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I don't know.
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in an almost infinite array of shapes and colours.
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So, the light's going to come over. I'm going to be over there.
4
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You're going to swing it to me, I'm going to pass it up to Harry. OK?
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Listen - You have to understand that Charlie is here.
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So what I need you to do is keep it away from above his head.
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OK?
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We've got a famous man here.
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LAUGHTER
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A good-looking famous man.
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All right, we need to keep it...
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This is his business, all right?
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LAUGHTER
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To what extent Lee is really concerned about my welfare,
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each contains 36 individually programmable nodes, casting light
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Right. Nice and easy, please.
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00:31:12,210 --> 00:31:16,850
But at £1,200 a pop, he's probably more worried about his lights.
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Charlie, tell me when you got hands on.
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Lovely, and swing it to me.
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Fantastic. OK. All right.
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It's coming over to you, Harry. Give me some slack!
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After one hour, the first light is finally in place.
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He's doing well.
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I'll tell you what - he's better than you.
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LAUGHTER
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Do you want a job, Charlie?
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So that is just fitting one light.
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But today is an important part in the meticulous planning process.
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the arch is closed to river traffic,
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and a safety boat is standing by.
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What I need you to do is, as we descend,
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nice and easy, keep a nice tension on the rope,
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little pieces at a time.
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I keep that nice and slow, nice and easy. Perfect.
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Today is something of a dry run.
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The team are only installing a fraction of the lights
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that will eventually be fixed to the bridge.
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It's a chance to test their theories on how and where to attach
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the lights.
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It'll be at least another year until the full installation
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on Lambeth Bridge.
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All those people, all those ropes, all those bits and gizmo and kit,
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Now you can see the beam that we're attaching. OK? Yeah.
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Let me just come under there, please, Charlie.
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Right. Get your foot up against that beam, Harry,
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and push it out to me a little bit.
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That'll do there. That's perfect.
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So what I'm realising is that this project involves a lot of hanging
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around, a lot working in a not the most comfortable situation.
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I have to say, I take my hat off to these boys because they're going to
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be down here for months getting this right.
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James, is that right?
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These lights are seriously top end.
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Totally weatherproof,
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Seals are certainly coming this far up the river,
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I think it will bring a huge amount to London.
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I think it will bring a huge amount of benefits for those that operate
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passenger boat services in particular.
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We should be inviting people out onto our boats more,
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people should be coming out on the boats more, because, remember,
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as you can see now, a bridge looks completely different
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when you're going underneath it.
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Not many people see the underside of that bridge.
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Seal, look. Seal. Seal, where?
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Just there. Oh, my God!
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That's just testimony to how clean the river is today.
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He's gone down to feed some more, I guess. That was incredible.
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Yeah, it's not an uncommon sight these days.
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of the Illuminated River project?
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up as far as Teddington.
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This is right up to Tower Bridge. Yeah.
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Imagine walking over Tower Bridge,
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looking down and seeing one of those. Seeing a seal! Exactly.
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Spotting a seal today is even more amazing when you consider
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that just 50 years ago the river was declared biologically dead.
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When I first came afloat you could smell your way up the river.
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You could smell the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery.
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You could smell the power stations.
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You could smell the rubbish.
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So, it's transformed amazingly.
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One good example, if you look at that boat just going past us
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Chris Livett makes his living on the Thames with a fleet of boats
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just to get one light down and into place.
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And this project needs thousands of lights fitted on 15 bridges.
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It really is quite some undertaking.
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And tiring.
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The River Thames is about to undergo a transformation
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unlike anything seen before.
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A £45 million privately funded project
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that will light 15 of its bridges,
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changing London forever.
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Go straight through here
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onto the little boat.
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Lovely, thank you very much. Welcome aboard.
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Pedestrian access is restricted,
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providing everything from dinner cruises to tug boat hire.
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Go straight to the front, that's it.
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I'm interested to know how this massive project is viewed
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by a man who knows this legendary waterway better than anyone.
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So your family's had a long relationship with the river?
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Yeah, we've been afloat now since 1710-ish.
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Whoa! So, I'm the seventh generation of Livett.
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I've now got an eighth generation - my son is in the business.
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Chris's forebears were known as watermen.
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Basically, the river-bound black cab drivers of the day, responsible
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for transporting passengers up, down and across the Thames.
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So what does a man with such a long connection to the Thames think
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I'd heard that, but I didn't realise it was like a proper
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It was the bridge that made London and what we now know
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as London Bridge.
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It may be long gone, but in this church next to the river,
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it's still possible to see the first London Bridge.
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Albeit in miniature form.
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Completed in 1209,
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what made London Bridge so special
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is that it was almost a town in its own right, with 140 timber
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houses, shops and churches, all perched precariously on top.
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This is the most incredible artefact.
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I mean, I had no idea that it had a sort of castle thing
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in the middle of it.
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I sort of knew that there was a drawbridge.
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there's been one on this site since Roman times.
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fairy tale drawbridge.
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Right up until the mid-18th century, this was the only bridge
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over the Thames.
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And such was the demand to use it,
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that it's said at the height of the medieval rush hour,
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it could take over an hour to cross.
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Actually, the traffic was so bad, that they introduced a rule
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that you should travel on the left.
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So the fact that we drive on the side that we do is thanks
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to London Bridge.
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I mean, it's a model, but it's so evocative.
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You can always sort of smell it.
135
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which is a bit of advice I actually, sadly, didn't take.
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Tell us every time you have a doubt, every time you believe there's
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something that needs to be changed, and we will adapt as fast as we can.
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I'm also available myself if at any time you have any doubts
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of any sort. You can contact me...
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...as you wish. That's great.
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We need it. We need that level of support because this is such
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a unique project for us all.
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Thank you for your time.
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Thanks a lot. Thank you.
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We are a supplier, but we are more than that.
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Now this project become ours.
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We are part of a team that has a mission.
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My mum always told me to beware charming men,
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You can smell the life, animals, people.
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Yep. But then, he did say concrete things about, "I will help.
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"Here's my number."
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I can't see how we could have got better commitment out of him.
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At the end of the meeting, he'd got it.
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He got what we're trying to do.
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I think because of that,
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he will follow up.
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While the Illuminated River team deal with the ins and outs of Dutch
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electrical giants, I'm taking this opportunity to learn
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more about London's first bridge.
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Although the bridge that stands
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here now dates from the 1970s,
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Stand forward, pull down.
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so the thoroughfare down the middle was not much wider
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than this, about four metres.
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So you would have had thousands of sheep and people crossing
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backwards and forwards every day.
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I mean, absolute mayhem.
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It's 8am on a wet December morning, and it's good news.
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Philips have delivered the lights as promised.
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Which is fortunate, as today is the day they will be attached
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to Lambeth Bridge for the first time.
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Grab those two rings.
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And they've got a new team member.
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That should be sitting right above your hips there, Charlie.
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Me.
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Well, it was quite a wide structure, it had houses on both sides,
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Is that nice and tight around your waist? Yep.
