| |
 |
Giant Bridges in the World
|
London Bridge
London Bridge (伦敦桥) is any of several successive structures spanning the Thames River between Borough High Street, Southwark, and King William Street in the city of London.
The Old London Bridge was built in 1176. Its 19 arches of varying breadths mounted on piers of different sizes were so narrow as to turn the river into a series of rapids during tidal flow. The widest arch was 10.4 metres, the narrowest 4.5 metres.
Three years after completion the bridge was severely damaged by fire, the first of many calamitous incidents. Despite these, it remained for centuries a choice residential and business site, its roadway loaded with houses and shops, many of which projected out over the river.
It remained the sole crossing of the Thames at London until the 1740s, when Westminster Bridge was built. The ancient structure was demolished and replaced in the 1820s by New London Bridge. New London Bridge spanned the river with only five arches, with a centre span of 45 metres.
In 1960s it was replaced, but its masonry (砖石) facing, dismantled and shipped across the Atlantic, was re-erected on a core of reinforced concrete at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, as a tourist attraction.(SD-Agencies)
|
|
|
|
