridge so are
they some sort of speed camera. What are the cameras on a gantry on the
northern approach for, they look congestion charging cameras, certainly
not speed cameras.

kevin

Kev wrote:

I have only just noticed that it is 20mph across Tower Bridge so are
they some sort of speed camera. What are the cameras on a gantry on
the northern approach for, they look congestion charging cameras,
certainly not speed cameras.

I'd assumed that the gantry cameras were speed cameras or for the control
room to monitor traffic queues. They went up when I worked down there, which
pre-dates congestion charging by some time - apart from which they are
outside the CC zone which (IIRC) begins at the bottom of Minories. As John
mentions, the cameras inside are a new development - perhaps they are
replacing the gantry cameras with a less visible, more aesthetically
pleasing system?

Kev wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
I noticed today that some of the lead lattice windows in Tower Bridge have
been replaced with plain glass, so that some sort of cameras can peer down
on the bridge. Does anyone know the purpose of the cameras?

I have only just noticed that it is 20mph across Tower Bridge so are
they some sort of speed camera. What are the cameras on a gantry on the
northern approach for, they look congestion charging cameras, certainly
not speed cameras.

kevin
I am not sure that the ones on the gantry are speed cameras as they are
right at the start of the Tower Brideg Road. To catch a speeding
motorist they would need to be placed nearer the middle.
They look like Traffic Master type cameras but there are at least three
of them.
I suupose they could be some sort of surveillance or looking for dodgey
number plates or out of date tax discs.

Kevin

John Rowland wrote:
I noticed today that some of the lead lattice windows in Tower Bridge have
been replaced with plain glass, so that some sort of cameras can peer down
on the bridge. Does anyone know the purpose of the cameras?

I'm surprised that Tower Bridge is not a grade 1 listed building - it
certainly ought to be - in which case changing the windows would not be
allowed.

On 25 Aug 2006 07:14:51 -0700, "Kev" wrote:

I am not sure that the ones on the gantry are speed cameras as they are
right at the start of the Tower Brideg Road. To catch a speeding
motorist they would need to be placed nearer the middle.
They look like Traffic Master type cameras but there are at least three
of them.
I suupose they could be some sort of surveillance or looking for dodgey
number plates or out of date tax discs.

I was under the impression that Tower Bridge had SPECS speed cameras,
which record average speed between cameras.
--
Terry Harper
Website Coordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org

peter wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
I noticed today that some of the lead lattice windows in Tower Bridge have
been replaced with plain glass, so that some sort of cameras can peer down
on the bridge. Does anyone know the purpose of the cameras?

I'm surprised that Tower Bridge is not a grade 1 listed building - it
certainly ought to be - in which case changing the windows would not be
allowed.

Can bridges be listed in the way buildings are? I suspect a case could
be made that the modification is necessary for the function of the
structure, given the dammage caused to it by excessive modern traffic.

Robin

Can bridges be listed in the way buildings are? I suspect a case could
be made that the modification is necessary for the function of the
structure, given the dammage caused to it by excessive modern traffic.

Robin

Yes they can be listed and are indeed so. For example, Battersea Bridge
is listed grade II, as are several other Thames Bridges. Exactly the
same rules apply to listed bridges as other listed buildings, including
the ability to alter them with permission. In the case of Battersea
Bridge, it was possible to modify the structure at the time of the
extensive refurbishment and strengthening a few years ago by installing
Trief kerbs, albeit in a granite finish, to keep vehicles from straying
onto the footways which were not capable of carrying their weight and
the cast iron parapets could not have restrained a vehicle from going
over the edge. The result altered the appearance of the bridge, but
that was better than the alternative of replacing the parapets with
modern, stronger ones that could not be designed to an appropriate
scale or style.

At the same time, the 1960's street lighting was replaced with modern
versions in the style of the original Victorian columns. All of this
required the agreement of English Heritage who were very cooperative.

Peter