Industrial History: 1831+1971 London Bridge over London Bridge Channel in Lake Havasu City, AZ

(Archived Bridge Hunter; HAER; Satellite, 22,105 photos!!)

Credit line: West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Carol M. Highsmith's photographs are in the public domain.

Street View, Mar 2019

Street View, Nov 2022

Bridges Now and Then posted
London Bridge at Lake Havasu, Arizona, May, 1972. (Charles O'Rear/National Archives)
Glenn Lincoln: The bridge is a modern reinforced concrete bridge. It was cased with the original stones from the bridge in London. The guard rails and upper stone work is also original. When I walked across the bridge I noticed one of the arches had the king stone missing and I could see daylight instead. It is an expansion joint.
Ric Lang: Wasn't it McCullough (chainsaw king) that had something to do with getting that London bridge to Havasu ?....I've been through that bridge on a boat and noticed the markings on the bricks, so it would go back together like a huge puzzle.

The 1831 London Bridge over the River Thames was sinking in 1962 because of an increased traffic load. Robert McCulloch submitted the winning bid of $2,460,000. He had the Dartmoor granite stones of the 928' (283m) bridge shipped to Lake Havasu City. It was easy to build the sand falsework because the one-mile channel was dug after the bridge was reconstructed. [pbs]

The original London Bridge was sinking at the rate of 1" (2.5cm) every eight years. "To ensure the bridge could handle modern traffic, construction crews built a hollow core of steel-reinforced concrete, which was then covered with 10,000 tons of the original 19th-century granite." He had spent $1m to buy the land that became Lake Havasu City. But the city was not growing very fast, so he wanted a tourist attraction. After he bought the bridge, he spent an additional $7m to ship, assemble and dredge the channel over a three year peroid. "Their whimsical purchase proved to be the marketing ploy that Lake Havasu City needed. From a population of just a few hundred in the early 1960s, the town blossomed to over 10,000 residents by 1974. In 1975, its chamber of commerce reported that the bridge had drawn nearly two million visitors the previous year....The town he built from scratch is now home to over 50,000 full-time residents and boasts a thriving tourist industry." [history]

London Bridge is more significant for its fascinating history and the people involved with its construction than for its technological innovation. Completed in 1831, it had a long and useful tenure carrying heavy commuter traffic ina nd out ofthe city's southernmost end. In 1967, the city of London elected to demolish the famous but deteriorating bridge and put its stones up for sale. McCulloch Properties of Arizona, needing a tourist attraction to spur growth for their new Lake Havasu City, soon purchased it for over $2.4 million. The following year, ten tons of its original stone were removed and transplanted to the Arizona desert for reconstruction. The new bridge itself is actually a concrete structure, but the original London Bridge facing stones and the 1902 balustrade and corbels give it an authentic appearance. It is situated along the shores ofthe manmade Lake Havasu in the midst of what has become a popular vacation area, in part due to its presence there. It is also a testament to the creativity ofthe founders of Lake Havasu City, Robert P. McCulloch and C.V. Wood, who were responsible for bringing the London Bridge, in Wood's words, "from the oldest English-speaking community in the world...to the youngest English-speaking city."
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Bridges Now and Then posted
The relocated London Bridge, seen in Arizona, 1971. (Historic Bridges)
Paul Kelly: Apparently the person who bought it, thought they were buying Tower.
Bridges Now and Then: Paul Kelly A well traveled story, but, not true.
Bridges Now and Then posted again

RVertv Quartzsite posted
London Bridge being Constructed
Mark Rowan: Technically being reconstructed.
Dan Barnes: That city not anything close to McCulloughs vision.

Bridges Now and Then posted
Marking and dismantling London Bridge, preparing for the move to Lake Havasu, Arizona, 1968. (London UK)

Bridges Now and Then posted
"This is an April, 1968 photo of the London Bridge as it is being dismantled over the Thames river in London, England. The bridge will be sent and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., in the United States." (AP Photo)

Will Hemb: What replaced it in London?

Bridges Now and Then commented on Will's comment
The new London Bridge.

Barry Gage posted six photos with the comment:

A little piece of London in America.

I’m certain you all know that in 1967 American Robert Paxton McCullouch bought the then London Bridge for $2.4 Million at an auction. Mr McCullouch then relocated it brick by brick to lake Havasu, Arizona, in 1968 where it has enjoyed a lot less rain ever since!

It currently costs £10 to walk across, have any of you visited it…?