STRANGEST ROADS in the World

from a floating Highway Through the Jungle to a road that disappears into the sea these are some of the most unusual roadways ever made join me for today's video I'm going to explore 15 of the strangest roads in the world number 15. NG City pontoon bridge now when most people think of bridges they think of Steel cables tall archways and concrete structures holding motorists high above the water that's certainly not the case with this bridge this one plays things close to the chest bobbing up and down as the cars make their way through just inches away from the water just one false move and well yeah you better get your floaties on so what exactly is going on here how did such a strange Bridge come to be while something like this may not be an everyday occurrence it really isn't that strange at all pontoon bridges have been around for ages painting all the way back to ancient China the first records of pontoon bridges are found in text dating back to the Zhou dynasty which lasted from 1046 BCE to 256 BCE the Pontoon Bridge uses Floats or shallow draft boats to support the continuous deck for travel now most bridges like this are temporary and used during wartime and civil emergencies so don't expect to see this Floating Bridge in a city near you anytime soon this particular pontoon bridge is found in NGC city in China and cuts through one of the area's more scenic routes ferrying motorists through forests the cars and the bridge create an amazing ripple effect that you really won't find anywhere else this bridge also spans less than half a mile it's less than 15 feet wide because of its location on the winding River this bridge brings a lot more than commuters on their way to work since it was built the bridge brings in about 10 000 visitors a day there's another more famous pontoon bridge in Washington state in the U.S the Evergreen floating points Bridge which uses the same technology but what it doesn't provide is the sensation of being right on the water that you'll find here this pontoon bridge in NC city is one of the few places in the world where you can get seasick and car sick at the same time number 14. North youngest Road okay due to abysmal driving conditions jungus road in Bolivia has earned the nickname the death Road and it's included in several lists of the planet's most dangerous routes the road connects the Bolivian capital of La Paz with the low-lying region of yogas in the Amazonian rainforest in order to bridge such a dramatic Gap the road must Traverse the mighty Cordillera Oriental mountain chain starting from La Paz the world's highest Capital at 2.2 miles in altitude jungus Road first climbs to three miles at La Cumbre pass and then makes a steep descent to the town of koroiko at an altitude of only 3 900 feet this multi-mile drop is one of the longest stretches of continuous downhill Road in the world and it's guaranteed to make your ears pop the whole way down built in the 1930s by paraguayan prisoners during the choco Wars at places it was cut into a steep Cliffside one side of the road is solid rock now the other falls off into a 600 meter Abyss most of the road is only 11 feet wide and some sections are unpaved and without guard rails warm and humid winds from the Amazon hit upon the Eastern Slope of the Andes bringing in heavy rains and fog drenching the already dangerous road and Torrance of water there are numerous mudslides and tumbling rocks and small waterfalls occasionally rained down from the cliffsides to make matters even worse motorists can come across groups of Daredevil cyclists along this road internet Fame turned this road into a destination for extreme sports enthusiasts especially downhill bikers looking for one final Adrenaline Rush at least 13 Riders have died in various accidents in the last decade besides safety Travelers should also keep in mind that the downhill ride offers a change in temperatures from freezing to sweltering thus they should dress accordingly such conditions made several precautions necessary and special rules apply at jungus road while the rest of Bolivia drives on the right side here vehicles drive on the left because a driver on the left has a better view of the edge of the road descending Vehicles never have the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road this forces fast vehicle to stop so the passing can be negotiated safely remember a road can only be death defying if you make it to one end or the other in one piece number 13 storwen's Highway ice Bridge each year when the store wins freezes over Sweden's national highway system expands just a little bit though a network of ferries traverses the lake during the warmer months motorists are permitted to cruise Atop The Lake's frozen waves in normal cars as the ice Road becomes an official route within the Swedish highway system from January to April pending the arrival and duration of Winter's deep freeze despite reaching depths of nearly 250 feet when liquid the seasonal ice bridge is prepared signed and maintained as a regular Road only after ice thickness exceeds 7.9 inches sets of blinking lights at either end of the road designate when conditions both of the air and Ice make Crossing Source Wind by car unsafe but it makes you think just how bad the things have to get before a road made of pure ice is closed Vehicles looking to cross the lake are restricted to weights of two to four long tons and are prohibited from parking anywhere along the road shoulder no matter how perfect the conditions may be for local ice fishing those few specific rules aside roll down your windows and feel the Great Northern wind ripped through your hair as frostbite numbs your face hurtling down the ice road before the summer arrives to reclaim road trips as the Providence of asphalt alone needless to say this icy Drive is