10 Impressive Bridges From Around The World

The Rolling Bridge in London, England

Designed by Thomas Heatherwick it’s a circular sculpture at Paddington Basin, London, which uses hydraulic rams to uncurl into a 12-metre (40ft) long pedestrian bridge. You can watch a video of the bridge in action here. To see it open live, you need to be there any Friday at midday.

Bridge Pavilion in Zaragoza, Spain.

The Bridge Pavilion is a building designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid that was constructed for the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza (Spain) as one of its main landmarks. The new bridge is, at the same time, a multi-level exhibition area; 10,000 visitors per hour are expected to frequent the Pavilion of the world exhibition.

When the Expo was over, the building was purchased by the local savings bank Ibercaja to use it as a site for expositions.link

Wind & Rain Bridge in Chengyang, China

Since the bridge shields people from wind, rain and sunshine, it is called the wind-and-rain Bridge, or sometimes “the flower bridge”. On the bridge, there is a long corridor as rain shelter, and there are benches on both sides as well for people rest, socialize, exchange ideas, and even amuse. link

Khaju Bridge in Isfahan, Iran.

This is Khaju Bridge in Isfahan, which was made about 400 years ago. The Persian Safavid king, Shah Abbas II, built it on the foundations of an older bridge in the 17th century. The bridge also serves as a dam, with sluice gates under the archways.link

Sanhao Bridge in Shenyang, China

The 1,342 meter-long bridge is deemed the most beautiful bridge in the city, with two arches designed like wings of a butterfly. link

Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge in São Paulo, Brazil

The bridge deck is unusual due to its form, which is similar to an “X”, crossing at the tower and it is the only bridge in the world that has two curved tracks supported by a single concrete mast.The bridge is also lit up on special occasions during the year and is often used for automobile advertisements on television. link

Juscelino Kubitschek bridge in Brasilia, Brazil

The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge has three distinctive arches, and its curve design was intentionally made to avoid a “boring travel” for drivers and pedestrians along the bridge. This unique layout promotes different city and lake views, as well as discourages high speed driving.link

Helix Bridge in Singapore

Designed by Cox Rayner Architects, the Helix Bridge is the world’s first bridge in the form of an interlocking double helix, and also utilizes lights to highlight its unique structure. The bridge has viewing platforms, and also serves as a gallery.link

The Incredible Bridge Constructed from Paper

Can paper be strong enough to build a bridge? Japanese architect Shigeru Ban says yes.14 architecture students and architect Shigeru Ban proved that the impossible can be done: In just one month, they built a bridge made of paper and cardboard that could hold up to 20 people at a time.

Altogether, they used 281 cardboard tubes, each 4 inches in diameter. The bridge’s steps were made from recycled paper and the foundation from wooden boxes filled with sand.link

Max Pritchard’s Bridge House

Houses don’t have to sit on standard foundations; it can be a lot less damaging to the terrain if you put them up in the air. Australian architect Max Pritchard built a lovely 1184 square foot house as a bridge over a stream.

“The owners didn’t want a large house, but they had a definite idea for its location,” says Pritchard, referring to the sloping bank overlooking a creek and waterhole. “I saw problems, in that I felt a structure would spoil the unique beauty of the site and it also would be difficult to achieve desirable solar orientation.”…“By designing the house as a bridge across the creek,” he says, “impact on the site is minimized.” link