A bridge used to be a purely pragmatic structure. It needed to be steady and reliable to bring the rational convenience of the area to a whole new level. But thanks to the panhuman craving for beauty and aesthetics, the unremarkable pieces of infrastructure were able to turn into art pieces.
We’d like to share with you the ones that do not just please the eye or satisfy the pragmatic needs but truly stand out. Here is our list of the top 5 unique bridges from all across the globe.
The Moses Bridge
The story of the Moses bridge is not so much a religious one. Yes, certain associations come to mind when we see a waterbody divided by a path. While Moses did impossible to save his travel companions by creating a passage in the Red Sea with a single move of his arm, the Dutch architects did what they could to save the integrity of a historic site.
The area where the Moses bridge is located used to be a fortress (Fort de Roovere) surrounded by moats. When it was time to do some restoration work, the architects needed to cross the water. Instead of making a shortcut and building a regular bridge, they decided to invest their time and effort into constructing a one-of-a-kind trench bridge. The architects wanted the place to keep its historically harmonious look, with no contemporary detail sticking out too much.
The thoughtful team succeeded, even though it was not that easy: they had to take care of waterproofing the wood with foil and pumping extra water out when it rains. On top of that, they created another fascinating site for us and future generations to admire.
📌The Moses bridge, Halsteren, Netherlands:
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge
We have something to confess. Our list is far from being objective; we have our personal favorite. It is the Gateshead Millennium Bridge over the River Tyne, without a doubt!
Its nickname might hint at what is so special about it. Apparently, the Gateshead Millennium bridge reminds the locals of a blinking eye, and that’s why the structure is also known as the Tyne Blinking (Winking) Eye bridge.
Not only does it look contemporary and sharp:
But it also blinks. Literally.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is the first tilting bridge in the world. It was designed for cyclists and pedestrians, but it also must allow the river traffic to pass underneath. So, the engineers found a way to use 6 hydraulic rams to tilt the entire load of 850,000 kilograms as a single structure.
The Gateshead Millennium bridge is a unique combination of an engineering marvel and an architectural eye candy. If you ever have a chance to see the tilting structure over the Tyne river, don’t miss it, and tell us everything about it, we beg of you.
📌The Gateshead Millennium bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK:
The ‘Curl-and-Roll’ Bridge (officially known as the Rolling Bridge)
Mr. Thomas Heatherwick, an English designer whose projects have been adding style and identity to many places and events all around the world, conceived a truly extraordinary bridge.
The Rolling bridge at the Grand Union Canal (Paddington) in London is a transformer: it rolls into a ball as easily as a hedgehog and curls as neatly as a scorpion’s tail.
But enough talking. No words will ever paint the picture colorful and accurate enough: you just have to see this bridge in action. If you are not anywhere near the Paddington area, London, why not check out the Youtube video?
📌The Rolling bridge, London, UK:
‘The Bridge of Kisses’
This Russian bridge might look much less impressive than all our earlier picks. We didn’t choose it for beauty or engineering genius. In this case, it’s the story behind the structure over the Moyka river that counts. And the irony.
For decades, the Bridge of Kisses in Saint Petersburg has been a sacred place for couples and newlyweds. They have believed that:
- if you are saying goodbye and want the separation to be as short as possible, you should kiss your loved one in the middle of the bridge;
- if you want your love to last, take your sweetheart to the bridge and try crossing it and kissing at the same time (the longer your lips don’t part, the longer you will be together);
- if you want your marriage to be as solid as a chunk of metal, put a lock on the Bridge of Kisses on your wedding day.
The couples of Saint Petersburg have believed all those things and have been following the traditions.
How did the bridge get its fame as a Love Guardian? There have been a couple of versions. Some people say that the bridge is located right by the city’s old exit. That is why there was a lot of kissing: the people, leaving or arriving, were saying their hellos and goodbyes to their loved ones. According to another speculation, the bridge was associated with kisses because there used to be a city prison near it — another potential center of frequent emotional scenes.
Not long ago, some historians discovered that the bridge actually got its name after a man whose surname sounded like the Russian word ‘Kisses’ (Potseluev). He was a famous person in the city as he owned a popular pub next to the bridge. The locals called the pub by the owner’s surname, and then the habit extended to the nearby bridge.
We don’t know what is more ironic: that the pub owner happened to have such a romantic surname or that people tend to alter facts to look and sound closer to what they would like the reality to be.
Nevertheless, we find the story rather amusing and are happy to see such wonderful little traditions and beliefs appear because of a bridge.
If you are in Saint Petersburg with your sweetheart, you know the best place for a long kiss. Here are the coordinates.
📌The Bridge of Kisses (the Potseluev bridge), Saint Petersburg, Russia:
Living Root Bridges
All the bridges we have listed above would not exist if it wasn’t for the brilliance of human minds and the skill of hands. The bridges we are going to talk about in our final paragraph appeared thanks to the partnership with the world’s ultimate architect — nature. Probably, this is why they leave a much deeper impression.
Indian villages have more than a hundred living root bridges, and recently the authorities have asked to add them to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites. We hope they will succeed, as the bridges are more than unique. Their history, structure, and beauty deserve to be looked out for.
📌Living Root bridges, the state of Meghalaya, India:
