Cool bridges

[jayem]

I'm a big fan of all things architectural. Not just buildings. Here are some cool bridges:

The Laguna Garzon Bridge in Uruguay. It forces drivers to slow down and enjoy the view.

The Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China. A glass-bottomed pedestrian bridge 360m high and 430m long. Great views.

The Millau Viaduct in France. 8 cable-stayed spans, over 2400m long and a roadway 260m above ground. A spectacular structure.

The Dragon Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam. The dragon head breathes fire, too. Kind of amusement park kitschy, but still pretty cool.

 

[durangodawood]

An oldie but goodie: Pont Valentré in Cahors, France.

It also has Christian content. To quote wikipedia:
"The construction of the bridge lasted 70 years (1308 to 1378). In local folklore it is said that the foreman, exasperated by the slow pace of the work, signed a pact with the Devil. In the pact the Devil promised to use his skills expedite the work and, if he carries out all of the foreman's orders, then his (the foreman's) soul would be forfeit.

Having seen the bridge built on time, the foreman regrets his decision and issues a final order to the devil to go and collect water for the other workers using a sieve. In revenge for having been tricked, the Devil sends a demon each night to loosen the final stone in the central tower (known as the Devil's Tower) to ensure that the bridge is never finished and must be repaired each day....."

 

[Ancient of Days]

Been building bridges for the past 20 years.

 

[durangodawood]

Been building bridges for the past 20 years.....

Awesome.

What bridge are we looking at there?

 

[Ancient of Days]

St. Croix in Minnesota. In the morning we had to take a tug boat out to the piers then walk up 14 flights of stairs just to get to our work area!

 

[Babe Ruth]

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (Virginia).. 23 miles of bridges, tunnels, & artificial islands. I've crossed it many times. It's wild, & impressive. It's more relaxing since they've expanded, & eliminated the head-on traffic spans.

 

[AirPo]

The Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China. A glass-bottomed pedestrian bridge 360m high and 430m long. Great views.

Didn't they have to close that bridge?

 

[Dave-W]

My favorite:

Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan's 2 peninsulas.
The "Big Mac" was a bridge before it was a sandwich.

 

[jayem]

Didn't they have to close that bridge?

Yeah. Soon after it opened, some reinforcements were done because the traffic was much higher than expected. But, AFAIK, it's been open ever since.

 

[JackRT]

Then there is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge:

 

[Dave-W]

Then there is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge:

Yeaaaahhhhhh.

that was NOT a cool bridge.