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The lights need to be fixed under the arches, so the only way
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to get there is by rope.
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So, Charlie, foot on,
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climb over, and the same foot fold... There we go.
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Step down to the ledge for me, hold on to the top ledge for me.
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That's it. You can sit down onto that white ledge.
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Perfect. No, use your feet.
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That's it. OK.
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We're walking down the wall.
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You've been doing this all your life, eh?
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With bridge work, nothing is simple.
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a year in the aid of charity.
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I'd give almost anything to be able to travel back and just walk
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across this bridge once.
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Well as luck would have it, there's a scene playing out
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on the new London Bridge today that is as close as I'm ever
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going to get to time travel.
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Can we have the crook up? Sorry?
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The crook up a bit.
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Today's event gives people who have been awarded the
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Freedom of the City of London
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a chance to exercise an ancient right -
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to drive sheep over the bridge.
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It's a recreation of a once common journey that now happens just once
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and look at the wash that it's generating... Yeah.
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So, we've got our Alan Titchmarsh,
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national treasure, and the Lord Mayor of London
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in an enormous hat. And some sheep.
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It's quite a strange event. Very English.
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So sheep, moor - make sense.
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Shape, London Bridge - slightly surreal. Absolutely.
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It's a bizarre experience. Isn't it?
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Sun shining on the Shard,
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and driving sheep across London Bridge.
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Today's event celebrates a time when sheep were the stock and trade
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of London, and a main route to the lucrative markets
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was over the congested London Bridge.
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Leo can control how they look from his laptop.
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is about to write his own chapter in the history of London Bridge.
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Last night, we had this...
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...what looked like a very large bucket going out across the bridge.
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Artist Leo Villareal's team has spent the last two weeks fixing
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test lights to four of the bridges in the scheme.
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All his ideas so far have been tested on computer-rendered models.
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Now, for the first time, he is testing them on the actual bridges.
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This is the first test as part of a long series.
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So you actually get to...
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Oh, my God! Look, it's started! All right, OK. We get to reveal the architecture.
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Here on London Bridge, the existing lights have been turned
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off and replaced with 20 metres of Leo's bespoke LEDs.
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Connected by Wi- Fi,
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Back in London and now in the 21st century, another American
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I guess those are these little pixels here. Yes.
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So it's very important to see the actual lights on the actual
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bridge with our own eyes because we're making major decisions.
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And the more information we have, the better decisions
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we can make.
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In the photos, it looked like it was much more like a hot band
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and then like a dark area.
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The test today will have huge implications
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on how the project moves forward.
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There's plenty that needs to be ironed out.
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How many lights will they need?
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Exactly how to attach them, where to direct them, the brightness,
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And to see Havasu grow from literally nothing
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It was really exciting to see all this stuff. The stones coming
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was a big news thing, you know, and you could smell it.
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You could smell London.
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You could smell the Thames, and when the bridge came
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here it was black.
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And as you can see, the sun has bleached it out.
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Not bothered by the minor detail that there was no river
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for his newly-acquired bridge to span,
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McCulloch had his engineers build it on dry land.
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Once complete, a channel was dug underneath for water from the nearby
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lake to flow through.
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00:41:16,750 --> 00:41:21,060
The bridge was like a huge shot of adrenaline.
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You know, it was hope, it was ambition.
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the colour, the hue?
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to what it is today is cool. It's just cool.
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I mean, how many people can say that we've got the London Bridge
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in my backyard?
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So I love it.
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It's funny because I came here, half expecting to be underwhelmed.
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You know, it's such a strange idea, bringing London Bridge
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and sticking it in the middle of a desert.
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But it's been anything but that. It's far exceeded my expectations,
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partly because the bridge itself is absolutely beautiful and partly
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because of the way it's being taken to the very heart of this community,
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being the spark for a new community.
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Despite all the odds, it really works.
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Next time, work finally starts, and the pressure
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00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:18,380
a) to see so many of the people working on the project
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in one place together, seeing the start of it all,
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really, the start of something physical happening, but also to kind
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00:45:25,370 --> 00:45:28,200
of understand the scale of it, because it's one thing to see
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those amazing computer graphics and renderings of the river of light
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through the middle of London.
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It's quite another to stand here and see a bit of light
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00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:39,360
on this bridge here, on London Bridge,
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but then to imagine it on Cannon Street and to imagine
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it on Southwark and to imagine it on the Millennium, to imagine it on Tower Bridge.
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Suddenly, you understand the scope and ambition that this project has.
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So, from this tiny acorn of a light installation, a mighty oak
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should and will grow.
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00:45:14,050 --> 00:45:15,920
It's been really intriguing tonight,
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is on from the get-go.
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I have to keep sort of saying, are we on track? Are we on track?
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00:46:08,790 --> 00:46:12,470
Ancl they keep saying to me, well, we are until we find any other problems.
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00:46:12,470 --> 00:46:16,510
But there is an issue with an unlikely squatter at Cannon Street.
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It's the law. We can't physically move her, and she's got every right to be here.
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The city planners come to pass judgment on work so far.
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00:46:24,790 --> 00:46:26,900
It feels worse than exam day.
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00:46:26,900 --> 00:46:30,620
I haven't felt this nervous, certainly professionally,
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for a very, very long time. And the countdown to the big day begins.
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11 weeks, 12 weeks.
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It's in 12 weeks' time.
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Subtitles by Red Bee Media
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It seems a lot of people have got an interest in how these bridges
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If they make the wrong call today, the cost could be huge.
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00:43:55,030 --> 00:43:56,740
You know, it's a lot of responsibility.
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00:43:56,740 --> 00:44:00,020
You know, this is a lot of money, a lot of effort is going into it.
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00:44:00,020 --> 00:44:02,370
And we have to get it right.
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00:44:02,370 --> 00:44:06,090
It's a birthing process, and it's a little... You definitely feel
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00:44:06,090 --> 00:44:07,810
vulnerable in that.
303
00:44:07,810 --> 00:44:11,920
But this isn't a birth that can happen behind closed doors.
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00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,640
Looking on are a whole raft of representatives, from the bridge
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00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,840
owners to the city planners, the light manufacturers
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00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:20,530
to the financial backers.
307
00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:23,800
Are they at full right now?
308
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:28,960
Full? No, no, they're not at full. Kind of like under scrutiny here.
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00:40:38,940 --> 00:40:40,810
I was 16 when the bridge came.
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are going to look.
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00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:40,690
You turn this on, you hadn't seen this, and there's
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00:44:40,690 --> 00:44:43,200
all these people here!
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No pressure! I've got my fan club behind me!
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00:44:46,610 --> 00:44:49,510
And you've also got to do the kind of mental leap now
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00:44:49,510 --> 00:44:53,790
of, if you like, this is one pixel of the giant screen
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00:44:53,790 --> 00:44:56,720
that you're going to be creating down the river, all of these bridges.
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00:44:56,720 --> 00:44:59,180
What happens with this bridge and then, you know,
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00:44:59,180 --> 00:45:01,310
Cannon Street and on and on and on?
