I'll cross that bridge when -- HOLY CRAP!

August 27, 2008 11:01 PM

Nine amazing bridges.(Via.)
posted by Astro Zombie (40 comments total)

Sweet. I loves me some bridges.
posted by zsazsa at 11:04 PM on August 27, 2008

if i was to make sweet love to a bridge, this would be the one.

Rule 34 QED
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:06 PM on August 27, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Is there some mechanism for keeping people from crossing the Papua bridge? Cause I'd bet good money that someone is crazy enough to cross it on foot.
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:11 PM on August 27, 2008

Mmmm, that Singapore one! And the London roly-poly was very cute and non-threatening. Nice to see some cool bridges that, indeed, aren't the Golden Gate Bridge as the blog points out.
posted by librarylis at 11:15 PM on August 27, 2008

Very cool. I love the Zakim bridge in Boston, but these just blow it out of the water.
posted by Hactar at 11:20 PM on August 27, 2008

Well, not literally. (Realized what I was saying after I posted.)
posted by Hactar at 11:20 PM on August 27, 2008

I always thought Lloyd Bridges was pretty amazing.
posted by crossoverman at 11:22 PM on August 27, 2008

Related post.
posted by homunculus at 11:44 PM on August 27, 2008

Ooooh, those are beautiful! Amazing. That first one is so charming. Whoda thunk it's in Texas? More pics of that beauty from the architects who built it.

I love that the site you linked in the OP gives credits and info about the images.

madamjujujive and I also like bridges.
posted by nickyskye at 11:49 PM on August 27, 2008

The Singaporean bridge is my favorite! Thanks for this!
posted by mdonley at 12:08 AM on August 28, 2008

I was only recently in Singapore and I am annoyed that I didn't know about this bridge before or else I would have sought it out. It's on my list of things to do next time I'm in Singapore!
posted by crossoverman at 12:18 AM on August 28, 2008

That Japanese one is lovely, but that sinuous Brazilian bridge is a work of art.

And closer to home for me... this thing here, this is a very pretty bridge.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:28 AM on August 28, 2008

The rolling bridge isn't there any more (picture taken from the same spot as the second photo on the blog). It was entirely useless, allowing access to a basin barely one canal boat long. No explanation has been given. The area also has a Helix bridge, which has never worked.
posted by cillit bang at 12:38 AM on August 28, 2008

On a much smaller scale, with some sad history.
posted by zoinks at 12:39 AM on August 28, 2008

Sometimes I forget that we live in the future now and then I see a video of an alien overlord's tail unfurling majestically and I'm all like "Future Yeah!" and so on. It's a shame it's not there anymore, even if it was useless.
posted by minifigs at 12:45 AM on August 28, 2008

Good selection of cool bridges. I especially liked the Juscelino Kubitschek bridge in Brazil. A pedestrian bridge made from a design by Leonardo da Vinci was built here in Norway a few years ago. Here is a modern wooden bridge very close to where I live.
posted by Harald74 at 12:51 AM on August 28, 2008

Sadly, no Wye Bridge.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:52 AM on August 28, 2008

the bridge has succeeded in connecting 2 of the country’s poorest areas.

Woo hoo
posted by mattoxic at 12:56 AM on August 28, 2008

Woo hoo

The pdf linked is really very interesting.
posted by Catfry at 1:39 AM on August 28, 2008

Even though my civ eng days are a long way behind me I still like a good bridge...

Thomas Heatherwick (of the Rolling Bridge) has done some really cool stuff.

I like the Millennium Bridges of both London and Gateshead
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:46 AM on August 28, 2008

dirtynumbangelboy: your links didnt work for me.

My favourite bridge is in Newcastle. Its design is based on a blinking eye . Its elegant and remarkably efficient.

