Worlds Greatest Bridges

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Boustrophedon
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Boustrophedon » Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:38 pm

And at the other end of the scale of greatness I give you the Forth road bridge, where they have had to install acoustic monitoring of the cables to listen to the strands snapping. I am not reassured.
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:08 pm

Tacoma Narrows bridge-like object.

Image

BTW, they told that guy to not try crossing the bridge. He chickened out at that point and walked back to this bank. He left his dog in the car. :evil:

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Martin Y
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Martin Y » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:28 pm

lsnduck wrote:
Thu Nov 14, 2019 3:52 pm
Ben B wrote:
Thu Nov 14, 2019 3:45 pm
I think the Øresund Bridge is pretty cool, and not just because of the murder drama.
I'm not sure what would terrify me more, going over the bridge or through the tunnel.
It's dramatic to look at, but undramatic to drive along. We crossed it when returning the long way round from a holiday in Norway, and they do love a tunnel, so the road suddenly dipping under the sea didn't faze us at all. Not like it did a week or two earlier when we drove North from Stavanger. (Island hopping is surely supposed to involve hopping up, not down.)

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by tom p » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:41 pm

Gawdzilla Sama wrote:
Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:34 pm
THE RION-ANTIRION BRIDGE
An Engineering Marvel Spanning the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

Image
They connected a rion & an antirion? Do they not know how dangerous that is? Why were no particle physicists involved?

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by tom p » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:43 pm

Does Tintagel Bridge count? Since it's effectively two jetties which almost touch & not technically a bridge.
It's utterly gorgeous though.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:52 pm

tom p wrote:
Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:41 pm
Gawdzilla Sama wrote:
Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:34 pm
THE RION-ANTIRION BRIDGE
An Engineering Marvel Spanning the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

Image
They connected a rion & an antirion? Do they not know how dangerous that is? Why were no particle physicists involved?
No clue. I tried reading the material, but it was Greek to me.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by bolo » Fri Nov 15, 2019 7:32 pm

Gawdzilla Sama wrote:
Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:08 pm
Tacoma Narrows bridge-like object.
MrsBolo and I met at the retirement party of an engineer who worked on the design of that bridge. He used to say proudly that his part -- the piers -- was the only part that didn't collapse.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by science_fox » Fri Nov 15, 2019 8:48 pm

Pontecilit aqueduct?

Didn't actually make it across when we narrowboating because we didn't get that far - but it looks pretty impressive from the pictures.
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:04 pm

I like the ones that are bi. You know, bridge AND tunnel. Like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gfamily » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:06 pm

science_fox wrote:
Fri Nov 15, 2019 8:48 pm
Pontecilit aqueduct?

Didn't actually make it across when we narrowboating because we didn't get that far - but it looks pretty impressive from the pictures.
I wonder if vegans are allowed to use it, given that the mortar used contains ox blood (apparently helps where exposed to freeze/thaw)[1]
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by GeenDienst » Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:41 pm

Greatest Bridges?

Jeff, obviously.
Just tell 'em I'm broke and don't come round here no more.

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Martin Y
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Martin Y » Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:02 pm

GeenDienst wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:41 pm
Greatest Bridges?

Jeff, obviously.
Well that's just, like, your opinion, man.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gentleman Jim » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:15 am

Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:24 pm

The bridge of HMS Hood.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by username » Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:36 pm

I prefer the fo'c's'le, which is abridged by more apostrophes than any other English word I can think of.
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by lpm » Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:22 pm

science_fox wrote:
Fri Nov 15, 2019 8:48 pm
Pontecilit aqueduct?

Didn't actually make it across when we narrowboating because we didn't get that far - but it looks pretty impressive from the pictures.
It is utterly terrifying.

All logic says there doesn't need to be a barrier on one side, because the boat can't just go up and over the edge. But the brain keeps thinking the boat could steer over, or you could fall out of the boat over.

It was the worse vertigo experience of my life. And you have to do it twice.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by dyqik » Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:24 pm

I imagine that very bad things could happen if you tried to sail across it in a crosswind.

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Martin Y
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Martin Y » Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:47 pm

Even just walking across is pretty vertiginous. I found it hard to let go of the single handrail.

How about crossing on a stand-up paddleboard like these lunatics? https://www.supnorth.co/llangollen-aque ... -the-edge/

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by dyqik » Mon Nov 18, 2019 5:06 pm

Martin Y wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:47 pm
Even just walking across is pretty vertiginous. I found it hard to let go of the single handrail.

How about crossing on a stand-up paddleboard like these lunatics? https://www.supnorth.co/llangollen-aque ... -the-edge/
After I posted, I started thinking about a windsurfer.

I guess you could use the sail as a hangglider after the inevitable.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by greyspoke » Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:05 pm

Its spelt Pontcysyllte. First times I went across it I was a kid, with my parents. Second times, had my kids with me. Exactly the same, only from a different perspective.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:51 pm

username wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:36 pm
I prefer the fo'c's'le, which is abridged by more apostrophes than any other English word I can think of.
It's the first service, so you can fo'c anything you want. :D

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Beaker » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:20 pm

greyspoke wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:05 pm
Its spelt Pontcysyllte. First times I went across it I was a kid, with my parents. Second times, had my kids with me. Exactly the same, only from a different perspective.
We paddled over with the kids. Less feeling of falling out as you are below the edge in a kayak or canoe. It makes a canal paddle more entertaining, there are several viaducts along the way. The tunnels are quite scary too.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by GeenDienst » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:28 am

I done Pontcysyllte in a narrowboat. You really could step off into the void with no effort at all.

You can walk in the trough of an older (and a lot lower) iron bridge widely held to be a sort of prototype of that one, at Longdon-on-Tern on the defunct Shrewsbury canal.

Image

it's Grade I listed and the canal as a whole is an outside bet for eventual restoration one day.

Somewhere says it's at reference SJ616156, if that's a place. It's here in the red oval thing if anyone is passing, probably fleeing Telford. You can walk to it, there's a footpath, before the "on" in the writing on the map, IIRC.
Image
The tunnels are quite scary too.
Especially with a big f.ck-off 72 foot lump of steel heading for you with a driver who can't see f.ck all coming in out of the sun.
Just tell 'em I'm broke and don't come round here no more.

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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by El Pollo Diablo » Tue Nov 19, 2019 3:22 am

Not one of the biggest, but still one of the greatest - the union bridge over the Tweed is the oldest suspension bridge in the world still carrying road traffic (199 years old). I haven't been but I'd really like to. Its a fine testament to British engineering.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Bridge_(Tweed)
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Re: Worlds Greatest Bridges

Post by Boustrophedon » Tue Nov 19, 2019 7:59 am

Not this bridge in France obviously.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... 1574090086

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