The Rainbow Bridge - Tokyo

The Rainbow Bridge (レインボーブリッジ, Reinbō Buridji) is a suspension bridge crossing northern Tokyo Bay between Shibaura Pier and the Odaiba waterfront development in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is named Tōkyō Kō Renrakukyō (東京港連絡橋) as the official name in Japanese. It was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, with construction starting in 1987 and completed in 1993. The bridge is 798 m (2,618 ft) long with a main span of 580 m (1,903 ft). Officially called the "Shuto Expressway No. 11 Daiba Route - Port of Tokyo Connector Bridge", the name "Rainbow Bridge" was decided by the public. The towers supporting the bridge are white in color, designed to harmonize with the skyline of central Tokyo seen from Odaiba. There are lamps placed on the wires supporting the bridge, which are illuminated into three different colors, red, white and green every night using solar energy obtained during the day.

The bridge can be accessed by foot from Tamachi Station (JR East) or Shibaura-futō Station (Yurikamome) on the mainland side. The Rainbow Bridge carries three transportation lines on two decks. The upper deck carries the Shuto Expressway's Daiba Route, while the lower deck carries the Yurikamome rapid transit system in the centre, walkways on the outer side, and Tokyo Prefectural Route 482 in-between. Light motorcycles under 50cc are not permitted on either deck or the walkway of the bridge. Motorcycle pillion passengers are also banned.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge - Kobe/Iwaya

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (Japanese: 明石海峡大橋, Hepburn: Akashi Kaikyō Ōhashi) is a suspension bridge which links the city of Kobe on the Japanese island of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island. It is part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, and crosses the busy and turbulent Akashi Strait (Akashi Kaikyō in Japanese). It was completed in 1998, and has the second longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world, at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft), only behind the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge that was opened in March 2022. It is one of the key links of the Honshū–Shikoku Bridge Project, which created three routes across the Inland Sea.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge forms part of the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, the easternmost route of the bridge system linking the islands of Honshu and Shikoku. The bridge crosses the Akashi Strait (width 4 km) between Kobe on Honshu and Iwaya on Awaji Island; the other major part of the crossing is completed by the Ōnaruto Bridge, which links Awaji Island to Ōge Island across the Naruto Strait. Before the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was built, ferries carried passengers across the Akashi Strait. A major passageway for shipping, it is also known for its gale, heavy rain, storms, and natural disasters. The Sekirei Maru sinking in 1945, which killed 304 people, first stirred public discussion on the possibility of a bridge over the span. In 1955, two ferries sank in the Shiun Maru disaster during a storm, killing 168 people. The ensuing shock and public outrage convinced the Japanese government to develop plans for a bridge to cross the strait.

Investigations for a bridge across the strait were first conducted by the Kobe municipal government in 1957, followed by an evaluation by the national Ministry of Construction in 1959. In 1961, the Ministry of Construction and Japan National Railways jointly commissioned the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) to conduct a technical study, and the JSCE established a committee to investigate five potential routes between Honshu and Shikoku. In 1967, the committee compiled the results of the technical study, concluding that a bridge across the Akashi Strait would face "extremely severe design and construction conditions, which have no similar examples in the world's long-span bridges" and recommending additional study.

In response to the report, the Honshu–Shikoku Bridge Authority (now the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company was established in 1970, which conducted extensive investigations, including sea trials to establish the construction method of a submarine foundation. In 1973, a bridge with a central span of 1,780 meters on the route was approved, but construction was halted due to poor economic conditions.

The Naruto Bridge - Awaji/Naruto

The Ōnaruto Bridge (大鳴門橋, Ōnaruto-kyō, lit. "Great Naruto Bridge") is a suspension bridge on the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway connecting Minamiawaji, Hyogo on Awaji Island with Naruto, Tokushima on Ōge Island, Japan. Completed in 1985, it has a main span of 876 metres (2,874 ft). Although it is one of the largest bridges in the world, it is dwarfed by the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, which is on the same route. In 2004, 6.8 million cars and trucks crossed this bridge, translating into a daily average of about 18,600. The bridge is complemented by the Konaruto Bridge ("Small Naruto Bridge") and Muya Bridge between Ōge Island and Shikoku.

When the bridge was built, space was left for the proposed Shikoku Shinkansen; however, no progress has been made on the train line, so the space intended originally for the bullet trains is used as an observatory to see the whirlpools beneath the bridge. It’s also a popular tourist destination for fans of the Naruto anime where it was referenced in episode 19 of the first season.

Recurring whirlpools known as the Naruto whirlpools are located below the bridge, caused by tidal currents between the Seto Inland Sea and the Pacific Ocean passing over undersea ridges under the Span, causing very strong eddy currents, some of which make large, deep whirlpools.