Some pics...
posted by verisimilitude at 2:24 AM on August 28, 2008

No love for the Tridge?
posted by pjern at 2:25 AM on August 28, 2008

That Kintai bridge: walk to bridge, walk up, walk down, walk up, walk down, walk up, walk down, walk up, pause, walk down, walk up, walk down, continue on to the market, buy fish, return to the bridge, walk up, walk down, walk up, walk down, walk up, walk down, walk up, pause to put down fish, curse and spit, pick up fish, walk down, walk up, walk down, continue on to home, vow to wade across next time.
posted by pracowity at 2:43 AM on August 28, 2008

High bridges over yawning chasms always make my palms sweat.
posted by bwg at 2:48 AM on August 28, 2008

Mackinac is the bridge for me.
posted by paisley henosis at 3:06 AM on August 28, 2008

pont gustave flaubert, rouen, france

That's some good naming right there.
posted by ersatz at 4:27 AM on August 28, 2008

The rolling bridge really is (was) offensively stupid. A swing-bridge has one moving part and can be operated by a single human. The rolling bridge has hundreds of moving parts, requires mains electricity and takes ages and ages to open or close.

Engineering and design should be about a blend of form and function. In those terms, the rolling bridge is a spectacular failure. I could see it working as an art project, I suppose.
posted by mr. strange at 4:30 AM on August 28, 2008

High bridges over yawning chasms always make my palms sweat.

I used to be able to climb the girders under high bridges in the dark with a six-pack in one hand and my life in the other. Now I get that same reaction, the sweating palms, just looking at a picture of a high bridge.
posted by pracowity at 4:30 AM on August 28, 2008

dirtynumbangelboy: your links didnt work for me.

When confronted with this, highlight the web address and press enter. The picture will usually pop right open.
posted by Daddy-O at 5:03 AM on August 28, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm always surprised that this one never gets mentioned. It's just as magnificent as the Zakim (bigger, even), but then it's in a less-than well-known area. Be sure and scroll down for the video of the bridge at night.

Used to cross it on a daily basis, often on a motorcycle, which was a little exciting at times (bridges in bad weather on motorcycle tend to be exciting no matter where they are!).

And I agree with Paisley, the Mac is pretty amazing, too.
posted by aldus_manutius at 5:41 AM on August 28, 2008

Nice find, AZ. Some mighty fine bridges here, for sure, but but my favorite bridge (besides the one that James Brown is always taking it to) is a humble span that ain't much to look at, but I never get tired of hearing about it.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:07 AM on August 28, 2008

Awesome post Astro Zombie.
I love the night shots of the bridge in Sao Paolo. Very cool.
posted by a3matrix at 7:28 AM on August 28, 2008

Whoa, amazing bridges, esp. the Brazilian ones, although I liked the roly-poly canal bridge very much. That Chinese rail bridge and the Royal Gorge Bridge give me the vertigo real bad.
posted by Mister_A at 7:46 AM on August 28, 2008

Good stuff, Astro Zombie, thanks.

I am also partial to The Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:30 AM on August 28, 2008

This is good. Although my palms are also sweaty from the bridge-over-yawning-chasm photos.

I used to drive across the Golden Gate bridge every day, and it is an awfully nice bridge (when it's not so foggy that you can actually see the damn thing). But I sure don't need to see pictures of it anymore. The western end of the Bay Bridge is pretty nice, too.
posted by rtha at 10:27 AM on August 28, 2008

I also like the Rama 8 bridge in Bangkok, crossing the Chao Phraya. Absolutely beautiful at night.
posted by JerseyBear at 11:08 AM on August 28, 2008

OK, that's way cool!
posted by Spidermaster at 11:23 AM on August 28, 2008

The world's largest sundial, and a bridge to boot.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 1:09 PM on August 28, 2008

Very ccol. The bridge in Texas is so elegant.... the one in China is very scary.
posted by CharlotteSarah at 4:21 PM on August 28, 2008

Now I get that same reaction, the sweating palms, just looking at a picture of a high bridge.

We must have crossed that invisible line between the time we think we're indestructible and the time we realise we're all too mortal.

That and imagining a long, horrible plunge to the valley floor.
posted by bwg at 1:28 AM on August 29, 2008