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The first bridges were ordinary trees thrown from one bank to another. Later, stone was used for construction. At first, only supports were made from it, then the entire structure was made from this material.
In the Middle Ages, cities began to grow and expand, trade flourished, so there was a need for a large number of reliable and durable bridges. Even then, the bridges in the span were more than 70 m.
In the 100th and XNUMXth centuries, they began to build larger facilities so that they could let huge ships through; already in the XNUMXth century, their span height was more than XNUMXm. At the same time, metal began to be used in construction. And in the XNUMXth century, bridges were needed that could withstand significant loads, because. railroads were everywhere. The most commonly used materials were iron and steel.
And in the XX century began to produce reinforced concrete bridges. All of them were of considerable size. The highest bridges in the world are suspended and cable-stayed. Let’s talk about them in more detail.
10 Great Belt, 256 m
This suspension bridge is located in Denmark, crosses the strait of the same name. It impresses not only with its height, but also with its span. It was built between 1988 and 1998. About 27600 cars pass through it every day, and earlier the ferry could transport no more than 8 thousand.
Great Belt provided a direct connection between Scandinavia and Europe, thanks to him the number of air flights between Copenhagen and other cities was significantly reduced, and the road began to take no more than 5 hours.
9. Jingui, 265 m
Located in China. Jingui was built on the Yangtze River, and connected the two provinces – Hubei and Yuen. It was built for almost 7 years, and began to operate in 2010.
It stretches for 5,5 km, it has a six-lane highway. There is also a spacious pedestrian road, which covers about a quarter of the entire width of the bridge.
8. Lee Sunsin, 271 m
It ranks first in terms of the length of the main span in South Korea, located on the Korean Peninsula. This is a suspension bridge, which was named after the Korean folk hero Lee Sunsin. He became famous for his victories over the Japanese, their navy during the Imda War. One of those few naval commanders who never lost a single battle, and was revered by his compatriots as a sacred hero.
Li Sunsina Bridge – one of the most impressive buildings, which was built for 5 years, and completed in 2012. He unified the cities of Yeosu and Gwangyang. Its width is 27 m, a highway passes through it, the length of which exceeds 2 km.
In addition to significantly reducing the distance between large shopping centers, it has become a real gem of South Korea. It is especially beautiful at night.
7. Akashi Kaike, 283 m
This hanging post with a six-lane highway is located in Japan, is one of the record holders for the length, and was twice able to get into the Guinness Book of Records. It was built across the Akashi Strait to connect the islands of Honshu and Awaji, or rather the cities of Kobe and Awaji located on them.
The design has been well thought out and created so that it can withstand extreme loads: wind speeds of up to 80 m/s and earthquakes of magnitude up to 8,5. The decision to build the Akashi-Kaike Bridge was made back in the 50s, after 2 ferries sank due to a storm and 168 children died. But construction began only in 1988.
In order to prevent the collapse of the structure, the Japanese came up with a special, quickly hardening concrete, and even built a plant for its production. This grandiose construction of the bridge took 5 billion dollars, so it was decided to make the passage on this bridge toll, you will have to pay about 20 dollars.
6. Royal Gorge, 291 m
In the USA, in Colorado, is royal gorge, over which a bridge was built in 1929 so that tourists could admire the views from it. The Arkansas River runs along the bottom of the gorge. In the beginning, it was a pedestrian aqueduct located at an extreme height, which can be compared to the height of a 90-story building.
In 1989, the bridge was improved, it was protected from swinging by cable-stayed stretch marks, after which it became much more comfortable to walk along it, because. he no longer swayed in the wind.
5. Stonecutters, 298 m
A cable-stayed bridge that you can admire in China. It is located above the Rambler Strait, is considered one of the record holders in length. It is needed in order to connect the two islands, Tsing Yi and Stonecutters.
It has 6 traffic lanes and cost $356 million to build. The flow of cars here almost never dries up, even at night. It began to be built in 2004 and completed in 2009.
4. Sutong, 306 m
This is a cable-stayed bridge across the Yangtze River, built to connect Nantong and Suzhou, i.e. is located in China. It was so called, taking the first and last letters of the names of these urban districts, it turned out Column. It was built between 2003 and 2008 at a cost of $1700 million.
3. Russian bridge, 324 m
Cable-stayed bridge located on the territory of our country, in Vladivostok. It connects the Russky Island and the Nazimov Peninsula, it holds the record for height, and also has the largest span in the world. It is called one of the most complex and unique projects.
Russian bridge was depicted on a banknote of 2 thousand rubles, it was released in 2017. They worked on it for about 4 years, the opening was in 2012. 1 billion dollars was spent on the construction. In 2013, it became known that metal structures worth 96 million rubles were stolen during construction.
2. Millau Viaduct, 343 m
Once this cable-stayed bridge was the highest in the world. It stretches over the Tarn River, located near the city of Millau, which is located in southern France. The authors of the project, according to which it was built Viaduct Millau Michel Virlojo, an engineer from France, and Norman Foster, an architect from Great Britain, became.
It was opened in 2004. One of its pillars is 341 m high, i.e. higher than the Eiffel Tower by 19 m. This is an 8-span roadbed supported by 7 steel columns. Despite the fact that this is a huge structure, only the roadway, which weighs 36 tons, looks airy and light. Its width is 32 m, i.e. it could fit 17 grown men with outstretched arms.
During construction, 85 thousand cubic meters of concrete were used, the total weight of which is 206 tons. It must withstand the daily traffic flow, which is 25 thousand cars. Developers guarantee that it will stand unchanged for at least 120 years.
1. Baluarte, 403 m
The tallest cable-stayed bridge in the world is Baluartelocated in Mexico. It connects the states of Durango and Sinaloa. It was opened on the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence, so its official name is “Bicentennial“. The country’s president said at the opening that he helped unite the people of northern Mexico.
It is located in the Sierra Madre mountains. Its construction began in 2008, and ended in 2012. Representatives of the Guinness Book also took part in the ceremony, at the same time they presented a diploma, which confirmed the new record. This unique engineering structure was able to replace the dangerous serpentine road in the mountains, which was called the “Devil’s Ridge”.