The Great Bridge Caper: How London Bridge Ended Up on an Arizona Vacation (and Never Came Back)
Have you ever looked at a map and thought, "Wait, something's not quite right here"? Well, that's exactly the situation with the London Bridge. Yes, you read that correctly. The iconic London Bridge, the one with the history stretching back centuries, the one with countless tourists snapping selfies, well, it decided to take a permanent vacation...to the Arizona desert!
But Why Arizona, You Ask?
The story, like most things in life, involves a bit of money, a dash of ingenuity, and a whole lot of "hold my beer." In the 1960s, London Bridge was getting a bit long in the tooth (bridges have teeth, apparently). It was sinking, it wasn't handling the modern traffic flow, and overall, it was due for a revamp. The folks in London decided on a new bridge, all shiny and modern, but that left the old one with an uncertain future. Enter Robert P. McCulloch, an American businessman with a vision (and possibly a taste for the absurd).
McCulloch was developing a new town in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The town was lovely, but it lacked a certain...je ne sais quoi. That's when the lightbulb went off! What better way to put your new town on the map (literally) than by snagging a famous landmark? So, McCulloch did what any sensible person would do: he bought the London Bridge, brick by brick (or rather, granite block by granite block).
The Great Disassembly and the Long Journey
Now, moving a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean isn't exactly a walk in the park. First, they had to disassemble the whole thing – a monumental task in itself. Each of the 10,276 granite blocks was carefully numbered and then shipped off on a freighter, taking a leisurely cruise through the Panama Canal before finally arriving in California. From there, it was loaded onto trucks and driven hundreds of miles to its final destination in the desert.
Rebuilding a Bridge in the Sand
Building a bridge in London is one thing, but erecting it in the Arizona desert is a whole new ball game. The engineers had to get creative, using sand mounds to create the base for the arches and then carefully removing the sand once the bridge was complete. Finally, in 1971, the "new" London Bridge was officially opened, complete with a Thames River (well, a channel of Lake Havasu) flowing underneath.
So Next Time You're in Arizona...
If you ever find yourself cruising down the highway in Arizona and see a giant bridge that looks suspiciously out of place, don't rub your eyes. That's the genuine, one-and-only (well, maybe not only anymore) London Bridge, enjoying its retirement in the sunshine.
FAQ
- How to visit the London Bridge in Arizona? Just head to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. You can't miss it!
- How much did it cost to move the London Bridge? Robert P. McCulloch snagged the bridge for a cool $2.5 million (a steal, considering the bragging rights).
- Can you walk across the bridge? Absolutely! It's a fully functional bridge, so take a stroll and pretend you're in London (with much better weather).
- What else is there to do in Lake Havasu City? Besides enjoying the bridge, there's boating, fishing, and plenty of desert adventures to be had.
- Is the London Bridge the only out-of-place landmark in the US? Nope! There's also a replica of Stonehenge in Washington State, just to name one.
