The iconic bridge synonymous with San Francisco is considered by some to be the

most beautiful bridge in the world. The American Society of Civil Engineers has

named it one of the Wonders of the Modern World (though honestly, they may be a

bit biased). Built in 1937, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until

1964, and no, we’re not done with the superlatives yet. It is the most photographed

bridge. At the time it was built, San Francisco’s growth was below average. A

bridge connection to the other bay communities would help to solve that. Many

experts said it couldn’t be done, claiming that the Bay’s extreme winds and

smothering fogs would prevent construction and operation. [Details]

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, SAN FRANCISCO

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONBefore the bridge was built – it’s currently the
longest suspension bridge in the

world – you’d have had to board a ferry to get from Kobe to Iwaya. This worked

out until 1955, when two ferries sank and 168 people were killed. That’s when the

bridge was planned. Construction took twelve years, and it was completed in 1998.

In 1995 when only the two towers were in place, the Great Hanshin earthquake

moved them further apart, so the span had to be increased by three feet. [Details]

AKASHI KAIKYO BRIDGE, JAPAN

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONBecause the citizens of Nimes were getting a bit
parched and the whiff of body

odor unbearable, even for 50 AD, the Romans tapped into an underground spring

at Uzes some 31 miles away. The problem was you couldn’t very well walk 31

miles every time you wanted a drink. So they built an underwater aqueduct. This

worked out until they reached the Gardon River, which is why the Pont du Gard

aqueduct bridge was built. It’s remarkably precise engineering, with a difference in

height of one inch from one end to the other. Some two thousand years later it’s
still standing. The spring is also still there. [Details]

PONT DU GARD, FRANCE

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThe Roebling Suspension links Ohio and Kentucky
over the Ohio River, and was

built by John Roebling, the architect of the Brooklyn Bridge. This was the rst draft,

his practice round, a free throw, the etch-a-sketch construction for the iconic build

that lay ahead. [Details]

ROEBLING SUSPENSION BRIDGE, OHIO

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONDesigned as an experiment more than anything, the

bridge is divided into eight

linked sections and uses hydraulics built into the handrail to curl up and over until

its ends meet, allowing boats to pass through below. To see it in action, visit

London’s Grand Union Canal on a Friday at noon, when it rolls up like a Persian rug.

[Details]

ROLLING BRIDGE, LONDON

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONAn asymmetrical bridge named after former Brazilian
president Juscelino

Kubitschek. The bridge is designed with three steel support arches leaping from

side to side of the bridge, said to highlight Brasilia’s stunning sunsets. Couldn’t you

just enjoy the sunsets without a bridge? [Details]

JUSCELINO KUBITSCHEK BRIDGE, BRAZIL

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONWhen it opened in 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge became
the longest suspension

bridge in the world, some 50 percent longer than any previously built. Six days after

opening, a rumor that it was going to collapse caused panic and a stampede that

resulted in the death of at least twelve people. They weren’t the rst. Around thirty

people died during the bridge’s thirteen-year construction, including its original
architect, John Roebling. [Details]

BROOKLYN BRIDGE, NEW YORK

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONBuilt as a solution to holiday traf c between Paris and
Spain, the Millau Viaduct

spans the River Tarn valley and is ranked as one of the greatest feats of engineering,

ever. Just don’t mention this to the American Society of Civil Engineers. They’re

liable to lose their civility. It received an Outstanding Structure Award for its work,

which is pretty much the Oscars of bridge building. It keeps the trophy on the

mantelpiece overlooking the river. [Details]

MILLAU VIADUCT, FRANCE

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONAt almost 4,000 feet long, this is the longest teak
bridge in the world and spans

Taugthaman Lake in Amarapura. Not wanting to throw out the teak columns

during the move from the old palace to Mandalay, the city’s mayor, U Bein, made a

bridge out of them. Those teak columns must have been huge. The bridge is best

seen at sunset, with the robed monks walking along it silhouetted in the dimming

light. [Details]

THE U BEIN BRIDGE, BURMA

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThis award-winning tilt-bridge that connects the

cities of Gateshead and Newcastle

over the River Tyne uses a system of hydraulic rams that pivot the walkway so that

boats can pass through. The process takes less than ve minutes, and looks like a

giant eyelid slowly opening and closing. Just as impressive is that it was installed

already built, with the help of the Asian Hercules II, Europe’s largest oating crane.

