Published July 19 2022, for State 48 A2Z
With its country's history being so much older than that of the United States, London England has had a bridge spanning the Thames River for over 2,000-years. The second most recent bridge over the Thames, the New London Bridge, was built in 1831 and operated until it was deemed to be “falling down” and was replaced in 1968 by the current London Bridge. But London’s loss was Lake Havasu’s gain.
The very first “London Bridge” over the Thames was built by the Romans around the year 43CE, based on historical records. It was a temporary pontoon bridge that used wood planks laid over a row of anchored boats. It was obviously replaced at some point, although records do not indicate when. However, in 984CE historical records indicate that a widow and her son were arrested for having driven pins into the image of a man. The woman was believed to be a Witch and taken to the London Bridge to be drowned. Her son escaped. In the record, the bridge was described as wooden.
Then, in 1014 the Saxons, under control of King Ethelred The Unready, along with a band of Vikings from Norway, under the command of King Olof, attacked the bridge, securing ropes from their boats to the bridge’s moorings and sailed off, pulling out the moors and collapsing the bridge. The new London Bridge started construction in 1176 and opened in 1209. It took 33-years to fully build, but it lasted more than 600-years until 1831 when yet another “new” London Bridge was opened. This bridge was built from granite and was designed with 5 arches at an overall length of 928 feet and was 49 feet wide. The bridge would last until 1962 when it was found to be “falling down”, just like the old nursery rhyme goes, and plans began to construct a new bridge over the River Thames.
Instead of just tearing down the troubled bridge to make way for a new one, the city of London decided to auction off the old bridge. While the city received numerous bids for this amazing piece of old English history, it was Robert P. McColloch, founder of Lake Havasu, Arizona, who brought the high bid of just under $2.5M for the bridge alone. Another $7M was spent transporting the bridge, which was dismantled stone by stone, to the western Arizona town on the Colorado River. The transportation alone took three years to complete.
The bridge had to be shipped toughly 10,000-miles to Long Beach, California, through the Panama Canal before being transported by truck to its new home on the Colorado River. The bridge in Lake Havasu was constructed as a conventional steel structure with the granite stones from the London Bridge then placed over the steel structure to retain its original, old-world look. The cornerstone for the bridge’s reassembly in Lake Havasu was laid on September 23, 1968, by Lord Mayor of London, Sir Gilbert Inglefield.
Each piece of the granite stone was marked with four numbers: the first indicating which arch span, the second number noted which row of stones it belongs to, and the last two indicated which position in that row. To reconstruct the bridge in Lake Havasu, they used a technique like the ancient Egyptians did to build the pyramids. Sand mounds were used beneath each arch, much like a casting, to form the bridge’s arches. Once the bridge was complete, the sand “molds” were removed and a one-mile channel was dug out under the bridge, connecting to the lake on each end. The rehomed historic bridge finally opened to the public on October 10, 1971, in a momentous event that attracted 50,000 people, including British and Arizona officials.
An interesting feature of the London Bridge is the bridge’s lampposts, which are made from melted-down canons that the British captured from Napoleon’s Army after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The lampposts still line the London Bridge today.
The London Bridge now connects mainland Lake Havasu City to the Island on Lake Havasu and is used by pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. The island is also home to The Nautical Beachfront Resort, formerly called the Nautical Inn, which is the only beachfront resort in Arizona and where we stayed while shooting in Lake Havasu City.
Lake Havasu City’s London Bridge is not only historic and, some say, haunted, but it is also the second-largest tourist draw in Arizona. Guided tours of the bridge will take you along the Bridgewater Channel where you can see historical points like the strafing marks from German aircraft fire in World War II. Guided tours are about 90-minutes long and are only available for groups of 10-24 people during the months of October through April, but self-guided tours are available year-round.
That’ll wrap things up for this week. As always, thanks for reading, stay safe, and happy travels. Like and follow us on social media (links below) and please share our posts. And feel free to give us your feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Peace!
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