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00:45:01,310 --> 00:45:04,730
Cos here we can see four bridges.
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00:45:04,730 --> 00:45:09,260
So there's a lot to do. The light test on London Bridge this evening
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00:45:09,260 --> 00:45:14,050
represents less than 5% of the planned total.
322
00:36:41,190 --> 00:36:45,230
There's a really intense winter in 1813, 1814,
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00:36:00,470 --> 00:36:01,980
They could walk down the stairs,
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00:36:01,980 --> 00:36:04,670
walk onto the ice and walk over to the other side of the river.
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00:36:04,670 --> 00:36:07,360
The watermen were becoming destitute.
326
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,480
To combat that the watermen would break the ice around the stairs.
327
00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:13,040
Put one of their skiffs on there,
328
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,070
you'd have to step on my skiff to step onto the ice
329
00:36:15,070 --> 00:36:16,990
and, "Thank you very much, that's a shilling, Sir."
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00:36:16,990 --> 00:36:17,970
CHARLIE LAUGHS
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00:36:22,190 --> 00:36:26,990
But what happened to that wonderful old 19 pier bridge
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that so spectacularly dammed up the River Thames?
333
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,840
Well, it turns out that it was the ice that it was in part
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00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,760
responsible for that was ultimately the end of it.
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00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,190
Historian Travis Elborough continues the story.
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00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,470
people could then walk across.
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00:36:45,230 --> 00:36:47,350
where the Thames freezes over,
338
00:36:47,350 --> 00:36:49,510
and the frost really does the stonework in.
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00:36:49,510 --> 00:36:54,500
Ultimately, they, in 1821, decide they're going to have to build
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a new bridge.
341
00:36:55,910 --> 00:36:59,240
And after a monumental seven year build, the new bridge,
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00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:00,990
designed by John Rennie,
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00:37:00,990 --> 00:37:04,320
was opened in a grand ceremony by King William IV.
344
00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:10,070
But it would only last a fraction of the time of its predecessor.
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00:37:10,070 --> 00:37:13,230
Unfortunately, it is almost immediately out of date,
346
00:37:13,230 --> 00:37:15,640
almost the moment it opens.
347
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,470
When Rennie finishes his original design for the bridge in 1821,
348
00:37:19,470 --> 00:37:20,910
there isn't even horse buses,
349
00:35:17,180 --> 00:35:21,090
The first London Bridge, with its 19 tightly spaced piers,
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00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,760
See the colour of it, how white it is. Yeah.
351
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,150
That's an indication of how clean the water is.
352
00:34:47,150 --> 00:34:50,620
When I first came afloat that would have been grey and toxic.
353
00:34:51,900 --> 00:34:54,090
This is the new London Bridge. Yep.
354
00:34:54,090 --> 00:34:57,540
The old 22 arch bridge was slightly further down river here.
355
00:34:57,540 --> 00:34:59,050
What, here? Yeah, just here,
356
00:34:59,050 --> 00:35:01,730
just by St Magnus the Martyr, the church.
357
00:35:01,730 --> 00:35:04,410
When the bridge was here the river was a different place.
358
00:35:04,410 --> 00:35:07,500
This is the Pool of London and it was a pool of water.
359
00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:09,810
It was a lot more sedate. We didn't have the speed...
360
00:35:09,810 --> 00:35:11,930
They didn't have the speed of tide that we have today.
361
00:35:11,930 --> 00:35:13,730
At London Bridge, actually, there's a dam,
362
00:35:13,730 --> 00:35:15,410
so it would slow the water down.
363
00:37:20,910 --> 00:37:24,200
there aren't horse drawn omnibuses on the streets of London.
364
00:35:21,090 --> 00:35:24,180
had such a profound effect on the flow of the Thames
365
00:35:24,180 --> 00:35:27,140
that in the coldest winters the river froze over.
366
00:35:28,090 --> 00:35:30,880
For Londoners it meant party time,
367
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,590
turning this newly formed public space
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00:35:33,590 --> 00:35:35,620
into a frosty fairground.
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00:35:35,620 --> 00:35:39,070
A spectacle full of hastily constructed shops,
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00:35:39,070 --> 00:35:41,610
pubs and theatres.
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00:35:41,610 --> 00:35:45,910
Thousands of people turned up every day and there was said to be every
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00:35:45,910 --> 00:35:48,150
possible form of entertainment
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including on one occasion a parading elephant,
374
00:35:52,110 --> 00:35:56,600
but for the waterborne taxi drivers a frozen Thames was a problem.
375
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,320
The thick ice, thick pack ice,
376
00:39:50,100 --> 00:39:52,830
But when McCulloch brought his bridge here,
377
00:39:01,850 --> 00:39:06,640
the more photogenic Tower Bridge, McCulloch knew exactly which bridge
378
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,280
he was getting.
379
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,280
And it's hardly surprising to learn he'd done his research,
380
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:16,040
considering the eventual price tag was $2.5 million.
381
00:39:17,990 --> 00:39:20,280
It is genuinely quite surreal to be here.
382
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,360
It's the high 20s, I am in,
383
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,510
basically, the Arizona desert,
384
00:39:24,510 --> 00:39:28,750
and that is old London Bridge that spanned the Thames in London
385
00:39:28,750 --> 00:39:30,750
for 130 years.
386
00:39:30,750 --> 00:39:35,280
And yet here it is in all its pomp and beauty.
387
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,570
It's quite hard to get your head around.
388
00:39:40,270 --> 00:39:45,000
Havasu, with its population of some 50,000, is now a bustling
389
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:50,100
tourist resort, favoured by college kids and retirees alike.
390
00:38:59,190 --> 00:39:01,850
Despite persistent rumours that he thought he was buying
391
00:39:52,830 --> 00:39:55,160
it was a very different place altogether.
392
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,310
We moved here in February of 1965.
393
00:40:01,310 --> 00:40:05,830
Rick Kingsbury was one of the town's first residents.
394
00:40:05,830 --> 00:40:10,750
There were around 600 people and around 20 homes.
395
00:40:10,750 --> 00:40:15,000
We lived in a 30-by-eight-foot trailer, and it was three months
396
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,560
before we had running water, and it was five months
397
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:22,520
before we had electricity. For the life of me, I couldn't figure
398
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:26,730
out what I had done to make my parents so mad that they would
399
00:40:26,730 --> 00:40:28,080
bring me here!
400
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:32,280
But the great speculator, Robert McCulloch, had grand plans
401
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:36,990
for Lake Havasu, and he hoped that London Bridge would put the town
402
00:40:36,990 --> 00:40:38,940
firmly on the map.
403
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:11,490
far from it, because London had decided to sell its famous bridge.
404
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:27,780
By the time it opens in 1831 there are horse buses,
405
00:37:27,780 --> 00:37:30,990
there are railway stations bringing people into London
406
00:37:30,990 --> 00:37:33,040
and it's struggling to cope
407
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,480
with a much more motorised and traffic-ridden London.
408
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:40,320
So, in the mid 1960s there's another plan to create
409
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,130
a new bridge for London.
