LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz.—London Bridge wasn’t falling down. It was sinking, inch by inch, into the River Thames.
Heavy traffic drove it deeper into the muddy riverbed—about an inch every eight years. By the mid-20th century, one side already sat lower than the other, a slow tilt marking the end of its working life.
London’s historic span was nearing retirement. Half a world away, American businessman and inventor Robert McCulloch saw something else entirely.
In 1968, he bought the failing span and set in motion a plan that would bridge two continents and reshape a desert city….