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18 stunning bridges
This is enough to get a boy really excited. My favorites are Millau, Rotterdam, and Oresund.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 10, 2008 at 05:09 PM in Travels | Permalink
Comments
under the entry for the San Diego bridge..........."It was built at a maximum height of 200ft to allow vessels to travel underneath; in fact it is tall enough to allow an EMPTY aircraft carrier to pass. ".........[emphasis added]
Off topic: Is a "empty" aircraft carrier any "shorter" than an loaded one? Defies logic; if at all I would expect the contrary!
Posted by: Raul at Jan 10, 2008 5:50:50 PM
Engineering rocks! I love bridges like that kid on PBS.
The California coastal highway has some incredible bridges. The area is a moving landmass so bridges have to be engineered to be able to move. The drive up to Seattle would make an amazing trip combining incredible scenery with amazing bridges.
Wonderful documentary (California Bridges?) on this subject was shown last year on PBS but I have not been able to find it. Would appreciate if anyone could tell me where to get it. Thanks.
Posted by: Sophie at Jan 10, 2008 6:00:18 PM
An empty aircraft carrier sits higher in the water than a fully loaded one. So they're saying that's it is higher than some pansy bridge that only allows a fully loaded carrier pass beneath.
Semi on topic, the Oakland Bridge has an interesting story.
http://www.thebridgesofar.com/
Posted by: Rolo at Jan 10, 2008 6:30:15 PM
I'd say the chances of the Bering Straits bridge being constructed are very slim, if for no other reason that there aren't any roads within hundreds of miles of either end!
Posted by: Peter at Jan 10, 2008 10:18:04 PM
Calatrava did a series of more modestly proportioned bridges in Holland that are some of my favorite pieces of architecture:
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/calatrava/hoofdvaart/hoofdvaart.html
Posted by: Leif at Jan 10, 2008 10:43:10 PM
Well the bridge to Key West crosses a lot of beautiful scenery and ends up in an unusual town of six-toed cats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mile_Bridge
Posted by: Pitt at Jan 10, 2008 11:42:18 PM
The Millau bridge freaks me out. crazy.
Posted by: thehova at Jan 11, 2008 12:24:00 AM
The Hong Kong - Macau bridge will really mess up the feel and unique character of Macau I bet you.
Posted by: Theophanes at Jan 11, 2008 12:41:50 AM
I am fortunate enough to have a window overlooking the skyline of Rotterdam. The Erasmusbrug is really a great sight. It is a true "European bridge". Explanation: on each side of the bridge there are a wide pedestrian sidewalk, a very decent bicycle road and two car lanes. In the middle there are (as you can expect) two electric tram tracks. So the area devoted to cars is less than 50%, I would say. It is also impressive to see the bascule bridge open, when they need to allow the large ship going to the Rotterdam harbor to go through.
Posted by: londenio at Jan 11, 2008 2:30:43 AM
Engineering beauty is often sidelined even maligned. Good post Tyler.
I love the sight of the coal power-plant, railway switch-yard, and construction-sites in my city. Unfortunately the tree-huggers are rabid to shut those down.
The newspaper coverage of these battles frequently misses the point. The reporters will concede the economic, social advantages of these factories etc. but they take it as a given that a factory MUST be an eyesore. No debate about that! Why? Why can't I enjoy a humming well built factory a much as a work of art or a nature park?
Why does so much policy debate assume "nature" as good and "industrialization" or "engineering" as bad? How does one explain the people who will love horse-manure solely because it is natural and hate a vaccine as a man-made aberration? These are frequently the same "environmentalists" who will go to a third world country and admire the life of the native peoples devoid of electricity and piped water because they are "still so close to nature". Ignoring the lack of hundreds of other life enhancing luxuries that electricity etc. confers.
Could we have a post / opinion on this Tyler?
Posted by: Raul at Jan 11, 2008 2:50:32 AM
I'll be crossing the Oresund next week, in fact.
Posted by: Jeff H. at Jan 11, 2008 4:36:56 AM
Most of those are indeed beautiful, but it's cheating, IMO, to include two that do not exist. Why not include Niven's Ringworld if we're celebrating hypothetical engineering achievement? Also, list fails for lack of Brooklyn Bridge. ;-)
Posted by: Aeon J. Skoble at Jan 11, 2008 9:34:50 AM
The Millau Viaduct is the more interesting because it was built by private enterprise for profit.
Posted by: Patrick R. Sullivan at Jan 11, 2008 10:42:30 AM
I suspect that bridges, unlike cars, actually have quite universal gender appeal. Introspective people tend to be fascinated by bridges.
Posted by: Yan Li at Jan 11, 2008 12:51:36 PM
my favorite part about the rotterdam bridge is that the scale model of it at madurodam also wobbles.
Posted by: will at Jan 11, 2008 3:09:23 PM
Here's another French beauty.
http://www.ketchum.org/bridgepix/Normandy-370×550.JPG
Posted by: dearieme at Jan 11, 2008 3:49:02 PM
Should've included:
The iron bridge on the Severn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ironbridge002.JPG
The Tunkhannock Viaduct in Pennsylvania:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nicholson-Viaduct.JPG
Plus the Brooklyn Bridge, as someone above mentioned
Posted by: jp at Jan 12, 2008 12:50:47 PM
