A
glass pane at Tower Bridge's new transparent walkway 140ft above the River
Thames, has smashed after a visitor dropped a bottle of beer.Just
two weeks after the new attraction opened, one of the six half-tonne glass
panes that make up the floor, was damaged by visitors.
The new attraction has opened at the top section of Tower Bridge, 140ft over the River Thames |
A
dropped bottle of beer caused an initial crack, but a woman walking over the
broken glass in stiletto heels reportedly caused the pane to shatter further.
Visitor
Peter Gordon tweeted an image of the broken pane, writing: 'Was in tower bridge
walkway today, someone dropped a beer bottle; this happened.'
Officials
at the attraction have rushed to reassure visitors, stating that the broken
glass was just a 'sacrificial' layer.The
transparent walkway is made up of five layers of glass in each pane and it was
just the top one which was damaged.
However, Tower
Bridge head Chris Earlie told ITV: 'We are gutted it's happened in the first
couple of weeks when it's been open to the public but it's completely safe.'We
should have said no glass on the glass section of the floor. It was a bit
shortsighted of us.'The
top layer was designed to be easily replaceable in the event of scratches or
damage and the attraction remained open despite the shattered pane.
Following
the incident on Friday night, the cracked pane was then covered with a mat for
the remainder of the weekend, with a plan for it to be repaired on Sunday
night.The
Tower Bridge glass platform when it opened two weeks ago, One
half of the £1million walkway opened to the public two weeks ago between the
north and south towers of the bridge and will be joined on December 1 by a
parallel walk alongside it.
They
have been designed to give tourists, sightseers and thrill-seekers a unique
view from a bridge that bills itself as the most famous in the world, not
forgetting a peek at the workings of a legendary feat of engineering when the
bridge below opens.Each
glass panel along the 36ft walkway is getting on for three inches thick and
weighs nearly 1,200lb.Tower
Bridge Exhibition executives insist the idea is to enthral rather that scare
people, simply offering a different view of the city.
Photo Credit:UK Daily Mail
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