The original London Bridge, a medieval stone structure built by the Romans, served as the sole river crossing for centuries. However, by the 1820s, it had become a major bottleneck for river traffic and was also sinking due to the weight of the buildings constructed on it. In 1831, John Rennie, a renowned civil engineer, was commissioned to design a new bridge. The original London Bridge was dismantled and its stones were used to construct a new bridge at Staines-upon-Thames, while the new London Bridge, made of granite, was completed in 1831 and stood until 1967, when it was sold to an American businessman who had it shipped to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it remains a popular tourist attraction today.
