Monroville said:
You know, I never thought about it until the recent mock-ups - are those "bridges" supposed to be bridges or supports for the inner elevator tube inside the tower shaft? I guess that's the problem with the shaft around the elevator being unmolested by any sort of gantryway looking things in that without anything connecting the inner tube with the outer tower structure, it wouldn't be very stable.

I always thought they were bridges, like the bridge in ANH that Obi-wan crosses in the Death Star to reach the power switch for the tractor beam