15 Most Incredible Bridges

marvels of human technology and innovation these modern bridges were inconceivable just a few decades ago today we're taking a look at the top 15 most incredible bridges number 15 the chanyang bridge if you're a fan of pagodas then chances are you'll love the chanyang bridge situated in china's guanxi province it runs across the linchi river and was completed all the way back in 1912 now what makes this bridge stand apart is that it was made to resemble a rainbow and in doing so the builders pulled off the impressive feat of not using a single nail or rivet instead they dovetailed thousands of pieces of wood to create the structure which in spite of various natural disasters over the years has stood strong against the forces of nature therefore it goes without saying that this chinese covered bridge is nothing if not impressive number 14 the kaju bridge iran is easily one of the middle east's most underrated countries as it's filled with history and architecture that simply is unmatched by nearly every other country in the world a perfect example of this reality can be seen with the kaju bridge which was constructed in 1650 in the city of isfahan made to connect two sides of the city that are separated by the zandaya river it also has the double purpose of regulating water flow of the caju as it has several sluice gates that allow water to be diverted to nearby farms and gardens when you further consider that the bridge itself is also beautifully lit up at night and as a center point of the city it becomes clear that the kaju bridge truly is a hidden gem number 13 the tower bridge if you've ever been to london chances are that you've paid a visit to the tower bridge located in the city center near butler's wharf it beautifully blends various types of architecture has its suspension-like design combined with its elegant towers make it truly unique now despite being completed in 1894 and looking rather old to boot the bridge was actually very technologically advanced for the time as its roadway can open up to allow ships down the river while its tower walkway remains open at all times it also used more than 70 thousand tons of concrete and 11 000 tons of steel in its construction with these materials then being cladding cornish granite and portland stone thus while expenses were certainly high for this project the beautiful end result was certainly worth it number 12 milao viaduct it goes without saying that the south of france is easily one of europe's most stunning regions and while there are many ways to enjoy it perhaps one of the most scenic is to take a drive down the malal viaduct spanning for about two and a half kilometers over a large valley near the town of milao it offers absolutely stunning views of the french countryside with the bridge's multi-span cable stayed placing you in a position over 343 meters above the valley this has given the bridge the title of being the world's tallest bridge and as a result it has often been cited as being one of the greatest engineering achievements of modern times thus if you want to see a bridge that is grandiose in both form and functionality then we'd suggest giving them allow viaduct a visit number 11 the says chen chain bridge as far as bridges go few are quite as useful as the ses chen chain bridge that's because it is literally the link that strings together the city of budapest hungary as it is the bridge that connects the western side of buda with the eastern side of pest now this bridge is certainly on the older side as it was opened in 1849 and after being blown up in world war ii was rebuilt and reopened in 1949 yet it today stands as a symbol of advancement national awakening and the linkage between east and west and a beautiful design that makes it the target of many tourists who visit this beautiful city number 10 the bridge of size while most of the bridges on this list are on the larger side the 11 meter long bridge of size really isn't all that large however what it lacks in length it makes up for in its design as the 417 year old bridge is widely regarded to be one of the most beautiful in the world now the bridge of size or the pantedes sospiri in italian is located in the city of venice holding the distinction of being the only covered limestone bridge in the city it was made in accordance with the baroque style of architecture by antonio cantino between the year 1600 and 1603 and while its covered windows face statues and ornate designs are all considered to be very beautiful in their own right the bridge truly stands apart due to its notoriety this is because the bridge of size was infamous for being the structure that connected the doge's palace to a prison over the years local folklore had said the prisoners crossing the bridge would often sigh in despair as the barred windows gave them one last look of the beautiful city of venice before being locked up in a cell and while the truth behind these claims is not 100 certain what we do know now is that it's become a must-see tourist attraction number nine the danyang kunsan grand bridge while there are many bridges out there that are on the longer side none quite match the length of the danyang kunsan grand bridge located in eastern china this bridge measures in at a massive 164 kilometers long and covers the area between shanghai and nanjing in china's jiangsu province this makes it the longest bridge in the entire world with its nearest contender being about seven and a half kilometers shorter yet rather than be a car bridge danyang kunshan stands apart for lying at the end of the beijing shanghai high-speed railway which is a train line that is so popular that it shuttled over 180 million passengers in 2017 alone thus as you might expect creating a bridge that can transport that many people for such long distances was rather costly and so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the bridge employed ten thousand workers took four years to build and came in at a staggeringly high price of eight and a half billion dollars yet now that it's completed it has evolved into being one of china's most useful infrastructure projects to date we are constantly adding more people to the top fives production team to bring you all the best content be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button number eight the confederation bridge unless you happen to come from canada the chances are you've never heard of prince edward island however any true canadian will tell you that it's one of the country's ten provinces and sits on the east coast in a region known as the maritimes however given that it is an island building a bridge