The bridge has a tourist attraction built into the south side anchor - the Uzunomichi Walkway - an enclosed walkway out to the south tower to allow visitors to view the swirls through side and floor windows, best seen during low tide. Tourist boats and other vessels circle the towers, allowing visitors to actually see the depth of the whirlpools up close, while the view from the bridge observatory lets visitors see the pattern created by the eddy currents extending out for quite a distance.

The Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge - Oshima, Japan

The Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge (来島海峡大橋, Kurushima Kaikyō Ō-hashi), which connects the island of Ōshima to the main part of Shikoku, was the world's longest suspension bridge structure when completed, in 1999. The bridge is part of the Shimanami Kaidō, an expressway that spans a series of islands and connects Hiroshima Prefecture in Honshū to Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku. The bridge and the expressway were both conceived by the Honshū-Shikoku Bridge Project.

The Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge consists of three successive suspension bridges with six towers and four anchorages. There is a shared anchorage that joins each suspension bridge to the next. Its construction is similar to the western portion of San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which is two successive suspension bridges with four towers and one shared anchorage. The bridge's total length of 4,015 metres (13,173 ft), is just a little longer than the total length of the two tower Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, which is 3,911 metres (12,831 ft).

• First Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge (来島海峡第一大橋, Kurushima Kaikyō Daiichi Ō-hashi), main span 600 metres (1,969 ft), ranks 63rd largest two tower suspension bridge
• Second Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge (来島海峡第二大橋, Kurushima Kaikyō Daini Ō-hashi), main span 1,020 metres (3,346 ft), ranks 26th largest
• Third Kurushima Kaikyō Bridge (来島海峡第三大橋, Kurushima Kaikyō Daisan Ō-hashi), main span 1,030 metres (3,379 ft), ranks 25th largest

The Eshima Ohashi Bridge - Matsui/Sakaiminato

The Eshima Ohashi Bridge (Japanese: 江島大橋, Hepburn: Eshima Ōhashi) is a rigid-frame bridge in Japan that connects Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, and Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, over Nakaumi lake. It was built from 1997 to 2004, and it is the largest rigid-frame bridge in Japan and the third largest in the world. Images of the bridge have been widely circulated on the internet, owing to its seemingly steep nature when photographed from a distance with a telephoto lens, but in actuality, it has a less pronounced, 6.1% gradient in the side of Shimane and a 5.1% gradient in the side of Tottori.

Eshima Ohashi Bridge replaced the previous drawbridge, since traffic was obstructed often by ships for about 7 to 8 minutes, only large vehicles under 14 tons were allowed and only 4000 vehicles could cross it per day.

The Togetsu-kyo Bridge - Kyoto

Togetsukyo is a 155-meter bridge built across the Katsura River, which flows leisurely through Saga Arashiyama , a well-known place of scenic beauty in the western hills of Kyoto. The artistic form of the bridge embodies the aesthetic sense that is at the heart of the Japan artistic tradition.

The Great Seto Bridge - Okayama/Kagawa. Japan

The Great Seto Bridge or Seto Ohashi Bridge (瀬戸大橋, Seto Ōhashi) is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–88, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku Bridge Project connecting Honshū and Shikoku islands and the only one to carry rail traffic. The total length is 13.1 kilometers (8.1 mi), and the longest span, the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge, is 1,100 m (3,600 ft).

Crossing the bridge takes about 20 minutes by car or train. The ferry crossing before the bridge was built took about an hour. The bridges carry two lanes of highway traffic in each direction (Seto-Chūō Expressway) on the upper deck and one railway track in each direction (Seto-Ōhashi Line) on the lower deck. The lower deck was designed to accommodate an additional set of Shinkansen tracks for a proposed extension of the Shinkansen to Shikoku.

When in 1889 the first railway in Shikoku was completed between Marugame and Kotohira, a member of the Prefectural Parliament, Jinnojo Ōkubo ( , Ōkubo Jinnojo, 1849–1891), stated in his speech at the opening ceremony: "The four provinces of Shikoku are like so many remote islands. If united by roads, they will be much better off, enjoying the benefits of increased transportation and easier communication with each other."

It took a century for the vision of a bridge across the Seto Inland Sea to become. In 1955, after 171 people died when a ferry wrecked in dense fog off the coast of Takamatsu, a safer crossing was deemed necessary. By 1959, meetings were held to promote building the bridge. Scientists began investigations shortly after, and in 1970, the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Construction Authority was inaugurated. However, work was postponed for five years by the "oil shock" of 1973; once the Environment Assessment Report was published in 1978, construction got underway. The ferry disaster also led to the creation of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge.

The project took ten years to complete at a cost of US$7 billion; 3.646million cubic meters (128.8million cubic feet) of concrete and 705,000 tons of steel were used in construction.[citation needed] Although nets, ropes and other safety measures were employed, the lives of 13 workers were lost during the 10 years of construction. The bridge opened to road and rail traffic on April 10, 1988.

