(A) London bridge is falling down, causing boat race to relocate

Next year’s Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge will take place outside London for the first time since World War Two – because a bridge that passes over the usual course is close to collapsing.

The annual event attracts thousands of spectators to the west London stretch of the River Thames, with many standing on Hammersmith Bridge to watch the boats pass underneath.

But the suspension bridge, built in 1887, has been closed to motor traffic since April 2019 following the discovery of hairline micro-fractures in the brittle cast iron pedestals, according to yahoo news.

River traffic beneath it was banned in August due to a sudden increase in the size of the fractures.

The bridge is at risk of sudden collapse, according to Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

Thus, boat race organisers say next April’s event will take place on the River Great Ouse in Ely, in the county of Cambridgeshire.

The men’s race has previously been run once at Ely, in 1944, when it could not take place in London because of the war.

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