Coming soon: glass floors on Tower Bridge high walkways

The announcement that Tower Bridge's upper walkways were to get glass panels in the floor was made back in 2012, but the planning applications have just gone online and as ever, they provide a wealth of information and a sneak peak into what they will look like.

Underside of walkways at present

As a result of the proposals, visitors to the Tower Bridge Exhibition will now be able to see the bridge opening, whereas before they were pretty much blind to what was going on beneath their feet. I for one will be visiting the exhibition when I know a an opening is scheduled to get a new perspective. I think it's a fantastic proposal and look forward to its installation.

You'll be glad to know that the impact on modesty has been considered and it's thought that the glass will be sufficiently reflective to avoid any embarrassment being caused to those above or below.

Despite the Bridge being owned by the Bridge House Estate and managed by the City of London, it actually sits roughly half in Tower Hamlets and half in Southwark, so needs two sets of planning permission as well as approval from English Heritage as a Grade 1 listed building.

View the application here

Plan of the works showing scale of the panels

What the underside will look like

Cross section

Panels reveal both the bridge opening and the structure of the walkway.