Top 10 Bridges

Let's talk about bridges this time. Something I have always been fascinated with. Engineering. So, here's a list of bridge listed. Let's see whether you agree.

Number 10 - London Bridge, Arizona, USA

This is a shocker. Yes, this is the original bridge from London. In 1962, London Bridge was falling down. The bridge couldn't handle the ever-increasing flow of traffic across the Thames River. So, the British government decided to put the bridge up for sale, and this dude, Robert McCulloch, Founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation submitted the winning bid of $2.46 million. It was said this is the largest antique to be bought.

Number 9 - Leonard P. Zakim Bridge, Boston, USA

Home to the widest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge was built as part of the Big Dig, the largest overall highway construction project in the United States. The Big Dig is also one of the most challenging engineering project taken in the USA creating highways below the city which lasted for 15 years and costing an initial of $2.8 billion but it ended up to be $14.6 billion. So much for project management.

Number 8 - Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney, AUSTRALIA

This weighs more than 234 Statue of Liberty weighing at 80,000 tonnes and costing about $3.5 million dollars. It takes 72,000 gallon of grey paint to protect from corrosion and it took 6 million rivets to hold this bridge together. This is the highest steel arch bridge with the top of the bridge standing 134 metres above the harbour. This is also the fourth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world.

Number 7 - Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Maryland, USA

The bridge.

The tunnel. To prevent the passage was to be destroyed by war just in case since war bases are around the corner.

One of the longest bridge in the world. Connecting 3 states, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, it is also one of the few constructions in the world to be spotted from space. We all know that the Great Wall of China can be since from up there but this can be to. That's a new fact. The bridge was so busy that a second bridge was constructed next to it.

Number 6 - Brooklyn Bridge, New York, USA

This famous landmark of New York took more than 13 years to build starting its construction in 1870. It is named 'The bridge of First'. The bridge cost $15.1 million to build and approximately 27 people died during its construction. There is about 14,000 miles of steel cable enough to go from Los Angeles to Australia and back. Now that's quite a lot of steel.

Number 5 - Firth of Forth Bridge, Scotland, UK

54,000 tonnes of steel needed to make this bridge. Much more than steel than the Empire State. This bridge costed 2.5 million pounds in 1890 but would cost 200 million pounds today, the costliest bridge ever made. This bridge can withstand 130 miles an hour winds which is a category 2 hurricane level.

Number 4 - Tower Bridge, London, UK

What can I say. It has become an iconic symbol of London and is sometimes mistakenly called London Bridge, though the real old London Bridge is in fact the next bridge upstream and sent to Arizona, USA. This bridge cost 1 million pounds and weighs 14,000 tonnes with stones and bricks. It took 31 million bricks, enough to build 600 homes for this good old bridge. The bascule bridge could be lifted using hydraulics(the first of its kind at that time) lifting about 1,000 tonnes each. Extreme engineering from the British!

Number 3 - Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Florida, USA

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge spanning in Florida's Tampa Bay is the world's longest bridge with a cable-stayed main span, with a lenth of 29,040 feet about 8.85 km. The old one kaput due to a storm. So, they made a new improved one and magic. This yellow bridge stands tall and the towers of the bridge is hollow.

Number 2 - Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Kobe, JAPAN

The $3.6 billion bridge is 2.5 miles long having 2 towers standing 192 feet. 4 Brooklyn bridge can be fitted in this bridge. To put it in perspective you can put 9 Sears Towers in one line. Steel cables are enough to go 7.5 times around the world. Indestructible as they said and able to flex 18 feet of centre. Now, for a bridge to do that, that's some extreme engineering.

Number 1 - Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA

The most famous bridge in the world is in San Francisco. You can lay 40 jumbo jets from end to end and there is still space. This is the 7th largest suspension bridge in the world costing $26 million but it was underbudget by $1 million. An engineering marvel. Soaring 220 feet above the harbour and weighing in at 1.75 billion pounds equivalent to 65 million gold bars. It's about 2 1/2 taller than Capitol Hill building and there is enough orange paint to colour the White House 117 times.

To be honest, I thought this would be the ultimate bridge among them all.

My Top Bridge currently is the:-

Millau Bridge, Millau, FRANCE

Viva la Francais. The Millau Bridge official name Le Viaduc de Millau, over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains is more than 300m high - taller than the Eiffel Tower. The view is stunning and Top Gear(a BBC T.V series about motor vehicles) made a good short documentry on it. But the best part, this design was done by an English engineer. Hehehe. Here's a clip of it commented by Jeremy Clarkson.

But one thing about bridges is that they connects us one step, one cable at a time.