10 Most Beautiful Bridges in the World

This is a good 'un.

Many other cool bridges here: htp://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/worlds-most-interesting-bridges-part-2.html

Don't forget about Ralph Modjeski, the Polish-born engineer who is known as "America's greatest bridge builder" for his many suspension, truss, steel arch, and bascule designs.

Growing up in rural W. PA, USA, I became fascinated with bridges early on; Footbridges, Covered Bridges, and especially Railroad Bridges & Trestles. Started a Photo File with the advent of Digital Cameras and collected of the Internet.

But, alas DHS curtailed some of these Photo Ops. I remember being questioned, in an unnamed state, what I was doing taking photos!

I have learned to love RR Bridges more than any other and wonder why Highway Bridges cannot be constructed with such long lasting Quality.

I guess I know the answer to that though; Favors to Political Contributors, throw away mentality, and job creation.

Wow, I have managed to cross (or visit) five of the top ten.... not too bad...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/sevenwonders/east/chappell_mm/index.shtml is a good one too. It's approaching its 160th birthday. Unusually for the time, no-one was killed during the construction activities on the structure. The brickwork is formed in hollow vaults, and the 30-odd piers are pierced with oval openings to reduce its dead weight. Reputedly, over 7x10⁶ bricks were used, all made locally by hand. It has been patched in several places since.

Its Engineer, Peter Bruff, described its construction to the Institution of Civil Engineers at the time. One Isambard Kingdom Brunel commented in response that if timber had been used, then a significant reduction in first cost could have been made. Quite so, though how many of Brunel's timber bridges survive today (rhetorical question)? Bruff went on to construct the Ipswich Tunnel, other railway lines and a significant amount of harbour and coastal works in and around East Anglia.

Unusually, the piers gain in height by one brick per arch heading North.

There was, during WW2, an observation point and machine gun post positioned at the NW corner of the bridge, as it was a significant military target during those times.

The single line of railway running across it has been relaid of late with components suitable to enable a 70mph line speed to be achieved.

In 1995, a beacon was lit on the viaduct in full view of the local community in the fields of the village hall below to commemorate 50 years of peace in Europe, simultaneously with hundreds of others across the UK. The beacon consisted of a wrought-iron rivetted basket filled with firewood and soaked in paraffin, mounted on a post, that was in turn mounted temporarily on a permanent way maintenance trolley and pushed to site by volunteers during an Engineering Possession of the railway. Upon its lighting, being designated by the end of two minutes' silence and by the detonation of two large maroons close by, a huge cheer of joy from the field below was clearly heard by the volunteers accompanying the beacon.

Further, the builder was one Joseph Alcock, a local man, and the brick-earth was dug from Mount Bures, about 4 miles (7km) to the north. There is a foundation stone in pier 6 (from memory) commemorating the start of construction. A container of new high-value contemporary coins was placed beneath the foundation stone when it was laid, and suspicions were raised when a number of these coins crossed the bar of a local public house a couple of evenings later.....