absolutely terrifying and may be better suited for snowmobiles rather than a soccer mom mobile with the ice being at least eight inches thick the odds of breaking underneath and swallowing you into a cold watery grave may be slim but then again before you rip across this highway ice Bridge you should ask yourself do you feel lucky number 12. Albuquerque's musical Highway there's nothing like cranking up the classic rock station to 11 when riding down the highway something about dad's favorite music just fits but what about when the highway wants to play a little ditty of its own cruise down Albuquerque's musical Highway and you'll understand most rumble strips alert drivers they've strayed too close to the edge of the road with a loud and grating vibration the groove lines on a sleepy stretch of Route 66 near Tijeras New Mexico have a different trick up their sleeve they sing on this brief quarter mile section of the highway the rumble strips have been engineered to sound like the song America the Beautiful but they won't croon their patriotic tune for anyone with a Lead Foot drivers have to be going exactly 45 miles per hour the local speed limit to hear the vibrations in action the musical Highway was installed in 2014 as a part of a partnership between the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the National Geographic Channel it's designed to encourage drivers on the otherwise unremarkable stretch of the historic road to slow down and fall follow the speed limit for once because if there's one thing Americans love it's going too fast and if there's one thing Americans hate it's rules getting the rumble strips to serenade Travelers required a fair bit of engineering the individual strips had to be placed at the precise distance from one another to produce the notes they needed to sing their now signature song people did react favorably to the rumbling roadside concert some drivers even double back for a second shot at making the highway sing if they somehow missed it on their first pass or found themselves traveling a bit too slow or fast however some say the song's gotten a bit Out Of Tune in the years since the rumble strips were installed but Albuquerque isn't the only owner of a singing stretch of road Denmark is home to asphaltophone and Japan has Melody Road do they sound like Mario Kart levels yeah they do but are they also awesome Feats of engineering 100 percent number 11. stelvio pass the stelvio pass or Paso de los telvio in Italian is the second highest paved mountain pass in the Alps the roads zig zag zip zaps and Zooms for about 29 miles up and over the ortler Alps in Northern Italy just along the Swiss border while not ranked highly among most scenic passes in the Alps it's considered one of the most dramatic and challenging to drive thanks to its 48 death-defying hairpin bends the road is an old one having been built by the Austrian Empire between 1820 and 1825 to connect the then Austrian province of Lombardi modern day Italy with the rest of the country just as it does today it climbed for about 6 100 feet from its base up to the snow-covered Mountain Pass just imagine trying to go over this strange Road on a horse and buggy back in the day or even worse on foot the stelvio pass has been regarded as an excellent driving Road for drivers looking for a challenge since August 1898 it's held a hill climb event where drivers in the old days could only reach a top speed of 20 miles an hour but races hit the brakes when World War one began in the forces of the austro-hungarian Empire and the Italian Kingdom fired at each other from across the hills in true Swiss fashion the Swiss complained about the straight bullets coming their way and so the austro-hungarians and Italians agreed to only fire at each other down The Valleys so as not to endanger the neutral Swiss sometimes all you have to do is ask I guess well thankfully for the speed demons and Daredevils racing return to the stelvio pass after the war old-schooled cyclists also compete along the path most famously in the Girard Italia which crossed the stelvio pass on 12 occasions between 1953 and the present day the Stelio pass began to attract widespread International attention in 2008 when the popular British television show Top Gear named it the greatest driving Road in the world since then serious drivers have come to Italy to take on the pass despite the Top Gear team changing their minds in 2009 and giving the title to the Transfiguration Highway in Romania number 10. woolyang tunnel now back in the day the only way to reach the Chinese village of guo Leong is to take the narrow and treacherous path that was carved right into the side of the tianga mountains and while that may have been one hell of a scenic route the Trek was as long as it was arduous and one false step meant sudden Doom the local villagers weren't waiting for the help of the government to get things done a small group of people put their heads together and in 1972 they started to dig a tunnel because why go around the mountains when you can just go straight through them the group was small made of just 13 humble people and while they wanted this tunnel dug during more modern times the people of guo Yong didn't have access to things like excavators bulldozers or something as seemingly trivial as Dynamite so the only thing they could do was to get digging by hand that's right it took 26 hands five years to dig a tunnel about three quarters of a mile long 16 feet tall and 13 feet wide so the Gullion tunnel may not be the biggest in the world but considering how it was built you have to tip your hat to the people who created it with their bare hands and at the most difficult stage of the dig the group was only able to dig about three feet a day the entire Endeavor was so tough three people even died in the process in the end not