410
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:46,480
ARCHIVE NEWS VOICEOVER: After almost 140 years of this sort of pounding,
411
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,360
the nursery rhyme's famous link between two banks of the Thames
412
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,760
isn't falling down - it's carefully being taken to pieces.
413
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:56,680
In 1968 work started on dismantling London Bridge.
414
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,840
London's outgrown the 53 feet wide span.
415
00:38:01,990 --> 00:38:06,360
But that didn't mean the life of the 1831 John Rennie bridge was over,
416
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,760
Put us completely in the team -
417
00:38:11,490 --> 00:38:15,630
45 enquiries have reached the City of London from would be buyers.
418
00:38:15,630 --> 00:38:18,350
Closing date for tenders is March 29th.
419
00:38:18,350 --> 00:38:20,140
Anybody want to buy a bridge cheap?
420
00:38:20,140 --> 00:38:24,450
It's around half a million including storage, shipping and delivery.
421
00:38:24,450 --> 00:38:27,500
But the really interesting part of the story isn't just where it was
422
00:38:27,500 --> 00:38:30,060
delivered but why.
423
00:38:30,060 --> 00:38:32,220
It's quite hard to get your head around!
424
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,600
After deciding the 19th-century London Bridge was too small to cope
425
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,640
with 20th-century traffic,
426
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,630
London Bridge was put up for sale.
427
00:38:48,630 --> 00:38:53,310
The proud new owner was to be this man, Robert P McCulloch,
428
00:38:53,310 --> 00:38:59,190
and he rebuilt London Bridge here, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
429
00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,270
No. No...
430
00:07:26,090 --> 00:07:28,600
And from what I understand all the lighting is faulty,
431
00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:30,880
and has never been fixed.
432
00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,040
So, you can see here, there's sort of bits and pieces - some purple,
433
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,720
some a sort of weird green, some white,
434
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,190
and a whole side just not working at all.
435
00:07:39,190 --> 00:07:43,160
The Illuminated River Project promises that the Millennium Bridge
436
00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,450
will at last become the blade of light
437
00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:47,610
the architects always imagined.
438
00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:54,010
Instead of the anonymous silhouette that spans the river today.
439
00:07:54,010 --> 00:07:56,400
And it's not just the Millennium Bridge.
440
00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,560
Next on the list for our band of surveyors - Southwark Bridge.
441
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,170
"The lighting is good."
442
00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,120
Hm...
443
00:07:22,270 --> 00:07:26,090
And it wasn't meant in an ironic sense, it was genuinely called that.
444
00:08:08,270 --> 00:08:13,120
It's proving an interesting exercise in reassessing the familiar.
445
00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,680
You start to notice completely different things, like,
446
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:17,760
is it well-lit? Things that you don't really think
447
00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,890
about you're just going about your daily business.
448
00:08:19,890 --> 00:08:22,090
It is quite amazing when you put that lens on - you go,
449
00:08:22,090 --> 00:08:25,270
"Right, I'm really thinking about the lighting and the experience that I have ♪
450
00:08:25,270 --> 00:08:28,910
Some of it's lovely, some of it's awful - some of it is just not lit!
451
00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:32,970
What do you make of Cannon Street?
452
00:08:32,970 --> 00:08:35,250
It's just a dark void.
453
00:08:35,250 --> 00:08:37,890
Walking along here this evening, you suddenly realise
454
00:08:37,890 --> 00:08:40,760
that the bridges are not at...
455
00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:42,040
Not at their best in any way!
456
00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:45,040
Well, tonight, the team behind the scheme are attempting to prove
457
00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,290
But, now, it will slowly pulsate to match the tide on the banks below.
458
00:05:58,290 --> 00:06:01,520
Each bridge will be an individual artwork,
459
00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,190
but also synchronised with its neighbour.
460
00:06:04,190 --> 00:06:05,550
So, when viewed together,
461
00:06:05,550 --> 00:06:11,010
the 15 bridges become one giant ribbon of light.
462
00:06:11,010 --> 00:06:14,260
But, not surprisingly, all of this doesn't come cheap.
463
00:06:14,260 --> 00:06:18,960
The budget for the 15 bridges is around £45 million.
464
00:06:20,190 --> 00:06:24,450
Nearly all of that is going to be met by private donations.
465
00:06:24,450 --> 00:06:26,450
But the question remains.
466
00:06:26,450 --> 00:06:31,680
Do the London Bridges really need all of this new, expensive lighting?
467
00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,160
Surely, they're lit already.
468
00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,750
The aim of this event is to help create a baseline
469
00:06:38,750 --> 00:06:41,760
for how local people feel about the bridges. There's a sheet...
470
00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:49,610
And while some of the bridges have been illuminated in the past,
471
00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,170
that the bridges need lights.
472
00:06:47,170 --> 00:06:50,170
...you should all have a clipboard, and a questionnaire.
473
00:06:50,170 --> 00:06:51,440
\ Let's go. I
474
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,270
They've invited a cross-section of people who live and work
475
00:06:54,270 --> 00:06:57,360
near the river for a bit of a night-time recce,
476
00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:58,880
and I'm tagging along.
477
00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,550
First stop, Norman Foster's iconic Millennium Bridge.
478
00:07:04,310 --> 00:07:07,830
The question here is, "The lighting is good and I can see well."
479
00:07:09,370 --> 00:07:11,450
No!
480
00:07:11,450 --> 00:07:13,120
No, no...
481
00:07:17,190 --> 00:07:18,970
The amazing thing is that this bfidge
482
00:07:18,970 --> 00:07:22,270
when it opened was called "The Blade of Light".
483
00:11:25,750 --> 00:11:28,750
There are three panels and each of them have eight million
484
00:10:30,740 --> 00:10:33,330
created in the Nevada desert.
485
00:10:33,330 --> 00:10:38,100
For one week every August, 70,000 like-minded souls
486
00:10:38,100 --> 00:10:40,420
get to live out their wildest dreams
487
00:10:40,420 --> 00:10:45,230
in a frenzy of self-expression, and artistic freedom.
488
00:10:45,230 --> 00:10:48,150
My first experience there was getting profoundly lost.
489
00:10:48,150 --> 00:10:50,470
And, so I decided to create this beacon using strobe lights
490
00:10:50,470 --> 00:10:52,670
and a microcontroller and started programming it.
491
00:10:52,670 --> 00:10:55,670
I didn't think of it as an artwork - I thought of it as a way to get home at night.
492
00:10:55,670 --> 00:10:58,420
But I brought it back to New York and put it on the wall of my studio
493
00:10:58,420 --> 00:11:01,390
and put an acrylic cover over it and realised I was onto something.
494
00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,020
Leo is now one of the world's foremost light sculptors,
495
00:11:07,020 --> 00:11:11,100
and his installations regularly sell for six-figure sums.
496
00:11:23,060 --> 00:11:25,750
This is what I've been making in the last year-and-a-half.
497
00:10:26,050 --> 00:10:30,740
The Burning Man festival is a yearly event which sees a temporary town
498
00:11:28,750 --> 00:11:30,960
individually addressable pixels.
