TOP 10 HIGHEST BRIDGES IN THE WORLD

TOP 10 HIGHEST BRIDGES IN THE WORLD


10. THE VERRAZANO-NARROWS BRIDGE

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

This bridge, located in France, is 2800 feet long, rises 165 feet above the water level and links Honfleur and Le Havre over the Siene River. 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. PENANG BRIDGE / JAMBATAN PULAU PENANG

Apart from the world-renowned Petronas Towers, Malaysia boasts the Penang Bridge (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 Penang Island. 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. TATARA BRIDGE

Now it’s Japan’s turn. The Tatara Bridge 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 GATE BRIDGE

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 Marin County. 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

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 “Great Belt Bridge” 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 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 River Gorge Bridge 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 Fayette County ’s Bridge Day.

3. AKASHI-KAIKYŌ BRIDGE

The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge (or Pearl Bridge to some) stands a dizzying 298.3 meters high above the Akashi Strait and connects the popular city of Kobe on the Honshu mainland to Iwaya on Awaji Island. Completed in 1998, this bridge is the world’s longest suspension bridge, with a center span of 1,991 meters.






2. 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

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 Eiffel Tower and only a few meters short of the Empire State Building. 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.

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TOP 10 LONGEST BRIDGES IN THE WORLD

ULTIMATE 10 LONGEST BRIDGES IN THE WORLD

10. Seven Mile Bridge (Florida, USA)

The Seven Mile Bridge, in the Florida Keys, runs over a channel between the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait, connecting Key Vaca (the location of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys, where the road is called the Overseas Highway.

9. San Mateo-Hayward Bridge (California, USA)

The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge (commonly called San Mateo Bridge) is a bridge crossing California’s San Francisco Bay in the United States, linking the San Francisco Peninsula with the East Bay. More specifically, the bridge’s western end is in Foster City, the most recent urban addition to the eastern edge of San Mateo. The eastern end of the bridge is in Hayward. The bridge is owned by the state of California, and is maintained by Caltrans, the state highway agency.

8. Confederation Bridge (New Brunswick, Canada)

The Confederation Bridge (French: Pont de la Confédération) is a bridge spanning the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick, Canada. It was commonly referred to as the “Fixed Link” by residents of Prince Edward Island prior to its official naming. Construction took place from the fall of 1993 to the spring of 1997, costing $1.3 billion. The 12.9-kilometre (8 mi) long bridge opened on 31 May 1997.

7. Rio-Niteroi Bridge (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

The Rio-Niteroi Bridge is a reinforced concrete structure that connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi in Brazil.
Construction began symbolically on August 23, 1968, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in their first and thus far only visit to Brazil. Actual work begun in January, 1969, and it opened on March 4, 1974.
Its official name is “President Costa e Silva Bridge”, in honor of the Brazilian president who ordered its construction. “Rio-Niteroi” started as a descriptive nickname that soon became better known than the official name. Today, hardly anyone refers to it by its official name.

6. Penang Bridge (Penang, Malaysia)

The Penang Bridge (Jambatan Pulau Pinang in Malay) E 36 is a dual-carriageway toll bridge that connects Gelugor on the island of Penang and Seberang Prai on the mainland of Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula. The bridge is also linked to the North-South Expressway in Prai and Jelutong Expressway in Penang. It was officially opened to traffic on September 14, 1985. The total length of the bridge is 13.5 km (8.4 miles), making it among the longest bridges in the world, the longest bridge in the country as well as a national landmark. PLUS Expressway Berhad is the concession holder which manages it.

5. Vasco da Gama Bridge (Lisbon, Portugal)

The Vasco da Gama Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Vasco da Gama, pron.. is a cable-stayed bridge flanked by viaducts and roads that spans the Tagus River near Lisbon, capital of Portugal. It is the longest bridge in Europe (including viaducts), with a total length of 17.2 km (10.7 mi), including 0.829 km (0.5 mi) for the main bridge, 11.5 km (7.1 mi) in viaducts, and 4.8 km (3.0 mi) in dedicated access roads. Its purpose is to alleviate the congestion on Lisbon’s other bridge (25 de Abril Bridge), and to join previously unconnected motorways radiating from Lisbon.

4. Chesapeake Bay Bridge (Maryland, USA)

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (commonly known as the Bay Bridge) is a major dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland; spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state’s Eastern and Western Shore regions. At 4.3 miles (7 km) in length, the original span was the world’s longest continuous over-water steel structure when it opened in 1952. The bridge is officially named the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge after William Preston Lane, Jr. who, as governor of Maryland, implemented its construction.

3. King Fahd Causeway (Khobar, Saudi Arabia)

The King Fahd Causeway is multiple dike - bridge combination connecting Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and the island nation of Bahrain. A construction agreement signed on July 8, 1981 led to construction beginning the next year. The cornerstone was laid on November 11, 1982 by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa of Bahrain; construction continued until 1986, when the combination of several bridges and dams were completed. The causeway officially opened for use on November 25, 1986.

2. Donghai Bridge (Shanghai, China)

Donghai Bridge is the longest cross-sea bridge in the world and the longest bridge in Asia. It was completed on December 10, 2005. It has a total length of 32.5 kilometres (20.2 miles) and connects Shanghai and the offshore Yangshan deep-water port in China. Most of the bridge is a low-level viaduct. There are also cable-stayed sections to allow for the passage of large ships, largest with span of 420 m.

1. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (Lousiana, USA)

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, or the Causeway, consists of two parallel bridges that are the longest bridges in the world by total length.[2] These parallel bridges cross Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana. The longer of the two bridges is 23.87 miles (38.42 km) long. The bridges are supported by over 9,000 concrete pilings. The two bridges feature bascule spans over the navigation channel 8 miles (13 km) south of the north shore. The southern terminus of the Causeway is in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. The northern terminus is at Mandeville, Louisiana.

