Bridges perform not only a practical task, that is, they allow a person to cross from one bank to another, but also an aesthetic one - they can be a decoration of a city or area. Therefore, architects try to make bridges beautiful, and sometimes unusual, attracting attention.
Record-breaking bridges
The most outstanding bridges in the world are listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The longest road bridge is located in Hangzhou, in the south of China. It is thirty-six kilometers long, meandering in the Gulf of the East China Sea in the Yangtze River Delta. Also, this bridge was named one of the most beautiful in the world. Several bridges are being built today that will break this record.
The longest suspension bridge - Pearl in Japan, is almost four kilometers long. The highest bridge located in France is the Millot Viaduct, which is almost three hundred and fifty meters high, which is part of the motorway connecting Paris and Montpellier. These bridges, of course, amaze with their size, but they can hardly be called unusual, since they are quite ordinary in design.
The most unusual bridges
The Moses Bridge in the Netherlands, despite its modest length, is considered one of the most original in the world. The authors of this unusual project - Ro Koster and Adu Kilu - were able to create a real miracle of architecture: they built a bridge that is almost completely submerged in water. Thus, the deck of the bridge is located below the water level by about one and a half meters. From afar, the bridge of Moses is invisible, and when approaching, it seems that the water of the river diverges in front of people.
The Moses Bridge was named after the biblical tradition in which the waters of the Red Sea parted for the prophet.
In London, there is a unique rolling bridge, which when folded is an octagon on one of the banks of the canal. Every day this unusual structure unfolds, rolling over to the opposite bank and forming a bridge. This is a fairly young project, it was created in 2004 by the architect Thomas Heatherwick.
Another interesting English bridge is located in Tutton Park: it is a lightweight structure made of wooden elements, which is supported above the water by balloons. But people cannot walk on this bridge, which was created only as a work of art.
In Canada, the most unusual bridge is designed for animals, which draws attention to it. It is located in Banff National Park, home to a large number of wild animals. The trails that pass through the reserve endanger animals, so a ground crossing was built for them in the form of a small stone bridge.
After its construction, similar projects began to appear in other countries.
In India, the locals are even more original in their approach to the creation of bridges: they do not build them, but grow them using the roots of trees. Such natural crossings over rivers began to be built several centuries ago, and today these structures can compete in strength and resistance to external influences with the most modern bridges. The most beautiful suspension bridge made from ficus roots is located in the state of Meghalaya, its length is sixteen meters, and its strength allows it to withstand the weight of several dozen people.