The Tsing Ma Bridge - Hong Kong, China

Tsing Ma Bridge is in Hong Kong. It is the world's 16th-longest span suspension bridge, and was the second longest at time of completion. The bridge was named after the two islands it connects, namely Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. It has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic, which also makes it the largest suspension bridge of this type. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft) and a height of 206 metres (676 ft). The span is the longest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic. The 41-metre-wide (135 ft) bridge deck carries six lanes of automobile traffic, with three lanes in each direction. The lower level contains two rail tracks and two sheltered carriageways used for maintenance access and traffic lanes when particularly severe typhoons strike Hong Kong and the bridge deck is closed to traffic.

The Tsing Ma Bridge is the most prominent element of the Lantau Link, an infrastructure project built to connect Lantau, Hong Kong's largest island, to the urbanised areas of the territory. Until this link opened in 1997, Lantau Island could only be accessed by water, and was completely rural. The Lantau Link was built as part of the Airport Core Programme, which ultimately served to provide Hong Kong with a brand new airport at Chek Lap Kok (off the north coast of Lantau) to replace the older, congested Kai Tak Airport.

Construction: Numerous consortia bid on the contract to construct the bridge. Hyundai made the lowest bid but were disqualified for non-compliance with the financial requirements. A Japanese bid was ruled out for being too expensive. The Anglo Japanese Construction Joint Venture, comprising Costain, Mitsui, and Trafalgar House, won the job. Construction work on the bridge began in May 1992. Gammon Construction constructed the caissons for the bridge towers. The framework for each caisson was floated into place and sunk, and then filled with concrete underwater. The two caissons on the Ma Wan side weigh 4,500 tons each, while those on the Tsing Yi side (closer to shore) each weigh about 3,000 tons. Land reclamation was carried out at both ends of the bridge. The more substantial reclamation on Ma Wan was used as a work platform for construction crews.

The first steel deck segment was lifted into place in late 1994. The approach deck segments were constructed in Britain and Dubai and then shipped to Hong Kong for assembling. The main span segments were built by Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company in the U.K. and by Mitsui in Japan. The climbing cranes used to erect the tower portals were coincidentally also used on the HSBC Main Building a decade earlier, as well as at Canary Wharf in the interim.

The Aizhai Bridge - Jishou, Hunan, China

The Aizhai Bridge (Chinese: 矮寨大桥) is a suspension bridge on the G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway near Jishou, Hunan, China. The bridge was built as part of an expressway from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Changsha. The bridge is famous for the spectacular view it offers those crossing it.

With a main span of 1,146 metres (3,760 ft) and a deck height of 336 metres (1,102 ft), as of 2013, it is the thirteenth-highest bridge in the world and the world's nineteenth-longest suspension bridge. Of the world's 400 or so highest bridges, none has a main span as long as Aizhai. It is also the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge. The bridge contains 1888 lights to increase visibility at night.

Construction on the Aizhai Bridge began in October 2007 and was completed by the end of 2011, ahead of schedule. The bridge was temporarily opened to pedestrians during the 2012 Spring Festival^] and was formally opened to traffic in March 2012. The bridge was built with the assistance of a $208 million loan from the Asian Development Bank; the total project cost was $610 million, which included 64 kilometres (40 mi) of expressway construction (two thirds of which comprised bridge and tunnel) and upgrades to 129 kilometres (80 mi) of local roads.The bridge and the associated road construction were projected to reduce the travel time between Jishou and Chadong from 4 hours to less than 1 hour.

In September 2012, the Aizhai Bridge was the site of an international BASE jumping festival that included more than 40 jumpers from 13 countries.

The Haoshang/Lesnan Bridge

This picturesque bridge, which is located in south Sichuan, is a beautifully constructed piece of architecture that marries form and function. It is part of the Mount Emei Scenic Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes the world's largest Buddha. It should come as no surprise that this a hot spot for tourists from all over the world to capture a snapshot of the bridge and its serene reflection in the waters just below.

Mount Emei is of great historical significance because China's first Buddhist temple was built there in the first century CE. The extraordinary Giant Buddha of Leshan was carved from the side of the mountain in the 8th century to overlook the intersection of three rivers. Standing 233 feet tall (71 meters), the creation of the Buddha is a stunning achievement of ancient history.

Often overshadowed by this iconic monument, the Haoshang Bridge is no less stunning. Located close to the Buddha, it connects two hills with temples and ancient tombs. The pedestrian bridge is a type of moon bridge, which is a design feature often seen in Chinese and Japanese gardens. Intentionally reflected in the water, it creates a calming circular shape.

The bridge, together with the Giant Buddha, are just some of the spectacular sites to behold at the Mount Emei Scenic Area. As one of four sacred Buddhist mountains in China, it has long been established as a protected area. This has allowed the trees, many of which date back 1,000 years, to thrive. Add to this the incredible amount of temples that have been added through the centuries and it's easy to see why travelers flock to the area in droves.

