London Bridge (Lake Havasu City) - Description

Description

The 1831 London Bridge was the last project of engineer John Rennie and completed by his son, John Rennie the Younger. By 1962, the bridge was not sound enough to support the increased load of modern traffic, and was sold by the City of London.

The purchaser, Robert McCulloch, was the founder of Lake Havasu and the chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation. McCulloch purchased the bridge to serve as a tourist attraction to his retirement real estate development at Lake Havasu City, which at that time was far from the usual tourist track. The idea was successful, bringing interested tourists and retirement home buyers to the area.

Mr. Robert I Plumer (deceased) was a real estate agent and salesperson for Mr. Robert P. McCulloch. Originally, the deserted Lake Havasu vacant land was given to the State of Arizona by the Federal government. The federal property was an abandoned landing strip for the military. Mr. McCulloch made a deal with the State of Arizona and received the property for free with a promise to develop the land. The problem was that the real estate agents could not bring in prospective buyers, because the land was in the middle of nowhere and very arid and hot. Mr. Plumer, who worked for Mr. McCulloch, learned that the "London Bridge" was for sale. Mr. Plumer convinced Mr. McCulloch to buy the London Bridge and bring it to the area to attract potential land buyers. The initial response from Mr. McCulloch was "That's the craziest idea I have ever heard." Then, after consideration, Mr. McCulloch decided to go ahead with the purchase. Mr. Plumer then arranged with a cargo shipping company that was going to sail a newly built ship from Great Britain to the U.S. without any cargo. Mr. Plumer said they would pay for all operating costs of the sailing, which was far less than the going rate shipping costs. The bridge arrived in pieces at the Port of Houston and then was transported overland to Lake Havasu City. After it was reconstructed as described below, new prospective land buyers were interested in coming to see the "London Bridge" and take a tour of properties for sale. Land sales improved and Mr. McCulloch recouped all of his expenses for the purchase and shipping of the bridge. Since the cost of the land was nothing, the sale of the properties paid for the bridge and more. Mr. Robert Plumer died in 2007 in Colorado Springs, Colorado after a long illness.

After relocation to America, the bridge was reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, a developed community on the east shore of Lake Havasu, a large reservoir on the Colorado River. The bridge was not reconstructed over a river, but rather it was rebuilt on land in a position between the main part of the city and Pittsburgh Point, at that time a peninsula jutting into Lake Havasu. Once completed, the Bridgewater Channel Canal was dredged under the bridge and flooded, separating Pittsburgh Point from the city, creating an island. The bridge thus now traverses a navigable shortcut between the Thompson Bay part of Lake Havasu south of Pittsburgh Point, and the remainder of Lake Havasu to the north.

The bridge facing stones were disassembled and each was numbered. After the bridge was dismantled it was transported to Merrivale Quarry where 15 to 20 cm was sliced off many of the original stones. These were shipped to the bridge's present location and re-assembly began in 1968. The original stone was used to clad a concrete structure, so that the bridge is no longer the original after which it is modeled. The reconstruction took slightly over three years and was completed in late 1971. Today, it serves as a popular tourist attraction for the city.

Recent years have seen a large amount of development in the area of the bridge to increase tourist interest. The original "English Village", a quaint English-style open-air mall with hedge maze and historical museum, has deteriorated, with sections leveled.