Falling Down

Lake Havasu City is home to the second most visited attraction in Arizona. Only the Grand Canyon has more visitors than the London Bridge, which was reconstructed along the banks of Lake Havasu. I remember hearing about this seemingly crazy scheme as a kid and wondered who would do such a thing.

Robert McCulloch was the man who had the vision, ambition, and fortune to make it happen. In 1963, he had flown over Lake Havasu and thought it would be a great place to test his outboard engines, as well as a great place for a city. He purchased the land where the city is now, and Lake Havasu City was born. It was not easy to sell parcels here in the desert. Upon learning that the London Bridge was for sale, he determined that rebuilding it in his new city would draw more people to the area. He was right! People started to build here, and in the 55 years the city has existed, it has grown to over 56,000 residents.

This London Bridge, completed in 1831, was one of many that were built over the River Thames since the times of the Romans. Its predecessor had been in use since 1209, and because of its constant need for repairs, became the object of the children’s nursery rhyme and game “London Bridge Is Falling Down.” In the late 1960’s, officials determined that the current bridge could no longer handle the modern traffic of London and began preparing to replace it. They had the idea to sell the old bridge to offset some of the cost of the new bridge and for $2.4 million, Mr. McCulloch gave the bridge new life.

After the purchase, the London Bridge was carefully dismantled, and the granite blocks were numbered for later reassembly. 10,000 tons of granite were shipped through the Panama Canal to California. It was then trucked to Lake Havasu City where the stones were reassembled as a facade to hide a new steel-reinforced bridge that could support the weight of modern traffic. Once the bridge was constructed, the channel beneath was excavated to create the waterway. Total cost of the project exceeded $7 million.

We stopped at the bridge to take a closer look. Long, stone stairways on each side led us to the plaza below. From there, the stones appear large and heavy, giving it a sturdy, substantial feel, but to me, the long sweeping curves they form in the arches adds gentleness and elegance. I felt dwarved standing under the massive expanse of the arch. The carved overhangs and railings are simple, but the precise lines, close spacing, and repetitive nature lends a graceful spirit. Beyond the stairway is a pedestrian mall adorned with several shops and restaurants of a British theme. A London phone booth and an antique boundary marker extend that ambience. It amused me learning that the lamp posts on the bridge were crafted from the melted canons of Napoleon’s army. It is rumored that the bridge is haunted, but I didn’t feel a presence.

There are two centuries of history here, and I can sense it when I touch the stones. Events like the Industrial Revolution, the Blitz during WW2, the first World’s Fair in 1851, as well as the countless people who have crossed it come to my mind. I am astounded at the ingenuity and imagination of the man that built a bridge in the desert. I think the news stories of what he was doing helped the town get off its feet and grow. I am amazed that it only took him three years to reconstruct the bridge, but it took seven years to build it originally. The largest bridge project I was involved in was less than 200 feet in length. I think working on the reconstruction would have been the chance of a lifetime... too bad I was too young.

I am glad Tom wanted to stop and see the reason all this exists, even though Lynn and I said we did not have to. Parker Dam holds back the waters of the Colorado River, creating Lake Havasu. It was constructed in the 1930’s for power generation and to provide water to the Los Angles and Phoenix areas. It is the world’s deepest dam with footings at 235 feet below the riverbed. It is crazy to think that more of the structure is underground than above. For me, the mass of concrete has a certain elegance with its sharp curvature, the way the gate towers rise above the deck, and the decorative light posts lining the road. Parker Dam is tiny in comparison to the Hoover Dam, making the tight curve of the road across the top seem even tighter.

For both the London Bridge and Parker Dam, be it for the romantic next-best-thing of being in Britain, to bask in the architecture, amaze at the feat of moving a bridge to another continent, or appreciate that large quantities of water can exist in the desert, I would recommend a visit. You, too, can add to the statistics of Arizona’s second most visited scenic attraction.

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