only did this tunnel in the mountain change the lives of the villagers giving them better access in and out but the tunnel has become a big tourist attraction over the last few decades but the tunnel does lack barriers and lamps so drivers enter at their own risk especially at night it's become such a harrowing road that the locals lovingly refer to it as the road that does not tolerate mistakes number nine Cardone law one thousand prayer Flags blowing in the wind a small Shrine an obligatory gift shop and the extreme elevation on the official Cardone law signpost welcome visitors to a view at the top of the world over 17 500 feet high on the west side of the Himalayas you'll find this windy roadside marker looking down on glaciers and a few people celebrating their long journey something only they can ever truly understand this is the top of cardung law or the cardung pass which claims to be the world's highest motorable road at 3.3 miles above sea level it's a great yet still horrifying strange alternative to climbing Mount Everest if you're looking to conquer this place you don't need months of training or tons of supplies to make the journey you just need a car well maybe a little more than that because despite being the milder cousin to the Everest climb this is no ordinary Road this roadside Point can be accessed in your own car but a few days at a lower altitude to acclimate your body to high elevation is an absolute must oxygen tanks are also a pretty good idea even if you're just traveling the roads below the last thing anyone wants to do is to pass out from altitude sickness while behind the wheel because remember what goes up must come down like many other extreme places there's some dispute over how accurate the title of the highest road is the official government sign claims an elevation of 18 380 feet but with modern GPS it's widely understood that the pass is actually 17 582 feet high thanks technology other adventurers can even dispute the very definition of what a general road is and claim nearby roads are higher if you have a four-wheel drive to make it up but don't let those nerds ruin the fun because regardless of the claim to drive to this marker on top of the world is one of the best cardongla is the high spot on the road as it passes from Leia to the numra Valley from the past you can continue down to the valley below where you may find camels Left Behind from the Silk Road days so not only is Cardinal law strange it also offers a one-of-a-kind blimpse into the past number eight Colima Highway holy moly the Colima Highway the kolima highway is the name of a very exciting Adventure running from yakutz to magdan in Russia but take that word exciting with a few grains of Soviet salt because yakus is home to the coldest temperatures ever recorded outside of Antarctica but that fact doesn't even stop people from living there and despite it being one of the coldest reaches of human civilization the Colima Highway was built by prisoners using nothing but hand tools in the 1930s hopefully they were wearing some kind of gloves but all jokes aside the construction of the road is one of the darker moments in Soviet history the road has been given a few names over the years with many locals simply referring to it as the trasa or the root but many others call the kolima highway the road of Bones the bone chilling nickname speaks to the road's tragic history it was built by hundreds of thousands of political prisoners who were exiled to the Region's gulags under the Stalin regime from the 1930s to the 1950s under the Dallas Droid instruction directorate the first stretch was built by the inmates of the savastlog labor camp in 1932. the work was done with very rudimentary methods like shovels and wheelbarrows despite having access to better technology make no mistake being tasked with building this road is one of the worst punishments the regime had to offer the construction was continued by inmates of Gulag camps for the next 20 years thousands were killed by prison guards for not working hard enough While others died from the gulag's brutal conditions the cold was another killer with temperatures recorded as low as some negative 70 degrees Celsius many who died here were simply buried beneath the Rhodes foundations today it said that the Colima Highway cost one death for every yard of Road built so driving across the long road means traveling over a colossal Mass grave the road is treated as a memorial as the bones of the estimated 250 000 to 1 million people who died while constructing it are there number 7. Dalton Highway Alaska at times can seem like the final frontier with 425 million Acres of sprawling land Alaska is the largest but least populated of the United States due to which large size and low population density Alaska is one of the last places in the United States with untouched Wilderness and completely intact habitat but it's also home to one of the loneliest most solitary roads on Earth Alaska Route 11 AKA Dalton Highway it was built in 1974 as a Supply route for the trans-alaska pipeline system the highway runs parallel to that pipeline system and despite its Bleak isolated and remote setting it's often navigated by anything up to 150 trucks in summer and 250 trucks in the winter linking Fairbanks and oil fields to the north huge trucks are its main traffic because of these trucks and often extreme conditions there are eight actual Road Rules for Dalton Highway the U.S department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management drafted eight strict rules big trucks have the right of way always drive with your headlights on keep your headlights and tail lights clean stay on the right side of the road don't stop for Bridges or Hills check your rear view mirror regularly if you spot Wildlife pull over to a safe spot before stopping slow