The Tower Bridge is a Bascule Bridge. It is located in London, England over the River Thames. It also famously called the London Bridge. This 244 m (800 feet) long bridge is maintained by Bridge House Estates. It was opened in the year 1894.

A Bascule bridge is basically a draw bridge with a counterbalance that incessantly balances the span, all the way through the entire upward swing, which provides consent for boat traffic. It is derived from a French term for seesaw and balance and they do operate on the same principle as well.

The Tower Bridge (the bascule mechanism) works on oil and electricity rather than the early days when it would work on water and steam. It was first a hydraulically operated bridge, which worked on steam power which was derived form coal burning boilers. It would pump river water into six hydraulic accumulators.