A bridge can be a lot of things. It can be a fallen log over a stream, a
wooden structure made to span opposite sides of a river or a monumental work of
steel genius linking far away lands. Whatever bridges may be or may represent
to anyone, they are essential to humans and their ever travel-itchy feet.
Through time, mankind has sought to make the perfect bridge, one that will be
long enough, sturdy enough, beautiful enough or most importantly, tall enough
for our needs. A bridge’s height has been the pride and joy of many bridges.
The tallest bridges are some of man’s most spectacular architectural creations
in the world. With that, here are the ten highest bridges in the world:
10. THE VERRAZANO-NARROWSBRIDGE
Named after the famed Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, this bridge
has 693 foot high towers and has a center span of 4,260 feet (1,298 m). From
the time it was completed in 1964 until 1981, it was the largest suspension
bridge in the world. It has remained to be so in America and is widely-known among
others for being the starting point of the New York Marathon. This bridge
connects Brooklyn with Staten Island and has
played a crucial role in development of this region of the Big Apple. 9. LE PONT DE NORMANDIE
The Le Pont de Normandie bridge in France
This bridge, located in France,
is 2800 feet long, rises 165 feet above the water level and links Honfleur and Le Havre over the SieneRiver.
At the time of its completion, the construction cost reached 465 million
dollars but the structure carried the distinction of being the world’s longest
cable-stayed bridge. To the dismay of the French builders, this record was
beaten shortly in 1998 by the Tartara bridge
of Hiroshima, Japan. France remains proud of their suspension bridge,
as it stands as one of Europe’s most noted
engineering feats in recent years. 8. PENANGBRIDGE / JAMBATAN PULAU PENANG
The Penang bridge in Malaysia
Apart from the world-renowned Petronas Towers,
Malaysia boasts the PenangBridge
(known locally as Jambatan Pualau Panang) as another of its national structural
gems. Considered to be the third longest bridge in the world, the Penang bridge
stands 8.4 km above water, has four towers in midspan standing 101.5 meters
tall and stretches 13.5 km from Seberang Prai on the Malaysian mainland to
Gelugor on PenangIsland. It took 40 years
since its initial conception for it to materialize and formally open in 1985.
The bridge now services more than 70,000 people a day and remains a source of
pride for Malaysians. 7. TATARABRIDGE
The Tatara bridge in Japan
Now it’s Japan’s
turn. The TataraBridge
links the Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku
across the Seto Inland Sea and is known to have the longest span of any
cable-stayed bridge in the world. It has 220 meter steel towers and has a
center span of 890 meters. This Japanese marvel opened in 1999 and is part of
the famous Mishieto Expressway. The bridge took a mere six years to build and
has been made structurally sound enough to withstand big earthquakes. It is
Japanese engineering ingenuity at its finest. 6. THE GOLDEN GATEBRIDGE
The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, CA
This elegant suspension bridge has been featured in countless novels, shows,
movies and spans the magnificent Golden Gate.
It has a height of 227.4 meters and connects the city of San
Francisco to MarinCounty. Despite facing
stern opposition and lawsuits from different sectors with vested interests, the
bridge’s construction was completed in 1937. This facilitated economic growth
rate in the city and in the surrounding areas. Both an architectural and cultural
treasure, the Golden Gate has become dear to
many people’s hearts. 5. THE GREAT BELT FIXED LINK
The Great Belt Fixed Link bridge in Europe
This bridge is Europe’s highest and connects the Zealand and Funen islands
of Denmark
across the Great Belt. Completed in 1998, it has a height of 254 m and consists
of a road suspension bridge, a railway tunnel and a box girder bridge. The term
“GreatBeltBridge”
ordinarily pertained to the suspension bridge (but may also refer to the whole
link) and is considered to have the world’s second-longest free span at 1.6 km.
As in other cases of major bridges, its construction has paved the way for
better businesses in the region. This in the long run may well justify the
massive bridge construction cost spent - DKK 21.4 billion, the most costly in
the history of Denmark. 4. NEW RIVERGORGEBRIDGE
The New River Gorge bridge
Another of America’s
great bridges, this steel-arch bridge in Fayettteville,
West Virginia was completed in
1977. It stands a daunting 267 meters over the New River
and the CSX Railroad, and its arch extends 518m. More than 17,000 cars cross
the bridge daily and it is considered the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas. The New RiverGorgeBridge was the longest steel-arch
bridge before France’s
famous Millau Viaduct came along two decades later. This bridge is famous for
hosting extreme-sports such as rappelling and base-jumping during the
festivities of FayetteCounty ’s Bridge Day. 3. AKASHI-KAIKYŌBRIDGE
The Akashi-Kaikyo or Pearl
bridge
The Akashi-KaikyōBridge (or PearlBridge to some) stands a dizzying
298.3 meters high above the AkashiStrait and connects the popular city of Kobe on the Honshu mainland to Iwaya on AwajiIsland.
Completed in 1998, this bridge is the world’s longest suspension bridge, with a
center span of 1,991 meters. 2. ROYALGORGEBRIDGE
The Royal Gorge bridge
The Royal Gorge Bridge at 321 meters above the Arkansas River, is the
highest bridge in the U.S., the highest suspension bridge in the world and
second tallest bridge overall. Located near Canon City, Colorado,
the bridge is the center-piece of a popular tourist attraction that also
features a theme park. This bridge was completed in 1929, is 384 meters long, 5
meters wide and is suspended from towers that are 46 meters high. It has been
listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was constructed mainly
for tourism purposes. 1. MILLAU VIADUCT
The Millau Viaduct bridge in France
France’s
Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed road bridge which, at the nose-bleed height of
343 meters at mast’s summit, is considered the tallest bridge in the world. It
is, indeed, a very impressive bridge: it is slightly taller than France’s other architectural darling, the EiffelTower
and only a few meters short of the EmpireStateBuilding.
This massive structure spans the valley
of River Tran near Millau
and has even been featured in the National Geographic show “Megastructures.”
After its inauguration in 2004, led by no other but France’s then President Jacque
Chirac, the bridge has greatly decongested traffic in the region and has
undoubtedly given the French yet another reason to be proud of their storied
nation.
Man can truly create amazing things. In the past a wooden log could do the
trick. Now, meters upon meters high of concrete or steel bridges do not seem
enough but when pressing needs and national pride kick in, you cannot
underestimate the lengths that our great builders would be willing to go. So,
until the next great bridge is built, let us all marvel at these ten
architectural wonders of the world.
* The 10 highest bridges in the world are definitely today’s
architectural wonders. It takes skilled hands and a masterful plan to be able
to able to build one. .