The Chengyang Bridge - Guanxi, China

The Yongji Bridge of Chengyang (simplified Chinese: 程阳永济桥; traditional Chinese: 程陽永濟橋; pinyin: Chéngyáng Yǒngjì Qiáo), also called the Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge (simplified Chinese: 程阳风雨桥; traditional Chinese: 程陽風雨橋; pinyin: Chéngyáng Fēngyǔ Qiáo), is a bridge in Sanjiang County, of Guangxi, China.

The bridge is located in Chengyang, and serves as the link between two populous villages. It is a special covered bridge or lángqiáo, and one of several Fengyu bridges in the local Dong Minority region. It was completed in 1912. It is also called the Panlong Bridge (simplified Chinese: 盘龙桥; traditional Chinese: 盤龍橋; pinyin: Pánlóng Qiáo).

The bridge is a combination of bridge, corridor, veranda and Chinese pavilion. It has two platforms (one at each end of the bridge), 3 piers, 3 spans, 5 pavilions, 19 verandas, and three floors. The piers are made of stone, the upper structures are mainly wooden, and the roof is covered with tiles. The bridge has wooden handrails on both sides. The bridge has a total length of 64.4 metres (211 ft), and its corridor has a width of 3.4 metres (11 ft). The net height above the river is about 10 metres (33 ft).

Guo Moruo, a famous Chinese author, loved the bridge at first sight and wrote a poem for it.

The Sidu River Bridge - Hubei Province, China

The Sidu River Bridge (Siduhe Bridge, 四渡河特大桥) is a 1,222 m-long (4,009 ft) suspension bridge crossing the valley of the Sidu River near Yesanguan in Badong County of the Hubei Province of the People's Republic of China. The bridge was designed by CCSHCC Second Highway Consultants Company, Limited. and built at a cost of 720 million yuan (approximately US$100 million). It opened to traffic on November 15, 2009.

The bridge is part of the new G50 Huyu Expressway that parallels China National Highway 318, an east-west route between Shanghai and Chongqing, crossing the wide belt of mountains that separate the Sichuan Basin from the lowlands of eastern Hubei. The Yangtze River pierces the same mountain belt 50 km (31 mi) to the north, forming the famous Three Gorges. The Yiwan Railway, completed in 2010 and running parallel to the highway, has been described as China's most difficult to build and most expensive (per km) rail line.

The bridge spans a 500-meter-deep (1,600 ft) valley of the Sidu River (a left tributary of the Qingjiang River), and superseded the Royal Gorge Bridge and the Beipan River Guanxing Highway Bridge as the highest bridge in the world until it in turn was surpassed by the Duge Bridge in 2016.

The bridge's design includes H-shaped towers, a truss-stiffened main span, and unsuspended side spans. The Warren-type trusses were constructed in 71 sections with the largest section weighing 91.6 metric tons (101.0 short tons). The trusses are 6.5 m (21 ft) tall and 26 meters (85 ft) wide. The height measurement from the bottom of the gorge has been reported as 496 m (1,627 ft) by Eric Sakowski, 500 m (1,600 ft) by Chongxu Wang, and 550 m (1,800 ft) by Yinbo Liu.

The first part of the suspension cable installed, a rope known as the pilot cable, was the first-ever to be placed using a rocket. Conditions at the bridge's location would not allow the use of boats or helicopters, which have previously been used to string the first cable. The rockets carried the pilot cables across on October 6, 2006 and resulted in time and cost savings.

The main suspension cables are made of 127 parallel wire strands bundled into a hexagonal shape (127 is the sixth centred hexagonal number). Each strand is made of 127 wires (also making a hexagonal shape so that there is a total of 16,129 wires in each of the two main suspension cables). Each cable can hold 191,960 kilonewtons (43,150,000 lb_f).

The Golden Bridge - Da-Nang, Vietnam

... is a 150-metre-long (490 ft) pedestrian bridge in the Bà Nà Hills resort, near Da Nang, Vietnam. It is designed to connect the cable car station with the gardens (avoiding a steep incline) and to provide a scenic overlook and tourist attraction. The bridge loops nearly back around to itself, and has two giant hands, constructed of fibreglass and wire mesh, designed to appear like stone hands that support the structure.

The client for the project was the Sun Group.The bridge was designed by TA Landscape Architecture (under Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture) based in Ho Chi Minh City. The company's founder, Vu Viet Anh, was the project's principal designer, with Trần Quang Hùng as the bridge designer and Nguyen Quang Huu Tuan as the bridge's design manager. Construction began in July 2017 and was completed in April 2018. The bridge opened in June 2018.

The Öresund Bridge - Denmark/Sweden

The Öresund or Øresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen [ˈøːɐsɔnsˌpʁoˀn̩]; Swedish: Öresundsbron [œrɛˈsɵ̂nːdsˌbruːn]; hybrid name: Øresundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the longest in Europe with both roadway and railway combined in a single structure, running nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.

