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Document 47414

LONDON BRIDGE: JOHN RENNIE
About work to be done at the docks.
Manuscript LS: "John Rennie", 1p, 7x8¾. London, 1799 January 12. To Mr. Davis. In full: "It did not occur to me when I wrote you yesterday, -that it perhaps might in some cases be convenient/on Loading or unloading high wagons/that the Gib of the Crane might be usefull (sic) if made higher than 12 feet - the height represented in the drawing & that probably a piece of wood could be get at Kristburg Wharf two or three feet higher than said drawing - if so please let it be made so if 14 or 15 feet or even more so much the better--& in this case the Braces will be more upright & of course have more power." Three additional lines in Rennie's hand on verso covered by mounting remnants. JOHN RENNIE (1761-1821) started his own engineering company in London in 1791. Over the next few years he built the Leeds Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Waterloo Bridge. Rennie was also responsible for designing and building docks at Hull, Liverpool, Greenock and Leith and improving the harbors and dockyards at Portsmouth, Chatham and Plymouth. In this letter, Rennie is referring to improvements at the dockyard. The original London Bridge built over the River Thames was a wooden bridge (963-975) that was replaced (1176-1209) by a stone bridge with houses and a chapel. The buildings were removed from 1756 to 1762. The bridge was many times damaged by fire and was finally removed in 1832 after the opening of a new granite, five-arched bridge in 1831. The new bridge, designed by Rennie, was 928 feet long. He died in 1821 at the age of 60, before the bridge was built. His son John built the bridge between 1824 and 1831. In 1968, Rennie's London Bridge was dismantled and purchased by Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In 1973, a new concrete bridge replaced the old one formerly over the Thames in London. Folds, vertical fold touches "Jo" and "n" in John. Mounting remnants on verso, light show through at upper left and right corners, touching 1 word and date. Light stains at 2 places in body of letter, touching 2 words. Lightly creased. Overall, fine condition.

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