Where is the original London Bridge now?

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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Moving the original London Bridge to Arizona was a scheme to make a small town in Arizona a tourist attraction. Businessman Robert P. McCulloch's ventures ranged from oil exploration to manufacturing chain saws, and he once tried to market a two-man gyroplane, a cross between a helicopter and a small airplane.

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Once this was completed, the old bridge was quickly dismantled and lost into the annals of history. There are, in fact, a few lasting remnants of the old London Bridge, and one of which is built into the tower of St Magnus the Marytr's Church on Lower Thames Street.

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When it was completed in 1209, medieval London Bridge was the only fixed crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston-upon-Thames (until Fulham Bridge was built in 1729). Remarkably, it was also home to some 500 people – equivalent to the population of a small medieval town.

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Once the key crossing point of the Thames River, the bridge was built in 1209 to replace the original Roman crossing built in 50. It remained in use for over 600 years, before being demolished in the 19th century to provide access for river traffic.

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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 1962, it was discovered that the London Bridge was falling down. It was sinking into the Thames because it was not adequate for the increase in London traffic across it. Robert McCulloch a Lake Havasu businessman learned that the British Government was putting the bridge up for sale.

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The Go Lake Havasu Visitor Information Center offers guided group tours of the London Bridge. The half-mile, 90-minute walking tour takes visitors on a stroll along and across the sparkling Bridgewater Channel.

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Yes, absolutely. And on a pleasant day, if you cross on the east side (the left in the direction you're going) you also get a great view of Tower Bridge, the Tower, City Hall and HMS Belfast.

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The River Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.



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Before 1990, London Bridge was exactly that – a bridge that connected the arch of land to the mainland. It got its name from its likeness to its namesake, before being later known as the London Arch. All due to its massive structure collapse on 15th of January 1990, with part of the bridge collapsing into the ocean.

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