The bridge connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of Internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden. The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Øresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link (1988–1998), connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Sweden by road and rail.

The bridge was designed by Jørgen Nissen and Klaus Falbe Hansen from Ove Arup and Partners, and Niels Gimsing and Georg Rotne.

The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. Construction began in 1995, with the bridge opening to traffic on 1 July 2000. The bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.

Chapel Place Bridge - Lucerne, Switzerland

The Chapel Bridge on the Reuss River in Lucerne is easily the most famous landmark in this town. It’s also one of the most famous bridges in Switzerland, with a rich history that dates back to the 14th century. The wooden bridge was originally constructed in 1360, and the Wassertum is even 30 years older than the bridge. 

The Wassertum translates to the water tower, but in the sense of a tower standing in the water. It has had many different functions over the years, and at one point in time, it even served as a prison and a torture chamber. It was later used as the town’s treasury and municipal archive, and nowadays the water tower is closed to the public. The iconic bridge serves as a pedestrian walkway from the north to the south bank of the river Reuss. It’s one of two covered wooden bridges in Lucerne that connect the two sides of the city’s old town. On the north bank, the bridge is immediately next to St. Peter’s Chapel, which is also how the bridge got its name. 

Lucerne is famous for its three footbridges that date back to different time periods, all of which are adorned with paintings. No other such bridges in Europe exist, which is precisely why these covered bridges are such iconic tourist attractions. The Chapel Bridge is special because so many paintings have managed to survive the horrific fire and they are still standing proud. It’s possible to notice the fire damage on some of them even today, which just makes the bridge and its paintings even more special.

Before the fire, there was a painting in every one of the triangular frames below the roof. Nowadays many of the frames are empty or charred, but more than 100 paintings can still be seen on the bridge. They contain scenes that promote the Catholic Church and those that depict life in Switzerland during the existence of the Swiss Confederacy. Many paintings feature images of Lucerne’s Patron Saints: St. Leger, and St. Maurice.

The Alcantara Bridge - Extremadura, Spain

The Alcántara Bridge (also known as Trajan's Bridge at Alcantara) is a Roman bridge at Alcántara, in Extremadura, Spain. Alcántara is from the Arabic word al-Qantarah (القنطرة) meaning "the arch". The stone arch bridge was built over the Tagus River between 104 and 106 AD by an order of the Roman emperor Trajan in 98.

The Alcántara Bridge has suffered more damage from war than from the elements over the years. The Moors destroyed one of the smallest arches in 1214 although this was rebuilt centuries later, in 1543, with stone taken from the original quarries. The second arch on the northwest side was then later destroyed in 1760 by the Spanish to stop the Portuguese advancing and was repaired in 1762 by Charles III, only to be blown up again in 1809 by Wellington's forces attempting to stop the French. Temporary repairs were made in 1819, but much of the bridge was destroyed yet again in 1836 by the Carlists. The bridge was rebuilt in 1860 using mortared masonry. And following completion of the José María de Oriol Dam, which allowed for the draining of the Tagus riverbed, the main pillars were completely repaired in 1969.

The bridge originally measured 190 m (620 ft) in length, which today is reduced to 181.7 m (596 ft). The clear spans of the six arches from the right to the left riverside are 13.6 m (45 ft), 23.4 m (77 ft), 28.8 m (94 ft), 27.4 m (90 ft), 21.9 m (72 ft) and 13.8 m (45 ft). At the end of the 19th century, due to the works for the construction of the Lungotevere, the two Roman ramps which linked the bridge with the two banks were destroyed, and in their place two arches similar to the Roman ones were built.

Stari Most (Mostar Bridge) - Bosnia/Herzegovina

Stari Most (Serbo-Croatian: Stari most, Стари мост, lit. 'Old Bridge'), also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects the two parts of the city. On 9 November 1993 Stari Most collapsed due to shelling by the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) during the Croat–Bosniak War because the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) used it as a military supply line. The Old Bridge was deemed a legitimate military target by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, since the ARBiH used it for military purposes. Subsequently, a project was set in motion to reconstruct it; the rebuilt bridge opened on 23 July 2004.

The bridge is considered an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture and was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557. It was designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of architect Mimar Sinan who built many of the Sultan's key buildings in Istanbul and around the empire.

The bridge spans the Neretva river in the old town of Mostar, the city to which it gave the name. The city is the fifth-largest in the country; it is the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the unofficial capital of Herzegovina. The Stari Most is hump-backed, 4 metres (13 ft 1 in) wide and 30 metres (98 ft 5 in) long, and dominates the river from a height of 24 m (78 ft 9 in). Two fortified towers protect it: the Halebija tower on the northeast and the Tara tower on the southwest, called "the bridge keepers" (natively mostari).