down when passing other vehicles to lessen the chances of hitting them with mud or flying rocks from your tires yet Dalton Highway sounds pretty intense portions of this highway may be temporarily closed due to road work or inclement weather traveling this farthest North Road involves real risks and challenges and it can be dangerous because the highway is essentially just a Gravelly Road reduced to zero visibility enormous potholes and extreme Arctic weather services are available at only a few places along this highway so proper planning is essential there are no public services at the Department of Transportation maintenance stations or Valencia pipeline service pump stations this isolated Highway was built as a supply road to support oil exploration in Alaska there are just three towns along this route with a total population of 60 people so when you're hitting the Dalton Highway you are truly on your own number six Tiananmen Highway looking like snake way come to life the Tiananmen Highway runs for 6.8 miles beginning at just 656 feet above sea level and winds its way 4265 feet above sea level at the top is the heaven gate a natural rock Arch that was believed to be the link between the gods and the mortal world there are also 999 stairs to climb before you reach the peak the road is as gorgeous as it is intense as harrowing as it is divine but for something with such an ancient feel the road is relatively new construction of this road started in 1998 and opened to the public in 2006 the rhythmically winding sections appear to be stacked on top of one another as a testament not to the gods but instead to human Ingenuity with its 99 steep turns the road is an exhilarating Driving Experience there's a lot of Curves to tackle with only a few feet separating you from a deadly plunge down the slope number five karakoram Highway one of the most well-known roads in the world the karakoram highway goes on for about 800 miles and links China and Pakistan the road is also referred to as the Friendship Highway oh nice the road has earned International Fame over the years with some even referring to it as the eighth wonder of the world because of the difficulties the workers faced in constructing it as well as the fact that it's one of the highest highways in the world a section of the road goes through the karakoram mountains at a height of 15 466 feet construction of this highway began in 1959 and lasted for nearly three decades during that time roughly 810 workers from Pakistan and 82 workers from China died during the construction because of landslides even to this day however traveling here isn't for the faint of heart some sections must be cleared and repaired regularly as those perilous Rock slides continue to rock the region sometimes they even need to be rebuilt when parts of the road disappear and then there's the fighting owing largely to the extremely sensitive state of the Kashmir conflict between India and Paka the karakoram highway has strategic and Military importance too in 2010 a part of the road was submerged due to a landslide in the hunza valley in 2015 the damage Road was replaced with the construction of a masterpiece known as the Audubon Lake tunnel the eighth wonder of the world clearly comes with plenty of dangers it's battered by rockfall floods and earthquakes and with some calling it the scariest Road in the world the drive isn't easy not advisable to take plain old cars a sturdy 4x4 vehicle is the weapon of choice when making a long journey here the road is extremely treacherous and requires a vehicle that can hold its own against some of the most unforgiving Terrain in the world hairpin curves and potential Steep Falls of thousands of feet on the left side and a very unstable mountain with a high risk of Rock Falls especially when raining on the right side with absolutely no barrier on one side and a sheer rock wall on the other the margin of driver error is so slim you can barely see it with the naked eye and if the rockfalls don't get you then the floods and landslides will the road's so narrow and parts that only one vehicle can pass at a time while the other Waits on the very narrow edge of the road and because the road sits at such high altitudes Travelers prone to altitude sickness need not apply number four thrill stegan opened in 1936 Toro stegan is said to be one of Norway's twistiest roads it's got a steep incline of nine percent with 11 hairpin bends as it snakes its way along the Steep Mountainside at its highest point stigora at an elevation of 2811 feet above sea level the road brutally twists and turns through the mountainous terrain and drivers can expect Rock Falls narrow Lanes Steep inclines and unpredictable weather the route is at its most dangerous in the dark and wet which makes it incredibly challenging to navigate in fact maybe that's when it's best to avoid it entirely but the thing about danger is that it often yields the highest rewards the 11 magnificent hairpin turns of turlstegan offer numerous highlights of fantastic scenery along the Mountain Road each band has its own name often named after the person who supervised the construction work on that particular section torostegan or the troll path runs for 31 miles and takes about two hours to complete no speeding here the road is known as Norway's golden route and it's the most visited tourist Road in the entire country this trollish masterpiece of engineering sits in the midst of a majestic natural landscape and will make the drive a truly joyful ride driving trollstegan is a dramatic and exciting experience the road twists and climbs through a mountainous terrain of waterfalls fjords tunnels and frozen lakes that you won't find anywhere else the bends and curves stand as a testament to the skill of the builders built upon the base Rock of the Steep Mountain sides or hewn