499
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,670
So, there's 24 million pixels in the entire thing.
500
00:11:33,670 --> 00:11:36,310
So, it's a huge step up from 16 strobe lights.
501
00:11:36,310 --> 00:11:38,110
That's quite a big step up! Yeah!
502
00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:46,470
Leo describes his work as digital campfires, and I can see why.
503
00:11:46,470 --> 00:11:49,750
There is something primal about them, inviting the viewer
504
00:11:49,750 --> 00:11:53,240
to congregate around and get lost within.
505
00:11:54,550 --> 00:11:55,780
This is not a loop.
506
00:11:55,780 --> 00:12:00,410
All these layers are all independent and being dynamically recombined.
507
00:12:00,410 --> 00:12:03,580
So, you never see the exact same layering twice.
508
00:12:03,580 --> 00:12:07,510
So, if this ran for the next 1,000 years, you would never get exactly
509
00:12:07,510 --> 00:12:10,310
the same sort of moment or sequence on the screens?
510
00:09:39,530 --> 00:09:41,180
Hey, how you doing? Very nice to meet you.
511
00:08:49,610 --> 00:08:53,350
they've all been lit as individual entities without any thought
512
00:08:53,350 --> 00:08:56,200
for the river as a whole. Coupled with the fact
513
00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,600
that much of the previous lighting has now failed,
514
00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:03,820
the overall picture is, well, unsatisfactory to say the least.
515
00:09:03,820 --> 00:09:08,580
And when you see the lack of care that's being given to these bridges,
516
00:09:08,580 --> 00:09:12,540
you understand the potential for this project.
517
00:09:15,150 --> 00:09:17,790
So, who exactly has been given the job
518
00:09:17,790 --> 00:09:20,100
of transforming London's bridges?
519
00:09:23,540 --> 00:09:26,030
Well, he's based here in New York.
520
00:09:28,150 --> 00:09:32,470
I've come to the Brooklyn studio of Leo Villareal
521
00:09:32,470 --> 00:09:36,180
to have a look at his blueprints for the River Thames.
522
00:09:37,870 --> 00:09:39,530
Hello, Leo.
523
00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,080
And Albert Bridge will keep its famous monochrome glow.
524
00:09:41,180 --> 00:09:43,590
Nice to meet you. What an incredible space.
525
00:09:43,590 --> 00:09:45,020
Yeah. This is all your work?
526
00:09:45,020 --> 00:09:46,540
It is. Wonderful!
527
00:09:50,150 --> 00:09:56,340
Leo is an artist with a 20-year career specialising in light.
528
00:09:56,340 --> 00:10:00,780
He uses intricately-arranged LED lights and computer coding
529
00:10:00,780 --> 00:10:05,100
to create these complex, pulsating light installations.
530
00:10:08,740 --> 00:10:10,980
So, this is one of the early pieces?
531
00:10:10,980 --> 00:10:15,180
Yeah, this is a piece called Strobe Matrix that I made in 1997.
532
00:10:15,180 --> 00:10:17,100
This was my first light sculpture even
533
00:10:17,100 --> 00:10:18,870
It's 16 strobe lights.
534
00:10:18,870 --> 00:10:22,790
Is that it - only 16? Only 16. So, 16 pixels effectively? Yes.
535
00:10:22,790 --> 00:10:26,050
This was created out at Burning Man.
536
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,240
of structural engineering with real creativity and flair.
537
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:42,650
Fish don't like light.
538
00:01:42,650 --> 00:01:45,600
Right, so this is really not good.
539
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,450
In the build up to the big switch-on...
540
00:01:47,450 --> 00:01:50,390
You turn this on, you haven't seen this, and there's all these people here...
541
00:01:50,390 --> 00:01:51,950
BOTH LAUGHING
542
00:01:51,950 --> 00:01:54,530
No pressure! ..can the artist behind the project...
543
00:01:54,530 --> 00:01:57,010
I'm under scrutiny here.
544
00:01:57,010 --> 00:02:01,320
...pull off the feat of turning the Thames into a river of light?
545
00:02:12,930 --> 00:02:14,370
My name's Charlie Luxton.
546
00:02:14,370 --> 00:02:16,850
I design buildings, I run an architecture practice,
547
00:02:16,850 --> 00:02:19,110
and I like bridges.
548
00:02:19,110 --> 00:02:20,360
A lot.
549
00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,960
Why? Well, at their heart, they are a pure expression
550
00:01:37,730 --> 00:01:41,040
...protecting the fragile ecosystem will be paramount.
551
00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:33,080
They have a huge historic and symbolic importance.
552
00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,240
They connect communities.
553
00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,370
They transform cities.
554
00:02:38,370 --> 00:02:42,520
But let's face it - these lofty thoughts probably don't cross the minds
555
00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,090
of the millions of people who use them every day.
556
00:02:46,090 --> 00:02:50,160
It's fair to say that we take our bridges for granted.
557
00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,290
But there's a plan on the horizon that's going to transform the way
558
00:02:54,290 --> 00:02:58,390
we view these bridges and the river that flows beneath them.
559
00:02:58,390 --> 00:03:00,840
To find out more I'm taking a trip down the river
560
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,960
with the two people leading this unique project.
561
00:03:09,830 --> 00:03:12,370
No-one has ever done anything like this before and there's
562
00:03:12,370 --> 00:03:14,720
a very good reason - it's really difficult.
563
00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:57,160
of this extraordinary project.
564
00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,770
For 2,000 years, it has been the lifeblood of London,
565
00:00:09,770 --> 00:00:14,310
nurturing the city that has grown along its banks.
566
00:00:14,310 --> 00:00:19,080
And today it is still very much a working river with tens of millions
567
00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:23,280
of journeys over, and along it, every year.
568
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,920
But it's about to undergo a change like never before.
569
00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,360
There is a plan for an audacious engineering project the likes
570
00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,310
of which this city has never seen which promises
571
00:00:35,310 --> 00:00:38,750
to transform London's skyline for good.
572
00:00:38,750 --> 00:00:39,880
The plan?
573
00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:41,490
To light the River Thames.
574
00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:48,640
15 iconic bridges with a combined span of two-and-a-half miles
575
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,290
spread over five miles of river.
576
00:00:52,290 --> 00:00:54,930
In this series, I will follow the ins and outs
577
00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,190
It seems simple but it's really difficult.
578
00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,570
Charlie, tell me when you got hands on. And see exactly what it takes
579
00:01:00,570 --> 00:01:04,880
to get something this ambitious off the ground.
580
00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,440
This has to work.
581
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,000
If you were to close the bridge, £2 million for 20 minutes.
582
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,520
What?! £2 million for 20 minutes.
583
00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,230
A project on this scale will be pitted with challenges.
584
00:01:15,230 --> 00:01:17,030
From public scepticism...
585
00:01:22,370 --> 00:01:25,210
...to unforeseen delays.
586
00:01:25,210 --> 00:01:28,360
I don't care if somebody else's project in another part of the world has to wait a bit.