Instead of foundations, the bridge has abutments of limestone linked to wing walls along the waterside cliffs. Measuring from the summer water level of 40.05 m (131 ft 5 in), abutments are erected to a height of 6.53 metres (21 ft 5 in), from which the arch springs to its high point. The start of the arch is emphasized by a molding 0.32 metres (1 ft 1 in) in height. The rise of the arch is 12.02 metres (39 ft 5 in).

Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge - Brasilia

The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Juscelino Kubitschek), commonly called Ponte JK (English: JK Bridge), is a steel and concrete arch bridge across Lake Paranoá in Brasília, Brazil. It connects the eastern shore of the lake – where Lago Sul, Paranoá and Brasília International Airport are located – to Brasília's city center, via the Monumental Axis. Opened to traffic on December 15, 2002, its distinctive silhouette quickly became a Brasília landmark.

The bridge is named after President Juscelino Kubitschek, who served from 1956 to 1961, and is generally considered the main figure supporting the construction of the planned city of Brasília. It was designed by architect Alexandre Chan and structural engineer Mário Vila Verde.

Il Ponte Vecchio - Florence, Italy

The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge", Italian pronunciation: [ˈponte ˈvɛkkjo]) is a medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during the Second World War, it is noted for the shops built along it; building shops on such bridges was once a common practice. Butchers, tanners, and farmers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers, and souvenir sellers. The Ponte Vecchio's two neighboring bridges are the Ponte Santa Trinita and the Ponte alle Grazie.

The bridge connects via Por Santa Maria (Lungarno degli Acciaiuoli and Lungarno degli Archibusieri) to via de 'Guicciardini (Borgo San Jacopo and via de' Bardi).

The name was given to what was the oldest Florentine bridge when the bridge to the Carraia was built, then called "Ponte Nuovo" in contrast to the pons Vetus. Beyond the historical value, the bridge over time has played a central role in the city road system, starting from when it connected the Roman Florentia with the Via Cassia Nuova commissioned by the emperor Hadrian in 123 AD.

In contemporary times, despite being closed to vehicular traffic, the bridge is crossed by a considerable pedestrian flow generated both by the notoriety of the place itself and by the fact that it connects places of high tourist interest on the two banks of the river: piazza del Duomo, piazza della Signoria on one side with the area of Palazzo Pitti and Santo Spirito in the Oltrarno.

The bridge appears in the list drawn up in 1901 by the General Directorate of Antiquities and Fine Arts, as a monumental building to be considered national artistic heritage.

The Rialto Bridge - Venice, Italy

The Rialto Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Rialto; Venetian: Ponte de Rialto) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the sestieri (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its first construction as a pontoon bridge in 1173, and is now a significant tourist attraction in the city.

Il Ponte Sant'Angelo - Rome, Italy

Ponte Sant'Angelo, originally the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, is a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, completed in 134 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), to span the Tiber from the city centre to his newly constructed mausoleum, now the towering Castel Sant'Angelo. The bridge is faced with travertine marble and spans the Tiber with five arches, three of which are Roman; it was approached by means of a ramp from the river. The bridge is now solely pedestrian and provides a scenic view of Castel Sant'Angelo. It links the rioni of Ponte (which was named after the bridge itself), and Borgo, to whom the bridge administratively belongs.

History: Starting with the early Middle Ages, the original name was forgotten: after the ruin of Nero's Bridge, pilgrims were forced to use this bridge to reach St Peter's Basilica, hence it was known also with the name of "bridge of Saint Peter" (pons Sancti Petri). In the sixth century, under Pope Gregory I, both the castle and the bridge took on the name Sant'Angelo, explained by a legend that an angel appeared on the roof of the castle to announce the end of the plague. Dante writes in his Divine Comedy that during the jubilee of 1300, due to the large number of pilgrims going and coming from Saint Peter, two separate lanes were arranged on the bridge. During the 1450 jubilee, balustrades of the bridge collapsed, due to the great crowds of the pilgrims, and many drowned in the river. In response, some houses at the head of the bridge as well as a Roman triumphal arch were pulled down in order to widen the route for pilgrims.

In 1535, Pope Clement VII allocated the toll income of the bridge to erecting the statues of the apostles Saint Peter (holding a book, with the pedestal inscription Rione XIV) by Lorenzetto, and Saint Paul (holding a broken sword and a book, with the pedestal inscription Borgo) by Paolo Romano to which subsequently the four evangelists and the patriarchs were added to other statues representing Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. For centuries after the 16th century, the bridge was used to expose the bodies of those executed in the nearby Piazza di Ponte, at the left bridge head. In 1669 Pope Clement IX commissioned replacements for the aging stucco angels by Raffaello da Montelupo, commissioned by Paul III. Bernini's program, one of his last large projects, called for ten angels holding instruments of the Passion: he personally only finished the two originals of the Angel with the Superscription "I.N.R.I." and the Angel with the Crown of Thorns, but these were kept by Clement IX for his own pleasure. They are now in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, also in Rome.

