The finest painting of the bridge we have is by Claude de Jongh in the 17th century (the first reply in this thread). Canaletto also drew it, before the removal of its houses in 1758:

Paris also had living bridges. They were a popular solution for limited accommodation, especially within the confines of walled medieval cities.

Over the centuries, they proved either too dangerous or too unsanitary to keep. And when medieval walls were rendered ineffective by gunpowder, city expansion had less reason not to take place beyond the walls.

Many still survive across Europe. A slightly less grand but still standing example exists in Florence - the Ponte Vecchio:

Some still stand in England, too. Lincoln and Bath are the most notable:

In China, Chengdu's Anshun bridge has been reconstructed many times over the centuries, but still exists in a similar form to the 13th century original - a bridge that Marco Polo wrote about.

Living bridges were often so densely packed and congested that crossing them took forever. Old London Bridge could take an hour to cross on foot.

In the end, it was decided that London needed a new bridge with a wider crossing.

So, a new bridge was put up in 1831, nearly twice as wide as the original. The medieval bridge had fallen into disrepair at this point, and was demolished shortly after.

Had the original survived, London Bridge would undoubtedly be one of Europe's greatest sights today.

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Culture Critic Edinburgh's South Bridge is almost completely built on and around. As is George IV Bridge... 300m long but only one arch can now be seen.