[Details]

GATESHEAD MILLENIUM BRIDGE,

ENGLAND
FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONIt may not look like much, but The Caravan Bridge in
Turkey (not to be confused

with the Bridge Caravan Park in Wales) has seen more of life than any other bridge

anywhere. It’s the oldest known bridge in the world, estimated to have been built

some 850 years BC. It’s quite possible that Homer may have taken a break from the

Iliad and stopped for a sandwich here. [Details]

THE CARAVAN BRIDGE, TURKEY

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONLeonardo included the plans for this bridge in 1502
as part of a job application to

the Sultan Bajazet II of Constantinople. He didn’t get the job and the plans

disappeared for 500 years until 1952, when they showed up among Istanbul’s

national archives. Another forty four years passed before Norwegian artist Vebjorn

Sand came across them, at which time he proposed to the admin department of

Norway’s Public Roads that the Da Vinci Bridge be built. And here it is. [Details]

DA VINCI BRIDGE, NORWAY

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONA draw bridge that doesn’t draw. It goes straight up,
pulled by a butter y pulley

system. More commonly known as a Vertical Lift Bridge, it takes about 12 minutes

to go all the way, something most guys only dream about. [Details]

PONT GUSTAVE FLAUBERT, FRANCE

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONAcross from the Tate Modern, the bridge for the new
millenium became known as

The Wobbly Bridge shortly after it opened due to a quease-inducing wobble. It was

closed for two years to undergo wobble removal. It is perhaps best known now for

collapsing at the hands of Death Eaters in the movie version of Harry Potter and

The Half-Blood Prince. [Details]

If you’re going to build a bridge, you may as well make it a challenge and put it in

a place prone to earthquakes and typhoons, one that has some of the strongest

tidal forces on the planet. And probably you’d also want to make it the longest

ocean-crossing bridge in the world. That’s the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. So why did

they do it? It cuts 75 miles off a trip between Jiaxing and Nibo, and three hours off

travel time between Nibo and Shanghai. There’s a service center in the middle

called Land Between The Sea and Sky where you can kick back and watch the

tides, among other things. Like use the bathroom. [Details]

MILLENIUM BRIDGE, LONDON

HANGZHOU BAY BRIDGE, CHINA

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThe Bridge of Sighs passes over the Rio di Palazzo in
Venice and connects the

holding facility known as the New Prison with the Doge’s Palace. The poet Lord

Byron came up with the name, taking it from the legend that prisoners would sigh

as they took in their last view of Venice before being locked up. Today, the palace is

an art museum. Tomorrow, who knows? [Details]

BRIDGE OF SIGHS, VENICE, ITALY

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThe covered bridge that crosses the Connecticut
River between Cornish, New

Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont looks like a garden shed that’s been tortured on

a rack in a Spanish dungeon. It still has the longest single covered span that carries

motorized traf c, but the Smolen-Gulf Bridge in Ohio is longer overall. [Details]

CORNISH WINDSOR COVERED BRIDGE,

NEW HAMPSHIRE

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONSee? Here it is. The difference is barely noticeable,
but the Smolen-Gulf, at 613 feet

long is, in fact, more than a hundred feet longer than the Cornish Windsor, and as
such, is the longest covered bridge in the US. [Details]

SMOLEN-GULF BRIDGE, OHIO

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONSo what’s the solution when you’re craving a slice of
Malaysian jungle but don’t

want to hack your way through it with a machete and a team of sherpas?

