"London Bridge is Falling Down"
Remember the nursery rhyme, “London Bridge is Falling Down” ? That’s a bridge that Roma Agarwal talks about in her wonderful book, Built . It’s a building she never saw because, hey, it was demolished in 1831, after being in existence for a whopping 600 years! “Despite its impressive longevity, Old London Bridge failed as a structure.” From the start, it was a tough ask. Nobody had built a stone bridge on a tidal river. Getting stones transported was another challenge. It took one year just to create one arch of the bridge. 18 more arches later, 33 years later, the bridge was finally ready in 1209. At its center was a drawbridge to allow tall ships to pass. Since the bridge was 8 meters wide and no cars/lorries existed: “Houses began appearing on the bridge.” Over a hundred of them, including shops. Some buildings were 3 to 4 stories tall. With so many “residents”, stalls mushroomed! Obviously, the bridge had never been designed for buildings. The houses were too close to...