by hand into the mountain itself for several centuries the road was an important transport artery between valdal and endlessness first has a path and then as a bridal way the construction began in 1916 and it opened in 1936 by King hakon VII so what took so long why 20 years well the absurdly long winters of Norway made it nearly impossible to get any work done before the trollstigan Farmers on both sides of the mountain had worked hard on the construction and Improvement of the cart track that existed before the road open you can also actually still see parts of the original pack horse track in some place is alongside the current road so if you thought making this troll Trek in a car was tough just imagine doing it with a horse-drawn cart number three the air Highway with a population of just over 26 million people Australia is the 55th most populated country on Earth many of those people live in the highly dense cities leaving the more rural areas of the continent incredibly remote the Australian Outback can be a lonely place and the air Highway can teach drivers all about that but what makes the road so unique is that it gives the straight story literally driving down the air Highway you'll realize there are a grand total of Zero Turns along the path zero air Highway links Western Australia and South Australia via the nullamore plane and it's said to be the longest great stretch of road in the country going for 911 miles the inner highway is a long and lonely road while in the East you can find a handful of towns dotting the route the western part is almost devoid of life expectancy plenty of tumbleweeds rolling across the land because of its loneliness some sections of the road work as emergency air strips for the Royal flying doctor service to ensure the safety of traveling vehicle these air strips are signposted have Runway piano keys painted on the road and turn around bass for small aircraft but it is one of Australia's Epic self-drive Adventures the air Highway was constructed between July 1941 and June of 1942. at first it was a little more than a rough track but it was gradually sealed over the next 30 Years the last unsealed section of the air Highway was finally finished in 1976. the entire route can take two to three days and is said to be one of Australia's bucket list road trips but the remote nature of the trip does have its dangers the lack of places to stop and stay along the Route doesn't always mix well with driver fatigue which causes a high incidence of fatalities and accidents to help Meandering motorists some locations have started a program to give free coffee to encourage drivers to take a break or rest on Long Journeys and Juice up the wildlife in the region kangaroos emus even camels are known to do serious damage to cars Dawn and dusk are the most dangerous times to drive this highway as animals are frequently trying to cross the pavement watch out number two Avenue of the bail Bobs the dirt road on the west coast of Madagascar linking morandava and Bello sir behena is framed by dozens of rare and ancient Baobab trees creating a setting so beautiful and unique that it may become the country's first official national monument these giant dry season deciduous trees many of which are more than 800 years old can grow to be 150 feet around at one time the trees dotting the land were part of a rich Forest but the encroachment of modern civilization and increasing populations in the area led to massive deforestation leaving the remaining baobobs to stand in relative isolation but there's one place in Madagascar that offers an up close and personal view of these amazing trees the Avenue of the baobabs it's a row of about 20 to 25 impressive Baobab trees along the short 853-foot stretch of road its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world making it one of the most visited locations in the region this dirt road has been a center of local conservation efforts and was granted temporary protected status in July of 2007 given by the ministry of the environment water and forests the first step toward making it Madagascar's First National Monument number one Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder is an ominous name for an ominous Road Jacob's Ladder is an unpaved road that leads travelers from the summit of Ben Lomond mountain in Tasmania up to the peak moving up to 4 760 feet above sea level it's one of the most hair-pinned roads in the world if you're gonna try to tackle this thing then you better be a good driver the road to the summit is very steep hitting a 13 maximum gradient through some of the ramps the average gradient is 6.1 percent and it's said to be the most hair-raising and impressive Alpine Road in the country the maximum size for passenger vehicles is a 22-seat bus and bus drivers must have the Alpine license to travel the Jacobs Ladder section of the road the speed limit along the ladder is just 18 miles an hour and anything above that is going to end in disaster vehicles on the way up are required to give way to those on the way down but because these hairpin turns are so tight you may not even see each other until it's too late going down the hill means shifting to the lowest gear possible and keeping that foot on the brake and if hairpin turns don't get you then rock falls and Wildlife running across the road will the ascent is just 11 miles long but the drive must be done so slowly so meticulously that it's the longest 11 miles of any driver's life I'll see you next time 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 the top 5 show has launched Channel memberships thank you to our channel members

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 752,296

Keywords: road, roads, strange roads, unusual roads, roadways

Id: 3UdHpKU4PSE

Length: 26min 49sec (1609 seconds)

Published: Sun May 14 2023