Several bridges with name London Bridge have crossed the River Thames in the center of London between the City of London and Southwark. The current crossing is a steel and concrete box girder bridge that was originally made available to traffic in 1973. It took the place of a 19th-century stone-arched bridge that had been built to swap out a 600-year-old stone construction from the Middle Ages. This structure was built before a string of wooden bridges, the first of which was built by the Romans who established London. In this post, we will investigate this unusual building that is preserving a long past.
London bridge in its earliest stages.
There has been a bridge across the Thames for roughly 2,000 years in London. The Romans constructed the first “London Bridge” in 43 AD. They may have utilized ferry boats or constructed a makeshift pontoon bridge out of boards stretched across a line of moored boats.
A group of Norwegian Vikings under the command of their King Olaf joined the Saxons under King Ethelred the Unready in 1014, while the Danes controlled London. To seize the Bridge and split the Danes, they all sailed up the Thames. But they used thatched roofs. They were removed from the homes that formerly stood on and over the London Bridge to cover their ships. They pulled the bridge down by rowing beneath it, putting their cables around the piles supporting it, then rowing off quickly. Once more, London Bridge needed to be reconstructed.
The First Bridge to Cross the River Thames: The London Bridge
Under the supervision of Peter Colechurch, the first stone bridge was constructed in 1176. Men of the cloth formed architectural plans in those days because monastic orders taught them how to construct stone arches. This new London Bridge, which was finished in 1209 after 33 years of construction, stood for more than 600 years. The road was 300 yards long and 20 feet broad. Twenty arches that curled to a Gothic point served as its support. The bridge included a wooden drawbridge to admit ships in and keep enemies out. Under the arches, water wheels were used by the water flow, initially to grind grain.
The bridge becomes full of buildings
On the sturdy stone bridge, residents and business owners started constructing homes and stores. Buildings eventually fully encircled the area. When a multitude of people became caught on the London Bridge between two fires in 1212, it resulted in calamity. Many people died from burns. On the bridge was a Stone Gate House, and on its roof were poles bearing the heads of traitors. This custom first appeared in 1304. 350 years later, the head of Oliver Cromwell was affixed to one of the poles. Nonesuch House, which spans the bridge and has a tunnel running through it at street level, was constructed in 1577 to take the place of the drawbridge. A portion of the wood used for the structure of Nonesuch House was imported from Holland. The wonderful fact about this is that there were no nails used when constructing this master structure.
A committee was established by Parliament in 1821 to assess the bridge’s condition. It was decided to construct a new bridge since the Great Freeze had severely destroyed the arches. Plans were offered and denied. Given that the old images were for horse-drawn carriages, this bridge would need to be very different from the original London Bridge. John Rennie’s designs were approved in 1824. The new bridge was constructed 100 feet west of the previous one. At this point, the River Thames becomes 900 feet narrower.
The Bridge was falling down
The London Bridge was found to be “falling” in 1962, sinking into the Thames as a result of not being able to handle the surge in traffic. The City of London decided to demolish the 130-year-old bridge and build a new one in its place. In 1968, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch made the winning offer of $2,460,000. The relocation of the London Bridge to Lake Havasu City cost McCulloch an additional $7 million and took a total of three years.
The First Bridge to Cross the River Thames: The London Bridge
Ten thousand kilometers by water brought the bridge to Long Beach, California. It was then transported by truck to Lake Havasu City, where it was kept in a seven-acre, gated storage area. Sir Gilbert Inglefield, the Lord Mayor of London, laid the cornerstone on September 23, 1968. A civil engineer from Nottingham, England named Robert Beresford was in charge of rebuilding the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City.
Modern London Bridge
Lord Holford, a designer, and engineers Mott, Hay, and Anderson created the current London Bridge. From 1967 to 1972, John Mowlem and Co. built it. On March 17, 1973, Queen Elizabeth II declared it open. It consists of three spans of 833-foot-long prestressed concrete box girders. The Bridge House Estates charity covered the whole cost of £4 million (or £60.1 million in 2021). Rennie’s bridge was used until the first two girders were completed upstream and downstream, at which point the current bridge was built in the same spot. The former bridge was subsequently destroyed to make room for the remaining two center girders, after which traffic was switched to the two new girders.
The British battleship HMS Jupiter struck London Bridge in 1984, seriously damaging the bridge as well as the ship. A nighttime fly along the Thames by WWII aircraft on Remembrance Day 2004 included red illumination on numerous London bridges. The only bridge that continued to have the illuminations, which are frequently turned on at night, was London Bridge. from 20 Fenchurch Street, London Bridge
Many movies, news reports, and documentaries use the present London Bridge to depict the swarm of commuters heading into the City from London Bridge Station (south to north). Hugh Grant, who played this role in the 2002 movie About, crossed the bridge from north to south during morning rush hour as an example.
2017 terrorist attack
The Lord Mayor and Freemen of the City drove a flock of sheep across the bridge on July 11, 2009, ostensibly by ancient right, as part of the annual Lord Mayor’s charity appeal and to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the building of Old London Bridge during King John’s reign.
The First Bridge to Cross the River Thames: The London Bridge
London Bridge with the oblong Walkie-Talkie structure at right and the 2017 security barriers
On June 3, 2017, three pedestrians on the bridge were struck by a vehicle in a terrorist attack, resulting in their deaths. In total, 48 people were hurt and 8 individuals died in the incident.
To better separate the sidewalk for pedestrians from the traffic, security barriers were put in place on the bridge.
So, since the medieval era, the story of this iconic landmark has passed lots of milestones. Moreover, still that story continues. What do you think about this amazing landmark? Don’t forget to comment below.
