Big Ben's bongs to be silenced

Updated 09.16 Thu Aug 09 2007

Keywords: chimes, clock, London, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben

The world-famous bongs of London's Big Ben are due to be silenced for the first time in over 50 years.

Maintenance work to replace the bearings which form part of the operating mechanims will take four to six weeks.

The famous tourist attraction, whose real name is The Great Clock, will continue to tell the time through the use of an alternative electric system

The famous tourist attraction, whose real name is The Great Clock, will continue to tell the time through the use of an alternative electric system although it will be stopped for several hours from 8am on August 11 when the work begins.

Around an hour later, a team of specialist "industrial rope access technicians" will abseil down the south clock face, to start a day of cleaning and repair of the clock faces. This work takes place every five years.

Each clock face is 7m (23ft) in diameter and contains 312 separate pieces of glass. The minute hand is 4.2m (14ft) long and the minute spaces are 30cms (1ft) square.

The hour hand is 2.7m (9ft) long the figures are 60cms (2ft) long while the centre of each dial is 56m (184ft) from the ground.

The latest maintenance work is the second and final phase of a programme of planned works prior to the Great Clock's 150th anniversary in 2009.