The Project

The City of London Corporation grants vessels sailing on the River Thames the right to pass freely through Tower Bridge, and has done since its opening in 1894. Not only that, but 40,000 people pass across Tower Bridge every day and events are regularly hosted in the bridge’s multiple venues. Security is thus important to maintain functionality.

In addition to the functions performed by Tower Bridge and the responsibilities of its operators, a number of safety risks need to be mitigated against.

As an internationally recognised infrastructure asset of critical importance in the centre of London, the bridge’s control room operators must be alert at all times to identify potential public safety threats. Day to day threats to public safety need to be managed, too: low-level street crime, violent provocations of bridge personnel and damage to glass panes that line the floor of the bridge’s overhead area.

The Solution

With the help of Veracity’s surveillance and monitoring technologies, Tower Bridge is able to perform its key functions and preempt and respond to public safety breaches from an integrated, multi-functional control room.

Visual monitoring.

A substantial number of CCTV cameras are displayed on a customisable display wall in Tower Bridge’s central control room. Visual representations of platforms and counterweights keep personnel aware of the bridge’s central pulley mechanism. Consequently, control room operators are able to see the internal workings of the bridge from a distance.

Instantaneous communication.

Communication channels are in place to enable control room personnel to correspond with personnel on foot, vessels passing through the bridge and law enforcement agencies. Instantaneous communication between internal and external parties is indispensable; it enables all parties to stay fully aware of all information concerning this critical asset, to the benefit of the public, staff and London’s traffic networks.

Fully informed personnel.

Because Tower Bridge is part manually operated – 1,200 tonne bascules, or internal pulley weights, are lifted at the press of a button – control room personnel must be informed of all information concerning the bridge. A myriad of alarms, sensors and cameras are connected to multiple software applications, which are presented on icomply’s open platform integration software.

Accessible technologies.

When Veracity engaged in a one-to-one consultation with Tower Bridge, it was clear that technologies needed to be accessible to additional staff, which are called in outside of standard operating hours. Yet, technologies needed to be sufficient to accommodate the numerous responsibilities of control room operators.