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TOP 10 ICONIC BRIDGES

COUNTDOWN OF ANCIENT SPANS, ICONIC STRUCTURES AND BRIDGES WITH UNIQUE AND INTERESTING

No. 10 - Donghai Bridge
Where: China.
This is a list of the world's bridges longer than 2 km (6562 ft) sorted by their full length above land or water. "Span" refers to their longest span without ground support. Of the top ten, six are located in The People's Republic of China, and three are located entirely within the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Note: There is no standard way to measure the total length of a bridge. Some bridges are measured from the beginning of the entrance ramp to end of the exit ramp. Some are measured from shoreline to shoreline. Yet others are the length of the total construction involved in building the bridge. Since there is no standard, no ranking of these bridges should be assumed because they are at a specific position in this list. Additionally, some numbers are merely estimates and measures in U.S. customary units (feet) may be imprecise due to conversion error.

No. 9 - Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge
Where: Boston, Mass.

Head into Beantown and you won't likely miss this $100 million project called the Zakim Bridge. This behemoth stretches over Boston's Charles River and spans over 1400 feet across. In fact, it's the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world and boasts a whopping 10 lanes for traffic.



No. 8 - Sydney Harbor Bridge
Where: Sydney, Australia
Nicknamed the "coat hanger," this large gray structure took over five years to complete during the Great Depression. Constructed of more than 53,000 tons of steel, it sits 194 feet above the harbor of Australia's capital. Locals call it the "coat hanger" for good reason. It takes about 72,000 gallons of gray paint every year to keep the bridge looking sharp.




No. 7 - Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
Where: Virginia Beach, Va.
This unique bridge-tunnel hybrid is so extensive, so massive, that it's one of the planet's few structures that can be seen from space. Opened in April 1964, this bridge is supported by more than 5,000 concrete pilings and stretches 17.6 miles across. The bridge took over 30 years to create at a cost of over $450 million. Its purpose was two-fold. It was built as a short-cut for residents traveling to and from Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, but more importantly, it provided the U.S. Navy with protection. Military leaders worried that during wartime, the bridges could be destroyed by the enemy and block the naval base in Norfolk. Thus, the tunnels were built to help get the Navy to where it needed to be without the support of the bridge.


No. 6 - Brooklyn Bridge
Where: New York, N.Y.
For more than a century, the Brooklyn Bridge has been connecting the people of Manhattan with millions of bustling Brooklynites. When the bridge opened in 1883, it was considered a marvel of modern engineering - and still is to this today. Upon completion, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Additionally, the towers were possibly the tallest structures in the city of New York when they were built. But don't let all the engineering talk confuse you with the bridge's real purpose. One walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, and you instantly get in the New York state of mind. This architectural wonder shows off the beauty of the city like no other.


No. 5 - Firth of Forth Bridge
Where: Queensferry, Scotland
Built in the 1890s, this bridge was the first to be constructed primarily of steel - about 54,000 tons - and is held together with over 7 million rivets. Notably one of the strongest bridges in the world, the Firth of Forth had to be strong since its primary function was for railroad loading. Today, this Highlands workhorse still supports between 150 and 180 trains each day taking people from Glasgow to Edinburgh and all stops in-between.



No. 4 - Tower Bridge
Where: London, England
Considered the crown jewel of London tourist attractions, this amazing structure is a must-see if you're in the English capital. Tower Bridge was completed in 1894, at a cost of about 1 million pounds. It is made primarily of Cornish granite and Portland stone. Back in the day, the main London Bridge became too congested for all the trade going on off the shores of London. People tried to cross the River Thames, but traffic was often just too heavy. The decision was to build another bridge to ease the traffic - hence the Tower Bridge was conceived.


No. 3 - Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Where: St. Petersburg, Fla.
Completed in 1897, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is as long as Mount Everest is high, stretching for four miles. It's the fifth-largest cable-stayed bridge in the world and features sunny yellow steel cables. Incorporated into the structure are 36 "dolphins," which were put in place to protect the support columns of the bridge from impacts from boats. In fact, the bridge can withstand a big impact by a boat weighing in at 87,000 tons. That's twice the size of the Titanic!


No. 2 - Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
Where: Kobe, Japan
Stretching across the Akashi Strait in the Land of the Rising Sun, the Akashi Kaiyko is a bridge of mind-blowing proportions. Its span stretches an astounding 12,828 feet or nearly 2 1/2 miles. Its towers alone soar 92 stories skyward, almost the height of the Eiffel Tower. And its six lanes of freeway make way for 9 million cars each year. It was also built under some of the most severe conditions in the world - including typhoons, tsunamis and over 60 inches of rain a year.


No. 1 - Golden Gate Bridge
Where: San Francisco, Calif.
First opened in 1937, the unmistakable and majestic bridge is so large that you could park 40 jumbo jets end to end along its length. Spanning the bay separating San Francisco from Marin County, it is the seventh-largest suspension bridge in the world and was built at a then-gold-guzzling cost of $26 million. This art deco structure's roadway rises 220 feet above the harbor below. Its towers, set 4,200 feet apart, are over 2 1/2 times as tall as the U.S. Capitol building, and actually lean outward by 6 inches a piece to create tension on the bridge's 80,000 miles of wire packed into the cables. Keeping the steel safe from the corrosive sea air is enough custom-made International Orange paint to cover the White House 17 1/2 times over. The result is one of America's and the world's most stunning, captivating and instantly recognizable icons.

yopi prayatna (TEKNIK SIPIL UNRI)

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