London Bridge is a bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, which is based on the 1831 built London Bridge which spanned the River Thames in London, England until it was dismantled in 1967. The Arizona bridge is a reinforced concrete structure clad in the original masonry of the 1830s bridge, which was bought by Robert P. McCulloch from the City of London. McCulloch had exterior granite blocks from the original bridge numbered and transported to America, in order to construct the present bridge in Lake Havasu City, a planned community he established in 1964 on the shore of Lake Havasu. The bridge was completed in 1971 along with a canal, and links an island in the Lake with the main part of Lake Havasu City.

Description

The 1831 London bridge was the last project of engineer John Rennie and completed by his son, also named John Rennie. By 1962, the bridge was not structurally sound enough to support the increased load created by the level of modern traffic crossing it, and it was sold by the City of London.

The purchaser, Robert McCulloch, was the founder of Lake Havasu and the chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation. McCulloch purchased the bridge to serve as a tourist attraction to his retirement real estate development at Lake Havasu City, which at that time was far off the usual tourist track. The idea was successful, bringing interested tourists and retirement home buyers to the area.

After relocation to America, the bridge was reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, a man-made community on the east shore of Lake Havasu, a large reservoir on the Colorado River. The bridge was not reconstructed over a river, but rather it was rebuilt on land in a position between the main part of the city and Pittsburgh Point, at that time a peninsula jutting into Lake Havasu. Once completed, the Bridgewater Channel Canal was dredged under the bridge and flooded, separating Pittsburgh Point from the city creating an island. The bridge thus now traverses a navigable shortcut between the Thompson Bay part of Lake Havasu south of Pittsburgh Point, and the rest of Lake Havasu to the north.

The bridge facing stones were carefully disassembled and each piece was numbered. After the bridge was dismantled it was transported to Merrivale Quarry where 150mm to 200mm was sliced off many of the original stones. These were shipped to the bridge's present location and re-assembly began in 1968. The original stone was used to clad a concrete structure, so that the bridge is no longer the original it is modeled after. The reconstruction took slightly over three years and was completed in late 1971. Today, it serves as a popular tourist attraction for the city.

Recent years have seen a large amount of development in the area of the bridge to increase tourist interest. The original "English Village", a quaint English-style open air mall with hedge maze and historical museum, has deteriorated, with sections leveled.

In popular culture

It is a popular rumour that the bridge was bought in the belief that it was London's more recognizable Tower Bridge, but this was ardently denied by McCulloch himself and by Ivan Luckin, who sold the bridge.

The bridge's relocation was the basis of a 1985 made for TV movie Bridge Across Time (also known as Arizona Ripper or Terror at London Bridge ), directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starring David Hasselhoff and Stepfanie Kramer. In the film, a series of murders in Lake Havasu is attributed to the spirit of Jack the Ripper, whose soul is transported to America in one of the bricks of the London Bridge

Images

Image:OldLondonBridge.JPG|London Bridge in the early 1890sImage:London-Bridge-March-1971.jpg|Rennie's Old London Bridge during reconstruction at Lake Havasu in March 1971File:London Bridge, Lake Havasu, Arizona, 2003.jpg|The rebuilt London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, ArizonaImage:London Bridge Havasu Sign.jpg|The sign on London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, during April 2005

See also

• London Bridge
• Robert McCulloch's purchase of London Bridge
• :Category:Relocated buildings and structures

References

1. Polaris EX2100/LE2100 Sport Boats - Popular Mechanics
2. Guardian | Bridges
3. 'If That's The Acropolis, How Come It Don't Chime?' in Alan Coren The Sanity Inspector Coronet Books, 1974. ISBN 0340199121
4. How London Bridge Was Sold To The States (from This Is Local London)
5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088852/
6. http://www.amazon.com/Terror-London-Bridge-Across-Time/dp/6300155439

External links

• RoadTrip America about London Bridge
• Tie Dye Travels piece about London Bridge