to connect it to the rest of canada was important thus after about four years of construction the confederation bridge opened on may 31st of 1997 linking prince edward island to the province of new brunswick it comes in at an impressive length of 12.9 kilometers making it the longest bridge in canada yet this is not the bridge's only record you see the water below it tends to freeze over in the winter and as a result a confederation bridge also holds the record of being the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water therefore when you consider that the bridge is not only aesthetically pleasing but also greatly increased tourism to prince edward island after its construction it becomes clear that the confederation bridge is now an integral part of prince edward island's identity number seven the pandu garde as far as ancient civilizations go few were quite as accomplished as the romans after all they spread their empire across a massive expanse of land and had an economic system in place that at the time was second to none yet a major part of this economic system was the transport of water to the roman empire's towns and cities and this was something that was achieved with the help of aqueducts now these aqueducts essentially acted like massive water tunnels as they would take water from a mountain stream and then funnel it across thousands of kilometers until it reached a population center yet what's truly incredible about them is that despite their age many are still standing today with the pond dugard perhaps being one of the most stunning examples built between 40 and 60 a.d the pondogotta is located in southeastern france and despite the fact that parts of it were plundered over the centuries it measures in at a length of 275 meters and a height of almost 50 meters yet despite all the plundering it has largely survived thanks to it being used as a toll bridge in feudal france and ever since it has welcomed foot traffic from locals and tourists alike thus despite never being built to be used as a bridge the pond guard has become a stunning example of one [Music] number six the helix bridge singapore has become a bustling center for innovation and finance in recent decades and no structure symbolizes this quite as clearly as the helix bridge completed in 2010 after three years of construction the bridge is located in the city's marine bay area and acts as a scenic pedestrian walkway where people can take beautiful pictures of the city and what makes it stand apart is that architects designed it to resemble a strand of dna as it is built out of blocks that were specifically linked to the cytosine guanine adenine and thymine found in dna in fact these blocks light up at night based on the type of material they are representing thus giving a helix a beautiful glowing color however in order to make this 65 meter long bridge a lot of materials had to be poured into it with 650 tons of duplex stainless steel and 1000 tons of carbon steel being used in the final structure to put this into perspective if all this steel were to be stretched out it would have a total length of two and a quarter kilometers meaning that its use in a 65 meter bridge was nothing if not incredible plus it goes without saying that this award-winning structure is a must-see if you ever happen to be in singapore number five the bjorn fjord bridge typically speaking bridges are anchored to the ground with large supports being placed so that they lie above the waterways canyons or valleys below them however norwegian architects trying to create a road across the bjorn of fjord have taken a completely different approach you see rather than create a bridge that anchors to the fueled floor they have instead decided to create a floating suspension bridge this will work by designing the bridge so that it stands on a floating pontoon that are tethered to the seabed in order to prevent the bridge from wobbling the tops of the bridge's towers will be tied together with long cables further connecting it to each side of the fjord for increased stability and while such a design may seem pretty radical even for a small bridge what makes the bjorn fjord bridge stand out is that it will have to be rather long as the fjord itself comes in at about 5 kilometers wide however the hope is that the groundbreaking floating bridge will not face any significant problems as its design has already been used for oil platforms in the past in fact architects are confident that the design could in fact be used over a variety of water bodies as it's believed that floating bridges could be used in waters that are as much as 1500 meters deep which is significantly greater than the conventional maximum depth of a bridge however until this bridge is built and the technique is proven this style of bridge will likely remain on the fringe number four the golden gate bridge of all the bridges on this list few are as quite as recognizable as the golden gate bridge banning across the san francisco peninsula at the time of its construction in 1937 it held the distinction of being the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world as it measured in at an impressive 1280 meters across and 227 meters high and while it no longer holds this title it is still one of the most beautiful bridges on the planet and has become a mainstay in the bay area and is even used on the logo of their hometown nba team the golden state warriors however what many people don't realize is that despite being red in color the golden gate bridge was first intended to be painted in of all things blue and yellow stripes this is because the u.s navy believed that it would help to increase its visibility and thus lobbied for it to be its final color however when the steel arrived in san francisco it was already painted in a burnt red hue as a primer in a surprising turn of events rather than change it the consulting architect decided that the color was not only just as visible but also much more visually appealing thus the bridges maintain this iconic reddish color to this day yet while the bridge's reddish color may have been maintained the types of paint used certainly have not this is because when it was first built the steel was coated with a primer that was 66 lead however while this lead-based paint protected the steel structure from corrosion it certainly didn't do wonders to the health of those living around it thus due to its status as a toxic chemical the lead paint began to be removed in 1965 with its removal process not subsiding until 1995. however once completed the entirety of the bridge was coated with a zinc based primer paint instead which