London's Big Ben to fall silent for repairs

For most of the last 157 years, the great bell known as Big Ben has sounded the hour in London, its reassuring and sonorous gong pealing out over the Thames, part of the sonic landscape of the city.

But early next year, for the third time in living memory, Big Ben will fall silent -- a silence so notable that some Londoners may even find it deafening.

 

It is time, in the words of the Shawn Colvin song, for a few small repairs.

 

Well, not so small, actually. They will come to an estimated £29 million, or more than $42 million -- and will take three years. 

 

Big Ben will be silent for "several months," the team performing the repairs says.