El Ponte dei Sospiri (The Bridge of Sighs) - Venice, Italy

The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: Ponte dei Sospiri, Venetian: Ponte de i Sospiri) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. It was designed by Antonio Contino, whose uncle Antonio da Ponte designed the Rialto Bridge. It was built in 1600. The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge's English name was bequeathed by Lord Byron in the 19th century as a translation from the Italian "Ponte dei sospiri", from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

• The 1861 opera "Le pont des soupirs" ("The Bridge of Sighs") by Jacques Offenbach has the name of the bridge as a title.
• The Bridge of Sighs features heavily in the plot of the 1979 film "A Little Romance". One of the characters tells of a tradition that if a couple kiss in a gondola beneath the Bridge of Sighs in Venice at sunset while the church bells toll, they will be in love forever.
• "Bridge of Sighs" is the name of the second solo studio album released in April 1974 by English rock guitarist and songwriter, Robin Trower.
• A Bridge of Sighs is mentioned in the opening line of “Itchycoo Park” by the Small Faces. Marillion, an English progressive rock band, also mentions this particular bridge in their song "Jigsaw". ("We are renaissance children becalmed beneath the Bridge of Sighs").
• Giles Corey, an American slowcore band, likewise mentions this bridge in their song "No One Is Ever Going To Want Me".
• Renowned American architect H.H. Richardson used the bridge as inspiration when designing part of the Allegheny County Jail complex in Pittsburgh, PA. It was completed in 1888, and features a similar enclosed arched walkway that connects the courthouse and jail, therefore bearing the same name.

The Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco, U.S.A.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It also carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and is designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 95. Being declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California. It was initially designed by engineer Joseph Strauss in 1917. The bridge was named for the Golden Gate strait, the channel that it spans.

The Frommer's travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world."At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, titles it held until 1964 and 1998 respectively. Its main span is 4,200 feet (1,280 m) and total height is 746 feet (227 m).

Brooklyn Bridge - New York

The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and a deck 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.

Proposals for a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn were first made in the early 19th century, which eventually led to the construction of the current span, designed by John A. Roebling. The project's chief engineer, his son Washington Roebling, contributed further design work, assisted by the latter's wife, Emily Warren Roebling. Construction started in 1870, with the Tammany Hall-controlled New York Bridge Company overseeing construction, although numerous controversies and the novelty of the design prolonged the project over thirteen years. Since opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has undergone several reconfigurations, having carried horse-drawn vehicles and elevated railway lines until 1950. To alleviate increasing traffic flows, additional bridges and tunnels were built across the East River. Following gradual deterioration, the Brooklyn Bridge has been renovated several times, including in the 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s.

The Brooklyn Bridge is the southernmost of the four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, with the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Queensboro Bridge to the north. Only passenger vehicles and pedestrian and bicycle traffic are permitted. A major tourist attraction since its opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has become an icon of New York City. Over the years, the bridge has been used as the location of various stunts and performances, as well as several crimes and attacks. The Brooklyn Bridge has been designated a National Historic Landmark, a New York City landmark, and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The Sunshine Skyway - Florida, USA

The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, Florida to Terra Ceia. The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company. The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay. The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll road, with a $1.50 toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction and collected via cash or the state's SunPass system.

The original Sunshine Skyway was a two-lane beam bridge with a central truss bridge built directly to the west of the current structure. It was completed in 1954, and a second span was added in 1971.

The original Skyway was the site of two major maritime disasters over a four-month period, the second of which resulted in the bridge's partial destruction and eventual replacement. On the night of January 28, 1980, the United States Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn just west of the bridge, resulting in the sinking of the cutter with the loss of 23 crew members in the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the US Coast Guard. On the morning of May 9, 1980, the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support pier near the center of the bridge during a sudden squall, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the southbound roadway and the deaths of 35 people when several vehicles (including a Greyhound Bus) plunged into Tampa Bay. Within a few years, the damaged span was partially demolished, the surviving span was partially demolished and converted into a long fishing pier, and the modern Sunshine Skyway was built. The current bridge incorporates numerous safety features designed to protect the structure from ship collisions, as it spans one of the busiest shipping lanes in the United States.

Millau Viaduct - Millau, France

The Millau Viaduct (French: Viaduc de Millau, IPA: [vja.dyk də mi.jo]) is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the gorge valley of the Tarn near (west of) Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitanie Region, in Southern France. The design team was led by engineer Michel Virlogeux and English architect Norman Foster. As of September 2020, it is the tallest bridge in the world, having a structural height of 336.4 metres (1,104 ft).

The Millau Viaduct is part of the A75–A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Béziers and Montpellier. The cost of construction was approximately € 394 million ($424 million). It was built over three years, formally inaugurated on 14 December 2004, and opened to traffic two days later on 16 December. The bridge has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest engineering achievements of modern times, and received the 2006 Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.

