How London’s most famous bridge ended up half a world away

The crossing over the Bridgewater Channel in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, shows a few signs of age. The chip marks come courtesy of strafing by German planes in World War II, which is rather odd, given the Germans never flew over Arizona, and Lake Havasu City was established in 1963.

The bridge, however, has been on a far more remarkable journey than anyone who has come to see it. From 1831 to 1968, it spanned the River Thames in London.

London Bridge was moved from London to Lake Havasu, Arizona, brick by brick. Credit:

For Robert McCulloch, who made his fortune redesigning the chainsaw so it could be used by one person, London Bridge was a potential centrepiece for his planned community. The 19th-century stone-arched bridge could no longer cope with the amount of traffic that needed to cross it, and was up for sale.

McCulloch’s $US2.5 million (the equivalent today of about $US18 million, or $29 million) offer was accepted, largely as he was the only bidder promising to keep the bridge together. But it’s one thing to buy a bridge and quite another to move it halfway across the world.

The Lake Havasu City Visitor Centre has an extraordinary collection of photographs showing how the feat was achieved. McCulloch had every piece of stone numbered as the bridge was dismantled, and they were shipped through the Panama Canal to Long Beach in California. From there, the pieces were trucked overland to Lake Havasu, a giant reservoir created by the Parker Dam on the Colorado River in the 1930s, and reassembled.

Given the 283-metre-long London Bridge wasn’t long enough to cross either the lake or the Colorado River, McCulloch also had to conjure up a stretch of water to cross. His solution was to turn a peninsula on the lake’s eastern shore into an island.

Bridgewater Channel is a popular escape from the desert heat.Credit:

That island, and the dug-out channel that London Bridge now crosses, are the focal point of Lake Havasu City today. It’s a deeply odd place that attracts party-hungry boat enthusiasts in the roasting hot desert summers, and retirees and hikers in the more palatable winters.

Along the Bridgewater Channel, a series of stationary cabana boats with barbecues and sound systems host sunburnt drinkers who stand in the water in their swimwear until long after the sun goes down.

The island, meanwhile, is home to restaurants, condos, the Barley Brothers brewery and waterfront parks that have been turned into beaches.

The eastern end of London Bridge is where the pseudo-British kitsch kicks in. The castle-like London Bridge Resort, with its water slide and beach club, lies on one side. The English Village, with a red phone box, ostentatious fountain and curious interpretation of English pubs, is on the other. The signs offering $US6 margaritas, shaved ice and a mac’n’cheese bar don’t exactly scream Ye Olde England.

A London-style phone booth next to the bridge.Credit:

What turns Lake Havasu City into more than just a quirky oddity is the lake itself. The Lake Havasu Marine Association’s designated operator program connects visitors with US Coastguard-certified captains for skippered private boat rentals. These charters offer an opportunity to step away from the eccentricity around London Bridge and appreciate the natural beauty.

The zig-zagging across the water starts off cute, spotting some of the 28 miniature lighthouses around the lake. These are all working-scale models of famous lighthouses elsewhere in the US, and they dot Lake Havasu’s shoreline.

But further away from the bridge and the island, you begin to realise that you’re travelling through stark, dramatic, hilly desert terrain that the lake has partially flooded.

This makes for some glorious bays, coves and craggy arms. The most dramatic of these is Copper Canyon, where the barely vegetated rock walls climb steeply around the boat. An outcrop – roughly 25 metres high – is used as a diving platform for daredevils testing their nerve to leap into the water.

As the boat returns to the city at sunset, it glides up the channel full of revellers. And, lit up by the oranges and reds of the changing sky, a bridge from thousands of kilometres away stands proudly incongruous.

The bridge in its original London location.Credit:

THE DETAILS

Visit
You’ll need a rental car to visit Lake Havasu City – the nearest major city is Las Vegas – a 2½-hour drive away. Designated operator boat charters via the Lake Havasu Marine Association cost from about $125 an hour. See lhma.net

Fly
United offers one-stop flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Las Vegas, changing planes in Los Angeles. See united.com

Stay
The London Bridge Resort offers studio rooms from $188 a night, room only, including taxes and the unavoidable resort fee. See Londonbridgeresort.com

More
See golakehavasu.com and visitarizona.com

The writer was a guest of the Arizona Office of Tourism.