Round, unfinished and endless-10 most unusual bridges in the world
Bridges can be not just functional structures, but real attractions that are mandatory for tourists to visit, and this is not only the Golden Gate to the San Francisco. We present 10 amazing bridges that combine beauty and aesthetics, original engineering solutions and the best materials.
In 2022, in Beijing will host the Winter Olympic Games. There is not enough snow in the central part of the city, so some competitions will be held in the north-west of the city — in the Zhangjiakou district. The old road between the districts stretched for 203 kilometers, so it was decided to build a new one, and the San Shan Bridge (translated as "three mountains") became part of it.
The bridge was designed by the Beijing architectural firm Penda and the British engineering firm ARUP. The architects were inspired by the Olympic Rings, the Xishan Mountains, and the DNA spiral. The bridge is supported on six rings, and their connections are designed to resemble mountains. The height of the "mountain peaks" is 92 meters, and the length of the bridge is 452 meters.
On the edges of the bridge there are wide pedestrian paths, separated from the roadway by bushes and trees.
180-meter Infinity Bridge (i.e. " infinity») - the first stage of the project to restore bridges and embankments in the English city of Stockton-on-Tees. A new pedestrian and bicycle bridge connects the park on the north embankment of the river Tees with the university campus and the business park on the south.
The bridge was designed by Spence Associates and Balfour Beatty, an engineering company. Speirs and Major designed the lighting, and this is the main feature of the design: at night, the arches of the bridge together with their reflection in the water form the infinity sign.
The line in the center that divides the "infinity" into two parts is a pedestrian zone. This road is lined with LEDs of two colors: when a pedestrian steps on the module, it glows white, and the passed modules leave a blue trail behind the person.
Round bridge ("round bridge») - part of a new road that runs along the Uruguayan coast and connects several resort towns. The bridge is located in the Garzon Lagoon.
Instead of putting a speed limit sign on one of the most beautiful sections of the road, the architect Raphael Vignoli proposed to build a bridge that would naturally reduce the speed of cars. In addition, passengers will have more time to enjoy the view.
With the appearance of the bridge, the once calm lagoon has become very lively: wakeboarders come here to shoot spectacular videos, local fishermen catch fish from the bridge, tourists on kayaks designate the bridge as a gathering point, local fishermen catch fish here, and at night there are discos.
Before the construction began, Vignoli said that the bridge would not affect the ecosystem, but it turned out that the construction would take 450 tons of steel, 40,000 meters of stretch cable and 3,500 cubic meters of concrete. Environmental activists staged protests, but the construction did not stop.
Helix ("spiral») - pedestrian bridge across the bay in the center of Singapore. From the four projecting observation decks, you can see the skyscrapers of the business center and the football field, from here you can also watch laser and water shows.
The Australian architectural company COX proposed to build a pedestrian bridge a meter from the existing road bridge. With such a close location, you can better see the contrast between the old heavy construction and the new one — thin and futuristic, which took five times less steel.
The 280-meter bridge is called an engineering miracle: thanks to its structure like a DNA molecule, it can withstand 10 thousand people. Thanks to the mirrored canopies inside the structure, pedestrians take a break from the tropical sun.
In 2008, the Spanish city of Zaragoza hosted a world exhibition dedicated to construction on water. Especially for this event, Zaha Hadid designed a bridge — visitors passed through it to the exhibition. Now there are interactive exhibition areas and master classes on design, architecture and new technologies are held there.
The outer surface of the bridge consists of triangular panels: their structure reminded Zaha Hadid of the ripples of the Ebro River. The walls and ceiling are dotted with narrow holes: air and sunlight pass through them.
The center of the 290-meter bridge rests on a small island in the middle of the river: otherwise, 7,000 tons of concrete would not be possible to throw over the river.
The Moses Bridge ("Moses Bridge") is located on the territory of the Dutch Fort De A 17th-century roover surrounded by a moat. After the reconstruction of the fort, it turned out that visitors would not be able to get to the building: the moat is too deep to wade through, and too shallow for boats. Ro & Ad employees were required to provide access to the fort while maintaining its aesthetic integrity.
The engineers came up with a solution — to mask the path by building it under the waterline of the moat, so that the structure would not be visible from a distance and would not disturb the historical view. For this purpose, the Accoya material was used — a modified wood that does not break down in the aquatic environment for 50 years. To prevent the bridge from flooding after heavy rains, engineers built two dams to regulate the water level, and installed a pump to pump it out. All construction work was carried out in a dried-up moat.
During the high season, there were always traffic jams on the route from France to Spain. The problem was to be solved by a new bridge, the development of which was entrusted to the French engineer Michel Virloget and the British architect Norman Foster.
Work on the bridge — from the first drawings to the end of construction-took 17 years. The team was hampered by unstable soil, flooding of the valley and strong winds. In 2004, the completed Millau Viaduct became the tallest bridge in the world: 341 meters, 20 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower. Other parameters of the structure are also impressive: 2460 meters in length, 32 meters in width and 206 thousand tons of mass.
The viaduct stands on seven pillars, the diameter of the longest of them at the base is 24.5 meters. Parts of the roadway were built through supports with the help of jacks controlled from a satellite. In order for the canvas not to deform, scientists have developed a new unique formula for asphalt concrete in three years.
The Lucky Knot pedestrian bridge in the Chinese city of Changsha solves not only a transport, but also a recreational task: it connects the park, road and embankment, which are located at different heights. The bridge offers panoramic views of the river, the city and the mountain ranges, and children use the structure as a playground.
The bridge is 185 meters long and 24 meters high and is made entirely of steel. The design in the form of intertwined ribbons by architects from the Sino-Dutch bureau NEXT was inspired by the Chinese art of weaving patterns, in which the knot means good luck. The bridge connects three routes in one "node", making it easier for pedestrians to access different points.
In 1989, Norway opened the Atlantic Road with eight bridges. The longest of them, the Storsesandet Bridge, connects the mainland and the island of Averoy. Due to frequent hurricanes, the construction of a relatively small bridge took six years.
Drivers who see the bridge for the first time usually slow down: from different angles, it looks like an unfinished building or a giant springboard. Local residents even called the construction "drunken bridge" and "bridge to nowhere". With this form, the architects wanted to emphasize the lines of the Norwegian mountains and convey the feeling of the harsh, unstable northern climate.
The structure is 259 meters long and stands on two pillars, with a maximum height of 25 meters. High-strength concrete withstands constant bad weather and the onslaught of huge waves. There are four parking lots near the bridge for tourists and drivers who wait out hurricanes there.
The Jusceleno Kubicek Bridge is located in the capital city of Brasilia and is named after the 21st President of Brazil, who founded the city in 1950. The young city is still developing rapidly, with more and more people and cars in it. The biggest traffic jams were on the two bridges connecting the southern and central parts of the city, so in 2001 a third bridge appeared. It has become the city's widest thoroughfare, a place for walks, excursions and visits by tourist ships.
The bridge stands on four concrete pillars. The arches and steel arches that support the roadway are made of steel — it is not produced in Brazil, so it is expensive and highly valued. The length of the structure is 1200 meters, the width is 24 meters, the height of the arches is 62 meters. Three-lane traffic is organized in each direction, and two 1.5-meter paths on each side of the bridge have been set aside for pedestrians and cyclists.
Keywords: Construction | Bridge | Building