Helicoptered into place at the top of Machinchang mountain, the footbridge

provides overhead views of luscious rainforest from Langkawi’s second highest

peak. You reach it by cable car, with views of the Telega Tujuh Waterfalls along the

way. The curved design works like an in nity pool, with the edge of the bridge

elusive, continuously dipping into the forest and changing perspective. The only

drawback we can see is that as of 2014 the bridge has been closed inde nitely.

[Details]

High in the mountains of the Sichuan Basin and spanning the Sidu River Valley, this

is the highest bridge in the world. It hangs about 1,640 feet from the bottom of the

gorge, so if you ever happen to nd yourself stuck in the middle of it and have a fear

of heights, it’s probably best if you don’t look down. [Details]

LANGKAWI SKY BRIDGE, MALAYSIA

SIDU RIVER BRIDGE, CHINA

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThe Trift Bridge is the longest pedestrian suspension
bridge in the Alps. You’d really

only have reason to be on it if you came to see the Trift Glacier. The best views are

from the bridge across Lake Triftsee. The bridge receives 20,000 visitors per year to

see the Glacier. [Details]

THE TRIFT BRIDGE, SWITZERLAND

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThis famous Irish rope bridge connects the mainland
to a small shing island and
some people, who shall remain nameless, having made it across one way have had

to be removed from the island by boat, too unnerved by the whole thing to make

the return journey. It used to have just one handrail and a lot of gaps, but it’s been

refurbished and these days is boringly sturdy. The rewards for crossing, if you can

stand the height, are fantastic views and an island teeming with wildlife. [Details]

CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE,

NORTHERN IRELAND

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONSo far as we know, no one ever fell off the Carrick-a-
Rede Bridge. But apparently

they’re dropping off the Nanjing Yangtze Bridge with some regularity. There are

more suicides committed here than any other bridge in the world. It’s a double-

decker. Cars up, trains down. Approximately 80,000 vehicles and 200 trains cross it

every day. [Details]

NANJING YANGTZE RIVER BRIDGE,

CHINA

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThat sounds like a lot, and it is, but compared to New
York’s GW Bridge, 140,000 at

the last count and the busiest bridge in the world, it’s like a three year old pushing

around a few Tonka toys on the living room rug. [Details]

GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE, NEW

YORK

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONBut if you include non-motorized traf c as well,

people and cows, goats etc, then

it’s this bridge in India. A million people walk over it every day, which would lead

you to believe there’s something really good on the other side. It’s also a lm

directed by Shakti Samanta, about two brothers and a family heirloom that

resembles a dragon. [Details]

HOWRAH BRIDGE, INDIA

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONThe Chapel Bridge crosses the Reuss River in Lucerne
and is the oldest wooden

covered bridge in Europe. It was built in 1333 to help protect Lucerne from outside

attacks. Inside, paintings from the 17th century depict prominent events in

Luzerne’s history, like the… well you know, there was that time when… yeah, that’s

it. [Details]

CHAPEL BRIDGE, SWITZERLAND

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONFinished in 2008 over Sao Paulo’s Pinheiros River, the
unusual feature of this bridge

is that its two levels of traf c cross one another as they pass through the central

pylon. Mind you, at 452 feet high, the pylon is pretty impressive too. It’s what’s

holding this thing up. At night, LED lighting lights the place up like a 4th of July

reworks display. The oodlights have actually been stolen before, at a replacement

cost of around half a million dollars. [Details]

OCTAVIO FRIAS DE OLIVEIRA BRIDGE,

BRAZIL

FOLLOW HICONSUMPTION LIKE HICONSUMPTIONForget building bridges just to cross a river, now
we’re getting into other countries

with them. The Oresund Bridge connects Denmark and Sweden. What’s unusual is

that it starts out in Sweden as a bridge, and ends up a tunnel in Denmark. A small

island had to be built around the tunnel’s entrance to stop water getting in.

[Details]

ORESUND BRIDGE, SWEDEN