10 craziest bridges

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1. The deadliest bridge

It is considered the most photographed and the deadliest bridge: the 2737-foot Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (USA). At least 1,500 people have jumped to death since 1937: Those who fall into water 70 meters deep survive in only two percent of cases. Only immediately found dead bodies are recorded, so the number of unreported cases is huge! Recently, networks have begun to be established.

2. The most embarrassing bridge

Humiliation for star architect Norman Foster: Just two days later, the Millennium Bridge in London (UK) built in 2010 had to close for two years. The footbridge, which cost 22 million francs, shook – and how (see the video)! Passers-by unconsciously walked step by step with a natural vibration (which is why soldiers on bridges are often forbidden to step). Repair costs: six million Swiss francs.

3. The strongest bridge

Pont du Gard is over 2000 years old! At 275 meters long and 49 meters high, it was an aqueduct that was once part of a 50 kilometer pipeline that Roman engineers used to transport water to Nîmes (France). It has been used for traffic since the Middle Ages. Neither the carving of the pillars for road construction, nor the cars (now banned), nor the floods of Gard could shake them.

4. The most crowded bridge

Yes she is beautiful Yes, you should have seen them. No, romantic proposals should not be made on or near it: Despite fewer tourists due to the ongoing corona crisis, the Ponte di Rialto, built in 1591 in Italy’s lagoon city of Venice (I), is notoriously overcrowded – because it’s all selfie The global number one bridge for sticking insta-people.

5. The most instructive bridge

The 90-metre-deep Bündner valley between Schiers and Schuders encompasses one of the most overlooked Swiss buildings in the world: civil engineer Robert Maillart (1872-1940) built the 132-metre-long Salginatobel Bridge in 1930 – thin, elegant yet affordable ( 180,000 francs). For this reason, it is seen as an example of teaching in universities around the world and is lauded as a “world monument”.

6. The most destructive bridge

Over eleven years, 150 trucks crashed into the 11 feet 8 bridge, filmed by a local resident (11foot8.com) (see video for highlights). The rail underpass is actually called the Norfolk South Gregson Street Overpass, but in Durham (USA) it became a YouTube hit as vehicles over 3.56 meters high often wanted to pass. In 2019 the bridge was slightly raised but the collapse continues.

7. The biggest bridge

During construction in 1995, the Kobe earthquake separated the strait one meter: This is how the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge in Japan achieved a span of 1991 meters (the area between the columns) instead of the planned 1990: It became the longest suspension bridge in the world. For comparison: The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (USA) with a center span of 1280 meters is “only” 14th.

8. The most burned bridge

No bridge fire in the world has caused such horror: On August 18, 1993, the Chapel Bridge, built in 1365 (possibly from a cigarette that ignited the tarpaulin of a moored boat), caught fire. It wasn’t just the people of Lucerne that cried on the shore. Since 1994 it has again been the second longest wooden bridge in Europe (and the longest, by the way, connects Stein AG to Germany).

9. The most beautiful new bridge

You can argue for a long time about taste, but Swiss-Spanish star architect Santiago Calatrava (69) has a knack for elegance and visual static. Zurich’s Stadelhofen railway station made it famous – and then in 1992 the 140-metre-high Puente del Alamillo (picture) in Seville, Spain, as the world-famous first suspension bridge without an anchorage at the back (i.e. no “counter cable”).

10. Broken Bridge

When Ponte Morandi collapsed (I) in 2018, 43 people died (new building opened by the way): bridge statics do not tolerate carelessness in maintenance. And make no mistake: The Tacoma-Narrows Bridge (USA) cost a dog’s life when it collapsed in 1940. Swaying in the wind intensified with it … until … . Because it was filmed, this was the most famous collapse.

Source: Blick