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1.2 New London Bridge
By the start of the 19th century, it was apparent that the old London Bridge - by now over 600 years old - needed to be replaced. It was narrow, decrepit and a hazard to river traffic. In 1799, a competition for designs to replace the old bridge was held, prompting the engineer Thomas Telford to propose a bridge with a single iron arch spanning 600ft. The revolutionary nature of this design won praise but it was never used, due to uncertainty about its feasibility and the amount of land needed for its construction.
The bridge was eventually replaced by an elegant structure of five stone arches, built 100 feet west (upstream) of the original site. This was designed by engineer John Rennie and completed by his son (of the same name, confusingly) over a seven-year period from 1824 to 1831. It was constructed from Dartmoor granite, with a length of 928 feet and a width of 49 feet. It was widened in 1902- 1904 in an attempt to combat London's chronic traffic congestion. Unfortunately, this proved too much for the bridge's foundations; it was subsequently discovered that the bridge was sinking an inch every eight years.
In 1968, Rennie's bridge was sold to the American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch for the sum of $2,460,000 (it has been claimed that he was under the mistaken belief that he was buying Tower Bridge). The bridge was shipped piece by piece to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it was reconstructed and dedicated on October 10, 1971. (Not all of the bridge was transported to America; some was kept behind in lieu of taxes and was eventually auctioned in 2003.) Today it forms the centrepiece of what amounts to an ersatz English theme park complete with mock-Tudor shopping mall. Somewhat surprisingly, Rennie's London Bridge has become Arizona's second biggest tourist attraction after the Grand Canyon.
1.3 Modern London Bridge
The current London Bridge was constructed in 1967- 1972 over the River Thames and opened in 1973. It is a fairly dull edifice comprising three spans of pre-stressed concrete cantilevers, paid for in part by the sale of the earlier Rennie bridge. Its cost of £4m was met entirely by the City of London's Bridge House Estates.
2 External links
Bridges in London
