London Bridge
London Bridge, the name given to several bridges across the Thames, connecting the City of London with the borough of Southwark. The first bridge, of wood, was built about 975. It was carried away by a storm and high tide in 1091. A stone bridge was constructed about a century later; until 1750 it was the only bridge in London. Shops, stalls, and houses were erected on each side of the roadway, making the bridge a continuous street. At each entrance were gates, on the pinnacles of which the heads of traitors were exposed. The buildings were torn down after 1756.
The third bridge was designed by John Rennie, a Scottish engineer. It was opened in 1831 about 100 feet (30 m) up the river from the old bridge, which was then torn down. This bridge was often confused with the majestic Tower Bridge, about half a mile (800 m) to the east. It was a simple five-arch, granite structure about 1,005 feet (306 m) long and 65 feet (20 m) wide. In 1968 this bridge was sold to an American corporation which relocated it in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
A fourth bridge, made of concrete, was completed in 1973.