10 LONGEST AND BEAUTIFUL BRIDGES AROUND THE WORLD

10 Longest Bridges Around the World
By Smashing Lists, 19 June 2012.

Architecture has never failed to inspire me, in fact, I thought about it as a career once. This particular list follows ten of the world’s longest bridges. The mere structures are something to admire. Building these huge structures must have been a great deal of pain for the workers nonetheless, they stand mighty as ever. This list has been compiled to let bridges from all over the world be a part of it. I hope this list proves informative. Enjoy the read!

10. Incheon Bridge

The Incheon Bridge is located in South Korea. It was completed in the year 2009 in October. The bridge covers a distance of around 2.3 kilometres. The bridge was constructed with extreme difficulties considering the structure of the bridge and the construction. It took a long time to complete the structure. The bridge serves as a link between Songdo and Incheon International Airport. I say that this is quite an attractive way to lead foreigners to the main city. It looks beautiful too.

9. West Gate Bridge

This is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Australia. The West Gate Bridge covers the Yarra River. This particular bridge serves as an important link between the inner city and the industrial suburbs and the city of Geelong. The bridge is 58 meters above the water and is around 2.582 kilometres. The bridge is the third longest bridge in Australia behind the Houghton Highway and the Hornibrook Bridge. The Sydney Bridge is half its size. The bridge has a total of five lanes in each direction. It was originally supposed to be a tolled bridge but that changed in 1985.

8. King Fahd Causeway

This bridge is named after the [late] King of Saudi Arabia, His Highness, King Fahd. The bridge has four lanes and is a total of 8 kilometres long. The bridge was completed in the year 1986 after a total construction period of fifteen years. The construction cost around $1.2 billion. The bridge holds a significant importance in terms of trade and commerce between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I particularly like the curve in the middle; it is simple yet quite awesome; your opinions?

7. Third Mainland Bridge

The Third Mainland Bridge is the longest bridge that connects Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria to the mainland. There are a total of three bridges serving the same purpose and the names of the other two are Eko and Carter. This bridge is the longest one in Africa. It was built by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC and opened by President Ibrahim Babangida in the year 1990. It is around 11.8 kilometres in length. There were reports that the bridge vibrates viciously and the matter was given urgent attention. There are no tolls on this bridge and it serves vehicular traffic.

6. Rio-Niteroi Bridge

The Rio-Niteroi Bridge is also referred to as President Costa e Silva Bridge and is a box girder bridge. It is located at the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It connects the city of Rio to the municipality of Niteroi. If you consider the southern hemisphere, it is the longest pre-stressed concrete bridge. It is the sixth longest bridge in the world and from 1974 to 1985 it was only second to Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (discussed below). It is a total of 13.2 kilometres long.

5. Penang Bridge

The Penang Bridge is a dual carriageway toll bridge and it connects George Town (Island of Penang) and Seberang Prai (Mainland Malaysia). It is also linked with the North-South Expressway. The bridge was opened for traffic in the year 1985 and is around 13.5 kilometres long. It is the fourth-largest bridge in South-East Asia and the longest one in Malaysia. It was designed by Professor Chin Fung Kee, who is a well-known civil engineer in the region. The bridge handles a daily capacity of 65,000 vehicle every day and can handle around 85,000 vehicles in total.

4. Vasco Da Gama Bridge

The Vasco Da Gama is a cable-stayed bridge and is constructed over the Tagus River near Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. This is considered to be the longest bridge in entire Europe and covers a distance of 17.2 kilometres. The purpose behind the bridge was to reduce the traffic on the other bridge in Lisbon. The construction for this bridge began in 1995 and was completed three years after in the year 1998. The speed limit on the bridge is around 120 km/h which I think is pretty appropriate and it has six road lanes.

3. Manchac Swamp Bridge

The Manchac Swamp Bridge is located in Louisiana, USA. This comes in close to the Lake Pontchartain Causeway, also in Louisiana and discussed below. The bridge is around 36.60 kilometres long. The construction of Manchac Swamp Bridge was completed in the year 1970. The interstate 55 rides over the Manchac Swamp with the help of this bridge in Louisiana. This particular bridge is considered to be the busiest in the United States.

2. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is located in Southern Louisiana in the United States. The bridge is around 38.4 kilometres long. This is considered to be one of the oldest bridges in the world because it dates back to the nineteenth century when it was first built. Around 9,500 pilings of concrete serve as strong support for the bridge. This bridge links Metairie to Mandeville. It should also be known that since its construction, the bridge was struck by barges on three different occasions causing significant damage.

1. Bang Na Expressway

Bang Na Expressway takes the first spot. The bridge is situated in Bangkok, Thailand. It has a total of six lanes and is around 54 kilometres long. It is considered to be the longest bridge in the entire world. The construction of the bridge was completed somewhere in March in the year 2000, after long years of construction. The bridge required a total of 1,800,000 cubic meters of concrete. The bridge links Chalerm Maha Nakhoon to Bang Pakong today.

Top image: Penang Bridge (left) and satellite image of Penang Bridge (right)

[Source: Smashing Lists. Edited. Top image and links added.]