587
00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,320
How will they prioritise us?
588
00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:35,440
And with the Thames home to an array of endangered species...
589
00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,730
Seal - look there. Oh, my God!
590
00:05:07,470 --> 00:05:10,000
Which will celebrate the beauty of the Thames,
591
00:04:29,470 --> 00:04:32,390
Seriously, you know, like, you have the dream where you're walking down
592
00:04:32,390 --> 00:04:34,950
the street in your pyjamas or whatever? I have this...
593
00:04:34,950 --> 00:04:36,870
Honest to God, I have this recurring dream.
594
00:04:36,870 --> 00:04:41,800
Nothing happens and all these eyes turn and look at me.
595
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,390
So, that's... So given how complex it is,
596
00:04:45,390 --> 00:04:47,160
is it going to happen?
597
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:48,550
Oh, my gosh yes.
598
00:04:48,550 --> 00:04:49,600
I mean...
599
00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:54,320
I'm glad you answered! We're ready to go on site, pretty much. You're ready to go? Yeah!
600
00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,290
We just need to tick a few more boxes and then we're ready to go.
601
00:04:58,290 --> 00:05:01,250
The scheme, known as the Illuminated River Project,
602
00:05:01,250 --> 00:05:05,360
promises for the first time to light all of Central London's bridges
603
00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,470
in a cohesive way.
604
00:04:28,290 --> 00:04:29,470
That's my recurring...
605
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,470
and its historic relationship with London.
606
00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,800
These computer-generated models give us a glimpse of how the Thames
607
00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:19,320
of the future will look.
608
00:05:20,650 --> 00:05:23,550
Waterloo will be lit with colours echoing the palette
609
00:05:23,550 --> 00:05:26,720
of Claude Monet's classic paintings of the bridge.
610
00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,470
Some will be lit to reflect the location.
611
00:05:29,470 --> 00:05:32,120
So, Lambeth will be the same red as the seats
612
00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,520
of the nearby House of Lords.
613
00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:39,640
Westminster Bridge green to reflect the seats in the House of Commons.
614
00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,080
Others will be lit to reflect their use, like London Bridge
615
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,440
and Cannon Street Bridge, mimicking the movement of the cars,
616
00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,240
pedestrians, and trains that use them.
617
00:03:55,890 --> 00:04:00,020
Ancl wherever the lights go, to install them, we can't access the deck of the bridge.
618
00:03:17,190 --> 00:03:19,290
I can wake up on one side of the bed and think, "All it is
619
00:03:19,290 --> 00:03:21,450
"is sticking lights on a bridge."
620
00:03:21,450 --> 00:03:23,680
But, actually, it's far more complex than that.
621
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,600
The plan is that in eight months' time, the project will go live.
622
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,290
The job ahead is fixing an incredible 69,000 lights
623
00:03:31,290 --> 00:03:32,680
to the bridges.
624
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,040
The worst place to put light is over a working river
625
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,370
because you need an apt sailor with an electrical engineering degree.
626
00:03:39,370 --> 00:03:43,520
You have to close off arches because the river is a busy place.
627
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:48,480
Case in point - Cannon Street Bridge, built in 1866.
628
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,890
It carries 60,000 commuters in and out of London every day.
629
00:03:54,450 --> 00:03:55,890
This is a rail bridge.
630
00:12:10,310 --> 00:12:12,260
Never the exact same combination.
631
00:04:00,020 --> 00:04:03,370
It's going to cost £2 million, I think, a day
632
00:04:03,370 --> 00:04:06,290
if you were to close the bridge... No, every 20 minutes.
633
00:04:06,290 --> 00:04:09,030
£2 million for 20 minutes. What?! £2 million for 20 minutes. Yeah.
634
00:04:09,030 --> 00:04:10,390
If you were to close the bridge.
635
00:04:10,390 --> 00:04:12,640
To, you know, close the station.
636
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:14,000
So, we're not going to do that!
637
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,360
THEY LAUGH
638
00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,760
What keeps you up at night, Chris?
639
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:22,930
The... HE CHUCKLES
640
00:04:22,930 --> 00:04:24,360
Switching on the lights,
641
00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,400
and nothing happens when the button's pressed.
642
00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,290
That's my recurring... CHARLIE AND SARAH LAUGH
643
00:20:20,340 --> 00:20:23,270
and interesting projects that I've ever done.
644
00:19:40,550 --> 00:19:42,990
Hannah Rothschild is a project trustee.
645
00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:47,550
The Thames, after all, is the heart that runs through the city,
646
00:19:47,550 --> 00:19:49,960
connecting north, south, east, west.
647
00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,440
So if you're doing the bridges, you've got to do more than one.
648
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,710
You've got to actually, I think, put light back into the heart
649
00:19:55,710 --> 00:19:57,310
of the river.
650
00:19:57,310 --> 00:20:01,960
Hannah's family charity has a long history of funding grand projects -
651
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,990
from museums and art collections to social housing and hospitals.
652
00:20:07,750 --> 00:20:10,600
I came up with the idea and then I was lucky enough
653
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,350
to be part of a family that has the wherewithal
654
00:20:13,350 --> 00:20:15,880
to catalyse projects like this.
655
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:17,190
That's one aspect of it.
656
00:20:17,190 --> 00:20:20,340
But, I mean, this has been one of the most challenging
657
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,550
of billionaire banking fame.
658
00:20:23,270 --> 00:20:26,990
Of the total £45 million budget, nine million will be spent
659
00:20:26,990 --> 00:20:30,480
on around 300,000 LEDs
660
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,200
that will all need to be fixed to the bridges.
661
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,880
Today, project director Sarah Gaventa and lead architect
662
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,170
Chris Waite are in the Netherlands for a meeting at the headquarters
663
00:20:40,170 --> 00:20:42,430
of their supplier, Philips.
664
00:20:42,430 --> 00:20:45,070
Sarah's already placed the first part of the order.
665
00:20:45,070 --> 00:20:48,360
But recent news has raised concerns.
666
00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:52,120
Philips has told us that there is a worldwide shortage of luminaires
667
00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:56,630
coming up, so they're really worried about not having enough lamps.
668
00:20:57,890 --> 00:21:03,340
If the lamps don't arrive on time, there isn't a project, basically.
669
00:21:03,340 --> 00:21:05,760
The plan is for the main work to start on the bridges
670
00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:58,900
And the only people interrupting him now are curious passers by.
671
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,540
can happen at spontaneous capacity.
672
00:18:25,540 --> 00:18:28,080
Unfortunately, the authorities haven't always seen
673
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,080
eye to eye with Ben.
674
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,440
He estimates that over the years, he's been approached by the police
675
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,030
over 400 times.
676
00:18:36,030 --> 00:18:37,230
Despite being arrested,
677
00:18:37,230 --> 00:18:39,510
Ben's refused to give up.
678
00:18:39,510 --> 00:18:42,960
And now on the whole, they let him get on with it.
679
00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:44,990
I just want to say it looks amazing.
680
00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:48,100
It's a beautiful day, today.
