London's Big Ben shut down for maintenance

LONDON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The chimes of Big Ben will be silenced for about a month while a maintenance makeover is carried out on the London landmark.

The plan is to give the tower a thorough cleaning and replace some of the moving parts of the clock that has been marking the hours for Londoners since the 19th century.

The program is being carried out to get Big Ben ready for its 150th anniversary next year. Big Ben technically refers to the bell portion of the entire tower, which is officially known as the Great Clock.

According to icLiverpool, the engineering team will erect scaffolding and lift the strike train, which operates the bell, out on Monday.