The first bridges were ordinary trees, thrown from one coast to another. Later, stone was used for construction. At first, only supports were made of it, then the whole structure was made of this material.
In the Middle Ages, cities began to grow and grow, trade developed rapidly, 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 XVI and XVII centuries, began to build larger objects so that they could pass huge ships, already in the XVIII century, the height of their span was more than 100m. Then they began to use metal in construction. And in the 19th century, bridges were needed that can withstand significant loads, because railways appeared everywhere. The most common 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. We will tell you more about them.
List
- 10. Great Belt, 256 m
- 9. Jingyi, 265 m
- 8. Li Songxing, 271 m
- 7. Akashi Kayke, 283 m
- 6. Royal Gorge, 291 m
- 5. Stonecutters, 298 m
- 4. Sutun, 306 m
- 3. Russian bridge, 324 m
- 2. Millau Viaduct, 343 m
- 1. Baluarte, 403 m
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 the span. It was built between 1988 and 1998. Every day, about 27,600 cars pass through it, and before the ferry crossing could transport no more than 8 thousand.
Great Belt provided direct communication between Scandinavia and Europe, thanks to it 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. Jingyi, 265 m
Located in China. Jingyi 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 takes about a quarter of the entire width of the bridge.
8. Li Songxing, 271 m
It occupies first place along the length of the main span in South Korea, located on the Korean Peninsula. This is the suspension bridge, which was so named in honor of the Korean national hero Lee Songsing. 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 among compatriots as a sacred hero.
Lee Songxing Bridge - one of the most impressive buildings, which was built for 5 years, and completed in 2012. He united the cities of Yosu 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 major shopping centers, it has become a real decoration for South Korea. He is especially beautiful in the dark.
7. Akashi Kayke, 283 m
This hanging post with a six-lane road is located in Japan, is one of the record holders in length, was able to get into the Guinness Book of Records twice. It was built across the Akashi Strait to connect the islands of Honshu and Awaji, more precisely the cities of Kobe and Awaji located on them.
The design was well thought out and designed so that it can withstand extreme loads: wind speeds up to 80 m / s and earthquakes of magnitude up to 8.5 points. The decision to build the Akashi-Kayke bridge was made back in the 50s, after 2 ferries sank due to the storm and 168 children were killed. But construction began only in 1988.
To prevent the collapse of the structure, the Japanese came up with a special, quick-setting 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 in 1929 a bridge was built so that tourists can enjoy the views from it. Arkansas River flows along the bottom of the gorge. Initially, it was a pedestrian aqueduct located at an extreme height that can be compared with 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
Cable-stayed bridge to 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-I and Stonocutters.
It has 6 lanes; it took $ 356 million to build it. The flow of cars here almost never runs dry, even in the dark. It began to be built in 2004, and completed in 2009.
4. Sutun, 306 m
This is a cable-stayed bridge, thrown over the Yangtze River, built to connect Nantong and Suzhou, i.e. located in China. He was so called, taking the first and last letters of the names of these urban districts, it turned out Sutun. It was built in the period from 2003 to 2008, which took $ 1,700 million.
3. Russian bridge, 324 m
Cable-stayed bridge located in the territory of our country, in Vladivostok. It connects Russky Island and the Nazimov Peninsula, it is a record holder in height, and also distinguished itself by the largest span in the world. It is called one of the most complex and unique projects.
Russian bridge was depicted on a bill of 2 thousand rubles, it was released in 2017. They worked on it for about 4 years, the opening was in 2012. We spent 1 billion on construction. In 2013, it became known that during the construction, metal structures worth 96 million rubles were stolen.
2. Millau Viaduct, 343 m
Once this bridge of the cable-stayed system was the highest in the world. It is located above the Tarn River, located near the city of Millau, which is located in southern France. The authors of the project, which was built Millau Viaduct steel engineer from France Michelle Virlocho and British architect Norman Foster.
It was opened in 2004. One of its supports is 341 m high, i.e. 19 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower. It is an 8-span roadway supported by 7 steel columns. Despite the fact that this is a huge structure, only the roadway, which weighs 36 thousand tons, it looks airy and light. Its width is 32 m, i.e. it could fit 17 adult men with outstretched arms.
During the 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 remain unchanged for at least 120 years.
1. Baluarte, 403 m
The highest cable-stayed bridge in the world is Baluartelocated in mexico. It connects the states of Durango and Sinaloa. It was opened to the 200th anniversary of the country's independence, therefore its official name is “Bicentennial". The president of the country said at the opening that he helped bring together the inhabitants of northern Mexico.
It is located in the mountains of the Sierra Madre. Its construction began in 2008, and ended in 2012. Representatives of the Guinness Book also participated in the ceremony, at the same time awarded a diploma that confirmed a new record. This unique engineering structure was able to replace the dangerous serpentine road in the mountains, which was called the "Devil's Ridge."