Did the original London Bridge get moved?

In 1968, an American tycoon bought London Bridge—all 10,000 tons of it—and moved it brick-by-brick to the desert town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.



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It's thought that at least 3,000 people died. As if that wasn't enough, parts of the bridge collapsed on several occasions, including 1281, 1309, 1425 and 1437. The 1281 collapse happened when expanding ice from the frozen Thames literally crushed five of the arches.

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In 1968, an American tycoon bought London Bridge—all 10,000 tons of it—and moved it brick-by-brick to the desert town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In the early 1960s, officials in England made a troubling discovery: London Bridge was falling down.

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If you look carefully in the church's courtyard you will see a set of large stones, unlabelled and apparently without purpose. These stones are actually the remains of the old medieval London Bridge, more specifically parts from the northernmost arch.

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The bridge was damaged many times by fire, flood, and extreme weather, and replaced by new structures three times, in 1757, 1823, and 1973. The historical 1823 London Bridge was sold to American entrepreneur Robert McCullough and moved to Lake Havasu, Arizona, where it has become an important tourist attraction.

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Tower Bridge opens its bascules about 800 times a year on average. The bascules were lifted 6,194 times in 1894, the first year of Tower Bridge's operation. This adds up to about 17 times a day, on average.

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The purchaser, Robert P. McCulloch, was an entrepreneur and real estate developer who founded Lake Havasu City. He installed the bridge to attract tourists and retirement home buyers to his properties there.

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Venture across the River Thames on one of London's bridges, sites of architectural excellence and the city's long history.
  • London Bridge. ...
  • Millennium Bridge. ...
  • Westminster Bridge. ...
  • Southwark Bridge. ...
  • Blackfriars Bridge. ...
  • Vauxhall Bridge. ...
  • Chelsea Bridge. ...
  • Waterloo Bridge.


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Any vessel that is more than 9m (30ft) tall, can request a bridge lift. The Bridge is bound by an Act of Parliament (the Tower Bridge Act of 1885) to give river traffic priority over road traffic.

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By 1962, it was not sturdy enough to carry the increased load of traffic; the bridge was sold by the City of London in April 1968 to make way for its replacement. The purchaser, Robert P. McCulloch, was an entrepreneur and real estate developer who founded Lake Havasu City.

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