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John Rennie's London Bridge

The London Bridge has actually been several different bridges throughout history, since the bridge had to be replaced every few hundred years. One of the London bridges is now in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., of all places.



When London needed a new bridge in the early 1800s, Scottish engineer John Rennie the Elder won a design competition. His new bridge was opened across the Thames in 1831. It was so heavily used that it sank 2.5 cm (about an inch) every 8 years. By 1924 it had to be replaced again.



The Common Council of the City of London put the bridge up for sale in 1967. Robert P. McCullough of McCullough Oil bought the bridge for $2,460,000 and had it reconstructed in Arizona in 1971.