Construction In 1864, Peter Barlow applied for a patent design of a circular
cast iron shield for tunnelling to fill the gap between the tunnel lining and wall with
lime or cement to prevent settling of the surrounding ground. Unfortunately, Barlow failed to explain how he intended to fill such gaps between shield and tunnel wall with grout and he never constructed it before his death. Greathead, however, invented a device to inject the grout and was accredited with the first shield construction for what is now known as the
Tower Gateway complex in 1869. Barlow published a pamphlet in 1867, "On the Relief of London Street Traffic", suggesting a network of tunnels with cars carrying up to twelve people. but there was a delay finding a contractor after experiences with the
Thames Tunnel until his former pupil
James Henry Greathead tendered for £9,400. in
New York as the editor of
The Scientific American, and may well have heard of Tower Subway developments in London and found Barlow's patent application. Work on the Tower Subway began in February 1869 with the boring of entrance shafts, The under-river section was dug in fourteen weeks and the tunnel completed in December 1869.
Cable railway The entrance shafts were fitted with steam-powered lifts for passengers. The tunnel was laid with gauge railway track and a single car, carrying a maximum of 12 passengers, cable-hauled by two
stationary steam engines, one on each side of the river. The tunnel was completed by February 1870, and a press launch was held the following April. The underground railway opened for public use on 2 August 1870 charging 2
d for first class and 1d for second class, first class ticket holders merely having priority for the lifts and when boarding. However, the system was unreliable and uneconomic. The company went into receivership in November 1870, and the railway closed on 7 December 1870, four months after opening.
Foot tunnel The railcar and steam engines were removed,
gaslights installed and the passenger lifts replaced with spiral staircases. The tunnel opened to pedestrians on 24 December 1870 at a toll of d In his
Dictionary of London,
Charles Dickens Jr commented on the smallness of the tunnel: "there is not much head-room left, and it is not advisable for any but the very briefest of Her Majesty's lieges to attempt the passage in high-heeled boots, or with a hat to which he attaches any particular value." The Italian writer
Edmondo De Amicis (1846–1908) gave a description of a passage through the subway in his
Jottings about London: In 1894 the toll-free
Tower Bridge opened a few hundred yards downriver, causing a drop in the subway's income. The Tower Bridge Subway Company sued the
Corporation of London for £30,000 for loss of revenue. Engineer
Edward Cruttwell was a key witness in the arbitration arguing that the claim was unfounded with the subway being in a "very neglected condition." In 1897, Parliament passed a local act, the '''''' (
60 & 61 Vict. c.xcvii) authorising the sale of the tunnel to the
London Hydraulic Power Company (LHPC) for £3,000 (worth over £ in ), and the subway closed to pedestrian traffic in 1898.
Utility tunnel After its closure, the tunnel gained a new purpose as a route for
hydraulic power mains operated by the LHPC and for
water mains. It was damaged during the
Second World War when a German bomb fell in the river near
Tower Pier in December 1940, and exploded on the river bed very close to the tunnel's roof. The shock of the blast compressed the tunnel radially, reducing its diameter to at the point of impact, but the tunnel's lining was not penetrated. During the course of repair work, it was found that – apart from the bomb damage – the tunnel had survived seventy years of use in excellent condition. == The subway today ==