681
00:18:48,100 --> 00:18:49,720
And what do you do on a work clay?
682
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,030
I have lots of overalls and I have an umbrella.
683
00:18:52,030 --> 00:18:53,680
\ Oh, I see. I
684
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,520
in less than three months.
685
00:18:58,900 --> 00:19:01,750
It always makes me smile when I walk across here because a lot of people
686
00:19:01,750 --> 00:19:04,590
don't know, because I saw him doing this. Yes.
687
00:19:04,590 --> 00:19:09,450
So I tell everybody to look down... And smile. Look down and smile.
688
00:19:11,030 --> 00:19:12,670
Thank you very much.
689
00:19:12,670 --> 00:19:16,390
Surely, that is the true purpose of public art.
690
00:19:16,390 --> 00:19:19,960
The chewing gum man's pictures make people happy.
691
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,270
They get people talking to each other and make
692
00:19:22,270 --> 00:19:24,600
the place, well, better.
693
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,320
Simple, really.
694
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,680
It's also a bonus that his art costs next to nothing to create.
695
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,980
Which is very much not the case for the Illuminated River.
696
00:19:34,980 --> 00:19:38,440
The project is being backed by the Rothschild Foundation
697
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:06,530
This is just two of 12 books that basically illustrate the design
698
00:22:21,340 --> 00:22:25,150
Sarah has prepared a short presentation to remind everyone
699
00:22:25,150 --> 00:22:27,760
of the huge scale of the project.
700
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,140
OK. Everybody all right?
701
00:22:30,140 --> 00:22:33,170
So it is from Tower Bridge to Albert Bridge.
702
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,240
So, it's 15 bridges in central London.
703
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:37,680
That's really nice.
704
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,770
And I think the thing that I think is quite amazing about this project
705
00:22:40,770 --> 00:22:43,640
is just how many people will see it, a year.
706
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,760
I mean, it's about 200 million people.
707
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,630
So, the potential is absolutely huge.
708
00:22:50,330 --> 00:22:54,320
And to reinforce the enormity of the scheme, Chris has brought some
709
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,600
of the plans he and his team have spent the last two years
710
00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,680
working on.
711
00:22:18,630 --> 00:22:19,660
Well, that's fantastic.
712
00:23:06,530 --> 00:23:09,600
at the end of the technical design stage.
713
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:10,880
I think one could suggest that,
714
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:12,150
OK, it's about the artwork,
715
00:23:12,150 --> 00:23:14,640
it's about the artist's vision.
716
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,770
From a physical standpoint,
717
00:23:16,770 --> 00:23:19,560
it's really all about your component, your products,
718
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,250
your luminaires and having them perform in the right way
719
00:23:22,250 --> 00:23:23,970
for the artwork.
720
00:23:23,970 --> 00:23:25,960
This is going to be a world-class piece of art
721
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,360
we're installing and, together, we have to get this right.
722
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:35,630
There is absolutely no way that we don't deliver.
723
00:23:35,630 --> 00:23:37,640
This has to work.
724
00:21:44,350 --> 00:21:47,350
I brought you a little gift - some biscuits.
725
00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,760
Without lights, that won't happen.
726
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,530
I don't care if somebody else's project in another part of the world
727
00:21:14,530 --> 00:21:16,030
has to wait a bit, you know?
728
00:21:16,030 --> 00:21:17,480
How will they prioritise us?
729
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,700
I want them to feel that they should prioritise us.
730
00:21:20,700 --> 00:21:22,710
I share all your concerns.
731
00:21:22,710 --> 00:21:25,830
These guys have to believe in this project like we do.
732
00:21:25,830 --> 00:21:30,700
Otherwise, we've got we've got no chance of making it a success.
733
00:21:33,990 --> 00:21:37,120
They've secured a meeting with Eric Rondolat,
734
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:41,320
CEO of Philips' Specialist Lighting Division.
735
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,270
Hi, Eric. How are you doing?
736
00:21:43,270 --> 00:21:44,350
Good. Thank you.
737
00:18:17,750 --> 00:18:22,160
So by painting on the gum, it's finding a place where art
738
00:21:48,430 --> 00:21:49,650
From London.
739
00:21:49,650 --> 00:21:51,740
It's even got a bridge on the cover.
740
00:21:51,740 --> 00:21:52,650
\ Fa ntastic. I
741
00:21:53,780 --> 00:21:55,700
I don't think we're lighting that one.
742
00:21:56,980 --> 00:21:59,100
You are. This one? Yes.
743
00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:00,450
That's the Tower Bridge?
744
00:22:00,450 --> 00:22:03,450
Yes. We're lighting the Tower Bridge that's the good news.
745
00:22:03,450 --> 00:22:07,620
Yeah, well, obviously we've got a lot of news for you, then.
746
00:22:07,620 --> 00:22:11,730
It seems the London project is not as firmly on the senior management's
747
00:22:11,730 --> 00:22:12,730
radar as hoped.
748
00:22:13,970 --> 00:22:16,700
I thought the Tower Bridge wasn't in the project at the beginning.
749
00:22:16,700 --> 00:22:18,630
Was it? Yes, it always was.
750
00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,960
Look inside the little clouds, they're...
751
00:13:55,510 --> 00:13:57,600
But this time, it's bigger.
752
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,470
Much bigger.
753
00:13:59,470 --> 00:14:02,230
I really like this one - they're kind of the clouds,
754
00:14:02,230 --> 00:14:07,910
sort of drifting along over 1.8 miles of light surface.
755
00:14:10,550 --> 00:14:14,910
Leo's lights were only meant to be on the bridge for two years.
756
00:14:14,910 --> 00:14:19,510
But the locals liked them so much, they campaigned to keep them.
757
00:14:19,510 --> 00:14:21,750
And they're now a permanent fixture.
758
00:14:23,780 --> 00:14:26,150
I think what's a clever about is it's so organic.
759
00:14:26,150 --> 00:14:28,500
The way the lights are programmed together,
760
00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:32,430
they really are as a surface rather than a kind of a Christmas tree
761
00:14:32,430 --> 00:14:36,150
of lights if you know what I mean. So, you get these incredible forms
762
00:14:36,150 --> 00:14:38,960
and they become almost three dimensional because of the...
763
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,240
Oh, look, and now they're sparkling.
764
00:13:52,390 --> 00:13:55,510
and let your imagination run wild.
765
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,030
...sparkling.
766
00:14:51,110 --> 00:14:55,270
You could just dismiss this as being some lights on a bridge,
767
00:14:55,270 --> 00:14:58,070
but you'd have to be a pretty hard-hearted soul.
768
00:14:58,070 --> 00:15:01,500
Because this art project that the Bay likes is one
769
00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:04,630
of those wonderful bits of alchemy where the outcome of the project
770
00:15:04,630 --> 00:15:08,550
is so much bigger than the sum of its parts.
771
00:15:08,550 --> 00:15:12,470
And I, for one, am enormously excited to see
772
00:15:12,470 --> 00:15:17,560
what this approach can bring to 15 bridges in London.
