Quiz It: Arizona - How much do you know about mysteries and castles

Question: American entrepreneur, Robert P. McCulloch, who is noted for McCulloch chainsaws, centrifugal superchargers, and a hybrid combination of helicopter and airplane, is also responsible for two projects that have helped increase tourism for Arizona. What were these two projects?

Your choices are:

1. London Bridge in Lake Havasu City and the Great Fountain in Fountain Hills
2. Fashion Square and Paradise Valley Mall in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, Arizona.
3. Barrett-Jackson Car Shows and the Pavilions Car Shows in Scottsdale.
4. The renovation of Downtown Phoenix and Mill Avenue in Tempe
5. Salt River Raft Rides and the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

The Answer Is:

Robert P. McCulloch is responsible for the reconstruction of London Bridge in Lake Havasu City and the construction of the Great Fountain in Fountain Hills. Both projects were completed in 1971.

London Bridge is Falling Down

London Bridge spanned the River Thames for almost 140 years from the early 1830s until 1968. The bridge survived a terrorist attack in 1884. It also survived the German bombings during World War I and World War II. However, it could not withstand the forces of nature. It was sinking into the Thames River’s clay bottom.

London Bridge was purchased on April 18, 1968 for a bid of $2,460,000 from the City of London by Robert P. McCulloch, Sr., founder of Lake Havasu City. He had made his fortune selling chain saws. To avoid taxation, the Bridge was declared an antique and has been identified as the world’s largest antique by the Guinness Book of Records.

The bridge was shipped brick-by-brick -- 22 million pounds of granite or 10,276 pieces -- from London through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, California, and then trucked to Lake Havasu, a 10,000-mile journey. The process of reconstruction took three years, and the bridge was dedicated in October of 1971.

The bridge connects Lake Havasu City’s mainland and island. Lake Havasu is actually a reservoir behind Parker Dam. Parker Dam, the deepest dam in the world, has 73 percent of its structural height of 320 feet below the original riverbed. Men and machines excavated 235 feet into the Colorado riverbed before concrete was placed as the dam’s foundation. Only about 85 feet of the dam is actually visible.

The Great Fountain

Surrounded by the mountain views of Four Peaks, the Superstitions, and McDowell Mountains, the Great Fountain is the centerpiece of Fountain Hills. It is the world's tallest continuously running manmade fountain. It sits in the middle of a lake surrounded by a 32-acre park at the eastern end of the Avenue of the Fountain.

The spectacular fountain rises 560 feet into the air, ten feet higher than the Washington Monument and almost three times higher than Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. Since the fountain rises so high in the air, it is easily viewed from all over town and on highways and roads approaching Fountain Hills.