London Bridge

From ArticleWorld

London Bridge is the modification of the old bridge that existed on the same site and was built by the Romans, about 2000 years ago. The modern London Bridge is built over River Thames and connects Southwark to the City of London. This present bridge is the site where the old London Bridge existed for centuries and was the only bridge in use till about 1750. Around that time the Westminster bridge was built to share the increased traffic crossing over to London from the Southwark side.

Trouble waters

According to history the Romans built a bridge made of timber at the same site where the present bridge now stands but after their departure it was allowed to fall into disrepair. At some point of time the importance of the bridge dawned on the people and efforts were made to repair it, either by replacing rotten timber planks or by reconstruction. The bridge had to be repaired repeatedly to keep it in working condition as, at that point of time, it was the only bridge over the Thames. It was twice gutted by fire and once destroyed by fierce storms before the decision to rebuild the bridge using more permanent material, stone, was finally taken.

Through the ages

The construction of the bridge was finally started in the year 1176 and it took all of 33 years to complete -- years after its first architect had died. This bridge was an imposing structure and people were allowed to build houses on it (some up to seven stories high); it even had a chapel of its own.

Six hundred years after it was built; after several accidents - involving fire, falling of the arches, and damage through overuse, it was decided to replace the old bridge with a new one. Following numerous design competitions and plan failures, an engineer by the name of John Rennie undertook the construction of the new bridge at about 100 feet distance from the old bridge. This bridge took seven years to complete and on its completion the old bridge was destroyed.

By the mid 1920s it was discovered that the bridge was slowly sinking and it was finally sold off to an American entrepreneur in 1968, who carried it off piece by piece to Arizona where it was reconstructed over a canal and has since become the largest tourist attraction of the City after Grand Canyon.

The modern bridge took five years to complete and was opened to the public in 1973. It was built on the same site as the old bridge and was partly financed by the sale of the old John Rennie Bridge. It has nothing to commend it as far as looks go but is a sturdy structure.