is certainly a lot less harmful to the environment number three the ponte vecchio while many of the bridges on this list are old few can rival the ponte vecchio literally translating to the old bridge in english the ponte vecchio is located in florence italy where it's been a mainstay for centuries now in fairness its current iteration isn't the first after all while the original is believed to have been built in 996 it collapsed due to a flood in 1117 and after being rebuilt soon after it collapsed again due to a different flood in 1333 however in 1345 it was reconstructed by architect tedeogadi and he ensured that the bridge remained flood proof by opting to lower its arc and use less pillars so that debris during floods would flow underneath the bridge rather than smash into it thus making it less likely that this debris would destroy it and while this design change may seem minimal it certainly was effective as the bridge has stood strong ever since now in order to pay for the rebuilding of the bridge the city of florence decided to rent out retail space on the bridge to shop owners soon after its 1345 reopening this prompted various butchers tanners fishmongers to set up shop however due to the mess that their work caused they made the bridge a pretty unpleasant place to hang out around therefore in 1593 it was decreed that only goldsmiths and jewelers could sell their merchandise on the bridge in order to make it more appealing interestingly enough this has been a holdover to this day as the main merchants on the bridge are still part of these industries regardless the bustling nature of the bridge is what helps make it truly beautiful and it's also known for giving amazing views of the arnold river and the rest of the city and while most would see it just as an interesting side note it in fact saved the ponte vecchio from complete destruction you see when nazi germany took over italy hitler took a liking to the bridge and even had a personal viewing gallery made on top of it as a result when the nazis were retreating from the city hitler directly ordered that every bridge in the city be destroyed except for the pondevecchio with him instead opting to just demolish the buildings on either side of it thus thanks to both its beauty and good design the ponte vecchio has remained standing to this very day number two the brooklyn bridge if you visited the big apple chances are you've seen the brooklyn bridge after all this 183 year old masterpiece is one of the united states most iconic bridges and has a history that certainly sets it apart now it was built between 1869 and 1883 across new york's east river in order to connect lower manhattan and brooklyn interestingly enough construction of it only began after city crime boss william boss tweed funneled 65 000 in bribes to city politicians in order to get the project moving and even then the building of the bridge still took 14 years to make matters worse lead architect john augustus roebling paid a heavy price during the construction process as he crushed his foot on the site contracted tetanus in the wound and ended up dying as a result yet his son and his son's wife wound up taking over the project and thus were able to see it through to its completion now the bridge made headlines thanks to it being the world's first steel line suspension bridge yet due to its new design many worried that it would collapse if too much weight was put on it therefore to prove its strength to new york citizens the government commissioned pt barham to walk elephants across it yeah you heard that right in may of 1884 about one year after its opening pt barnum showed up to the brooklyn bridge and marched 21 elephants along it to prove its strength thankfully this display seemed to work as most people believed in the bridge's effectiveness after this stunt since then the bridge has remained one of new york's most important as it has about a hundred thousand cars crossed it every single day yet beyond being a run-of-the-mill bridge it has also some stranger uses as it was once the site of a 15-meter tall vault of wine and nuclear bunkers during the cold war and while the bridge may not serve these special purposes today it still goes without saying that the brooklyn bridge is one of new york's most important landmarks number one el marco if you've ever passed through an international border then there's a good chance you had to wait in a large line and in fact chances are that if the border you were crossing was separated by water then you had a large bridge connecting you from your current country to the next yet if you happen to live in western spain or eastern portugal then there's a chance that your border will be a little shorter than most that's because the spanish town of la cosodera and the portuguese town of oroches are separated by a bridge that measures in at just 3.2 meters making it the smallest international bridge in the world as you might expect the bridge has a bit of an interesting history that's because even before it was made in official border crossing it existed as an illegal one you see a long tradition of smuggling existed between villagers in the two towns as the portuguese would often sell the spanish coffee and towels while the spanish saw the portuguese knives and wine in return however once the two countries became connected thanks to the implementation of the shenzhen area the bridge no longer had to exist in secrecy this ultimately caused local officials to add handrails to the bridge in the 1990s and in 2008 the portuguese side decided to tear down the old bridge altogether and build an entirely new one and this same bridge is stuck around to this very day however despite el marco being the real smallest international bridge there is a popular forgery that exists that often takes credit for this record known as xavicon island it's found in the thousands island region between the united states and canada and has a bridge that measures in at about 10 meters in length between the larger and smaller portions of the island with the larger one supposedly being in canada and the smaller one in the united states yet the truth of the matter is that the entirety of xavichon island is located in canada making this supposed record holder a full-on fraud watch our binge-watching playlist if you'd like to watch all of our most popular top 15 videos grab a drink grab a snack and get ready to binge

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 96,170

Rating: 4.8491125 out of 5

Keywords: Most Incredible Bridges, bridges

Id: glsK93b7BK0

Length: 19min 9sec (1149 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 23 2020