Tower Bridge's 140ft-high glass walkway smashed by visitor who dropped bottle of beer... just two weeks after opening

Peter Gordon tweeted an image of a smashed glass pane at the Tower Bridge following the accident on Friday

A glass pane at Tower Bridge's new transparent walkway 140ft above the River Thames, has smashed after a visitor dropped a bottle a 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.

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.

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.


By Sarah Gordon