In the 1980s, high levels of road traffic near Millau in the Tarn valley were causing congestion, especially in the summer due to holiday traffic on the route from Paris to Spain. A method of bypassing Millau had long been considered, not only to ease the flow and reduce journey times for long-distance traffic, but also to improve the quality of access to Millau for its local businesses and residents. One of the solutions considered was the construction of a road bridge to span river and gorge valley. The first plans for a bridge were discussed in 1987 by CETE, and by October 1991 the decision was made to build a high crossing of the Tarn by a structure of around 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) in length. During 1993–1994, the government consulted with seven architects and eight structural engineers. During 1995–1996, a second definition study was made by five associated architect groups and structural engineers. In January 1995, the government issued a declaration of public interest to solicit design approaches for a competition.

In July 1996 the jury decided in favour of a cable-stayed design with multiple spans, as proposed by the SODETEG consortium led by Michel Virlogeux, Norman Foster and Arcadis. The decision to proceed by grant of contract was made in May 1998; then in June 2000, the contest for the construction contract was launched, open to four consortia. In March 2001, Eiffage established the subsidiary Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau (CEVM), and was declared winner of the contest and awarded the prime contract in August.

Forth Bridge - Scotland

The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles (14 kilometres) west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge (to distinguish it from the adjacent Forth Road Bridge), although this has never been its official name.

Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, the future Edward VII. The bridge carries the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line across the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has a total length of 8,094 feet (2,467 m). When it opened it had the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world, until 1919 when the Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. It continues to be the world's second-longest single cantilever span, with a span of 1,709 feet (521 m).

The bridge and its associated railway infrastructure are owned by Network Rail. The bridge spans the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has a total length of 8,094 feet (2,467 m) with the double track elevated 150 feet (45.72 m) above the water level at high tide. It consists of two main spans of 1,700 feet (518.16 m), two side spans of 680 ft (207.3 m), and 15 approach spans of 168 ft (51.2 m). Each main span consists of two 680 ft (207.3 m) cantilever arms supporting a central 350 feet (106.7 m) span truss. The weight of the bridge superstructure was 50,513 long tons (51,324 t), including the 6.5 million rivets used. The bridge also used 640,000 cubic feet (18,122 m³) of granite.

The three great four-tower cantilever structures are 361 feet (110.03 m) tall, each tower resting on a separate granite pier. These were constructed using 70 ft (21 m) diameter caissons; those for the north cantilever and two on the small uninhabited island of Inchgarvie acted as cofferdams, while the remaining two on Inchgarvie and those for the south cantilever, where the river bed was 91 ft (28 m) below high-water level, used compressed air to keep water out of the working chamber at the base.

Clifton Suspension Bridge - Bristol, England

The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge, the income from which provides funds for its maintenance. The bridge is built to a design by William Henry Barlow and John Hawkshaw, based on an earlier design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is a Grade I listed building and forms part of the B3129 road.

The idea of building a bridge across the Avon Gorge originated in 1753. Original plans were for a stone bridge and later iterations were for a wrought iron structure. In 1831, an attempt to build Brunel's design was halted by the Bristol riots, and the revised version of his designs was built after his death and completed in 1864. Although similar in size, the bridge towers are not identical in design, the Clifton tower having side cut-outs, the Leigh tower more pointed arches atop a 110-foot (34 m) red sandstone-clad abutment. Roller-mounted "saddles" at the top of each tower allow movement of the three independent wrought iron chains on each side when loads pass over the bridge. The bridge deck is suspended by 162 vertical wrought-iron rods in 81 matching pairs.

The Clifton Bridge Company initially managed the bridge under licence from a charitable trust. The trust subsequently purchased the company shares, completing this in 1949 and took over the running of the bridge using the income from tolls to pay for maintenance. The bridge is a distinctive landmark, used as a symbol of Bristol on postcards, promotional materials, and informational web sites. It has been used as a backdrop to several films and television advertising and programmes. It has also been the venue for significant cultural events such as the first modern bungee jump in 1979, the last Concorde flight in 2003 and a handover of the Olympic Torch relay in 2012.

Tower Bridge - London

Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust founded in 1282. The bridge was constructed to give better access to the East End of London, which had expanded its commercial potential in the 19th century. The bridge was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales in 1894.

The bridge is 800 feet (240 m) in length and consists of two 213-foot (65 m) bridge towers connected at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, and a central pair of bascules that can open to allow shipping. Originally hydraulically powered, the operating mechanism was converted to an electro-hydraulic system in 1972. The bridge is part of the London Inner Ring Road and thus the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, and remains an important traffic route with 40,000 crossings every day. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, whereas the bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition.

Tower Bridge has become a recognisable London landmark. It is sometimes confused with London Bridge, about 0.5 miles (800 m) upstream, which has led to a persistent urban legend about an American purchasing the wrong bridge.