773
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,020
The River Thames is about to undergo a transformation
774
00:15:29,020 --> 00:15:31,780
unlike anything seen before.
775
00:15:31,780 --> 00:15:33,440
Changing London forever.
776
00:15:34,870 --> 00:15:39,670
Incorporating 15 bridges from Albert all the way down to Tower Bridge,
777
00:13:03,420 --> 00:13:07,420
and have a look at a bridge that Leo has already worked his magic on.
778
00:12:12,260 --> 00:12:15,700
I'm treating each individual pixel as its own unit.
779
00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:19,470
I mean, you talk about them as though they're sort of alive.
780
00:12:19,470 --> 00:12:21,670
I mean, is that how you view them on one level?
781
00:12:21,670 --> 00:12:22,670
They are, they're very...
782
00:12:22,670 --> 00:12:24,700
They have personality.
783
00:12:24,700 --> 00:12:26,670
And they're mysterious as well.
784
00:12:26,670 --> 00:12:28,740
And I like preserving that sense of mystery.
785
00:12:39,630 --> 00:12:42,750
I have to say, seeing Leo's work in this sort of gallery,
786
00:12:42,750 --> 00:12:47,190
being on this zero-gravity bench and just sort of losing myself
787
00:12:47,190 --> 00:12:49,900
in the art is wonderful - it's intoxicating.
788
00:12:49,900 --> 00:12:54,180
Well, now, I'm fascinated to see how these wonderful ideas translate
789
00:12:54,180 --> 00:12:57,540
onto a city-scale piece of work.
790
00:12:58,950 --> 00:13:03,420
And to do that, I need to head west to San Francisco,
791
00:15:39,670 --> 00:15:43,830
the Illuminated Rivers Project is big - very big.
792
00:13:07,420 --> 00:13:08,390
Not this one!
793
00:13:09,590 --> 00:13:10,590
This one.
794
00:13:12,750 --> 00:13:16,600
This is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, known as the Bay Bridge.
795
00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,750
It was built in 1936 and when it was finished, it was the longest bridge
796
00:13:20,750 --> 00:13:23,140
in the world - the biggest single span.
797
00:13:23,140 --> 00:13:26,990
But only six months later, the Golden Gate Bridge was built.
798
00:13:26,990 --> 00:13:31,320
And this one sort of fell into the shadow of its bigger sister.
799
00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,830
But in 2013,
800
00:13:33,830 --> 00:13:38,380
there was a reason to fall in love with the old bridge all over again,
801
00:13:38,380 --> 00:13:44,310
after Leo bedecked it with 17,000 of his pulsating LEDs.
802
00:13:44,310 --> 00:13:46,790
And it's truly mesmerising.
803
00:13:48,780 --> 00:13:52,390
Just like the work I saw in his studio you can stare,
804
00:17:35,250 --> 00:17:38,100
humanising an anonymous urban environment.
805
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,710
Yeah. Chewing gum marks.
806
00:17:00,710 --> 00:17:02,880
So, I'm taking something which is thrown away,
807
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,270
which is a discarded chewing gum, and hopefully making
808
00:17:05,270 --> 00:17:06,950
it into something beautiful.
809
00:17:06,950 --> 00:17:09,470
How many pictures have you done on this bridge?
810
00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:11,990
A good...
811
00:17:11,990 --> 00:17:13,990
More than 600, I'd say. I've lost track.
812
00:17:13,990 --> 00:17:16,030
More than 600? Yeah.
813
00:17:16,030 --> 00:17:19,100
But they're all very different, the pictures are all very different
814
00:17:19,100 --> 00:17:23,900
because people come up to me and they ask for dedications.
815
00:17:23,900 --> 00:17:28,620
Each of Ben's pictures tells a story as recounted by a passer by.
816
00:17:28,620 --> 00:17:31,930
It could be a first kiss or a "get well" message.
817
00:17:31,930 --> 00:17:35,250
The pictures are small signs of personal connection,
818
00:16:53,470 --> 00:16:58,080
So you're the man responsible for these little lovely creations.
819
00:17:39,330 --> 00:17:42,100
It's me as an artist kind of doing work from my heart,
820
00:17:42,100 --> 00:17:43,690
with a lot of public heart.
821
00:17:43,690 --> 00:17:47,230
The idea's imposed on the environment rather than the ideas
822
00:17:47,230 --> 00:17:49,080
evolving out of the environment.
823
00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:55,950
You know, I care about people and I care about our environment.
824
00:17:55,950 --> 00:17:59,340
And Ben has found a loophole, which to his mind means
825
00:17:59,340 --> 00:18:03,950
he can't be accused of damaging this London landmark.
826
00:18:03,950 --> 00:18:08,080
This space is not under the jurisdiction of local
827
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,510
or national government. Which space?
828
00:18:11,510 --> 00:18:13,390
The gum that I'm painting on.
829
00:18:13,390 --> 00:18:15,790
Cos if you painted on the bridge, that would be graffiti.
830
00:18:15,790 --> 00:18:17,750
That would be, technically, criminal damage.
831
00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:18,900
Just ask the ancient Egyptians.
832
00:15:43,830 --> 00:15:47,150
On five miles of the River Thames, stretching from Battersea in the
833
00:15:47,150 --> 00:15:50,020
West to Bermondsey in the east,
834
00:15:50,020 --> 00:15:51,520
passing Westminster,
835
00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,080
the London Eye,
836
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,110
St Paul's and the Shard.
837
00:15:55,110 --> 00:15:58,790
Once complete, it will be the longest public art commission
838
00:15:58,790 --> 00:16:00,670
in the world.
839
00:16:00,670 --> 00:16:04,390
But what exactly is meant by "public art"?
840
00:16:04,390 --> 00:16:07,710
Well, it comes in all shapes and sizes, but generally you'll
841
00:16:07,710 --> 00:16:09,950
find it in outside spaces.
842
00:16:09,950 --> 00:16:13,520
It's free to view and accessible to all.
843
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,740
Of course, public art is as old as the hills.
844
00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,880
The River Thames is one of the world's great waterways.
845
00:16:20,230 --> 00:16:21,710
It can be short-lived.
846
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,310
Or built to stand the test of time.
847
00:16:26,310 --> 00:16:28,500
It can be outrageous,
848
00:16:28,500 --> 00:16:31,540
comical or poignant,
849
00:16:31,540 --> 00:16:33,990
but it doesn't have to be large.
850
00:16:33,990 --> 00:16:37,870
London's Millennium Bridge has become one man's canvas
851
00:16:37,870 --> 00:16:41,830
for his take on public art, and it's on a microscale.
852
00:16:43,220 --> 00:16:46,230
Ben? Hi. Hello.
853
00:16:46,230 --> 00:16:47,960
How are you? Yeah, yeah good.
854
00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,430
I'm Charlie. How's it going?
855
00:16:49,430 --> 00:16:50,780
All right. How are you?
856
00:16:50,780 --> 00:16:53,470
Yeah, yeah, good. Work in progress.
72180
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