More Than Metal
Some bridges blend into the background like wallpaper, others demand your attention and refuse to let go. The most spectacular ones manage to be both functional marvels and works of art simultaneously. Here are 20 such magnificent bridges from around the globe.
1. Sydney Harbour Bridge
Nicknamed "The Coathanger" for its distinctive arch profile, the Sydney Harbour Bridge required removing 469 homes during its eight-year construction from 1924 to 1932. The bridge weighs 52,800 tons and spans 1,149 meters, making it the world's largest steel arch bridge.
Photograph by Greg O'Beirne on Wikimedia
2. Tower Bridge
When designers submitted over 50 proposals in 1876 for London's newest Thames crossing, nobody anticipated the amazing solution that emerged eight years later. Tower Bridge’s bascule mechanism can lift its twin leaves to 86 degrees in just one minute, powered originally by steam-driven hydraulic pumps.
3. Pont Du Gard
Roman engineers achieved the impossible 2,000 years ago by creating a three-tiered aqueduct bridge without using mortar between its limestone blocks. It stands 49 meters tall. UNESCO even designated the bridge a World Heritage Site in 1985, recognizing the preservation and engineering brilliance.
Bernard bill5~commonswiki on Wikimedia
4. Brooklyn Bridge
Gothic Revival towers pierce the New York skyline at 276 feet, making this 1883 masterpiece proof of ambitious Victorian engineering. The bridge's construction claimed the life of chief engineer John Roebling, who died from tetanus after his foot was crushed during initial surveys.
5. Rialto Bridge
Venice's highly photographed crossing replaced a series of wooden bridges. This includes one that collapsed spectacularly in 1444 under the weight of a crowd watching a wedding procession. Antonio da Ponte won the design competition in 1588, beating proposals from Michelangelo and Palladio.
Livioandronico2013 on Wikimedia
6. Golden Gate Bridge
Eleven workers lost their lives building this rust-colored marvel, ten of them falling on February 17, 1937 when safety nets failed catastrophically. Yet their sacrifice created something extraordinary: the world's longest suspension bridge until 1964, stretching 4,200 feet across San Francisco Bay.
Guillaume Paumier on Wikimedia
7. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
Earthquakes, typhoons, and the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake during construction couldn't stop Japan from completing one of the largest suspension bridges at 3,911 meters. It connects Honshu and Awaji Island across the turbulent Akashi Strait, where currents reach 4.5 meters per second.
8. Millau Viaduct
French engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster collaborated to create the Viaduct, which opened in 2004. Rising 343 meters above the Tarn River valley, this cable-stayed masterpiece holds the record as the world's tallest bridge, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower.
9. Chapel Bridge
Fire nearly destroyed Europe's oldest covered wooden creation in 1993, consuming two-thirds of its 17th-century painted panels depicting Swiss history and legends. The medieval bridge originally stretched 270 meters when built around 1333, though only 204 meters remain today after 19th-century shoreline modifications.
10. Ponte Vecchio
Gold merchants have operated from shops built directly into the Vecchio since 1593, when the Medici family banned butchers whose waste was polluting the Arno River below. Apparently, the three-arch bridge survived World War II because Hitler himself reportedly ordered it spared.
11. Mackinac Bridge
David Steinman designed this 26,372-foot bridge to withstand Michigan's brutal winters, incorporating special wind-resistant features after studying the 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse. The "Mighty Mac" costs $99.8 million to build and remains the Western Hemisphere's longest suspension bridge between anchorages.
The original uploader was Jeffness at English Wikipedia. on Wikimedia
12. Øresund Bridge
Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden met at the bridge's midpoint on August 14, 1999, symbolically joining two nations before the official opening ceremony. This masterpiece transitions from bridge to tunnel via an artificial island called Peberholm.
13. Chengyang Bridge
Wind and rain bridges like this 64-meter wooden marvel protected travelers for centuries in China's Guangxi Province, but Chengyang Bridge stands out with its five elegant pagoda-style pavilions. Interestingly, it was constructed entirely without nails in 1916 by the Dong people.
14. Banpo Rainbow Bridge
Seoul's Han River turns into a dancing canvas every evening as the Banpo Bridge shoots 190 tons of water per minute in choreographed fountains synchronized to music and LED lights. Built in 1982 as a simple concrete bridge, it received its fountain system in 2009.
15. Gateshead Millennium Bridge
Engineers nicknamed this extraordinary structure "The Blinking Eye" because its tilting mechanism rotates the entire 126-meter span like a giant eyelid opening and closing. The world's first and only tilting bridge opened in 2001, taking exactly 4.5 minutes to rotate 40 degrees.
16. Si-o-se-Pol Bridge
Isfahan's "Bridge of 33 Arches" serves as both a river crossing and a social gathering place, with each of its precisely counted stone arches framing the Zayandeh River. Shah Abbas I commissioned this Persian wonder in 1602, designing its 295-meter length with upper and lower walkways.
Arosha-photo (Reza Sobhani ) on Wikimedia
17. Tsing Ma Bridge
Opening just three months before Hong Kong's 1997 handover to China, the Tsing Ma Bridge connects the city to its new international airport on Lantau Island. It required 200,000 tons of steel and utilized wind-resistant design elements, including aerodynamic deck sections.
The original uploader was 39kschan at English Wikipedia. on Wikimedia
18. Vasco Da Gama Bridge
Europe's longest bridge stretches 17.2 kilometers across Lisbon's Tagus River. As everyone knows, it was named after the Portuguese explorer who first sailed to India. The bridge was crafted by a consortium called Lusoponte, involving Portuguese, British, and French companies.
Catarina Carvalho from Lisboa, Portugal on Wikimedia
19. Confederation Bridge
Prince Edward Island went from being Canada's isolated maritime province to a year-round connected community when the 12.9-kilometer bridge was inaugurated in 1997. Engineers structured 44 main spans capable of facing huge ice floes, 65-meter-high storm waves, and winter temperatures plunging to -35°C.
20. Khaju Bridge
Shah Abbas II created Isfahan's most beautiful bridge in 1650. Its sluice gates, located beneath the arches, could stop the Zayandeh River's flow to create an artificial lake for royal festivities. The two-level structure displays Persian tilework and carved stone details with central pavilions.
