Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bridges

Cee has requested bridges for her Fun Foto Challenge this week, so not to be let out of the fun, I went in search of a few bridges which I’ve either crossed or passed underneath.

My absolute favourites are the New England covered bridges which I have posted before, but some of you may have missed them. I’d always wanted to go ‘leaf peeping’ in the  Fall, and a few years ago my wish came true. Having read and wept over the book and the movie, “Bridges of Madison County” of course I needed to visit a few of these bridges which in my mind had such romantic connotations.

I was surprised to find that some of them were quite small and not much bigger than a single garage.

This is a much longer one, and it was rather dark and a bit eerie inside.

You might be wondering why the bridges are covered. I found an explanation which said that the trusses of the bridge are made of heavy timber, and these are the expensive part of the bridge. If they fall apart due to exposure to the elements, then the bridge is finished. An unprotected wooden bridge will last maybe ten years, but if it’s covered, it can last for centuries.

Whilst I’m showing you cute bridges, let me include this one in West Sussex, England. The country lanes are so narrow, and so the bridges are quite small across. They’re also not very high, hence the height warning for trucks. We did once see one that had got stuck underneath. 🙂

This one in Barcelona, connecting two buildings across the street, is even cuter. I believe this is called a skyway.

This one over the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok is much bigger, being 658 metres long.

Italy has some of the most gorgeous bridges I’ve seen, and the Ponte Vecchio in Florence goes way back to Roman times.

Venice of course needs many bridges, and they are all absolutely charming, although it must take a lot of practice and skill to maneuver the tradesmen’s barges underneath them.

Here in South Africa, we have the ‘Nelson Mandela Bridge’ which is over the railway lines at the Johannesburg Train Station.

Just up the road from where I live, is the ‘Millennium Bridge’. Stainless steel has been used in its construction, because resistance to corrosion is vital to such a structure, which is permanently exposed to the harsh coastal conditions here.

There are so many bridges on the drive up to my sister’s house, the most notable of which is known as ‘Spaghetti Junction’. I’m sure you can see why. A few years ago, a truck on one of the bridges, jack-knifed, and part of the horse and trailer fell onto the road beneath, with one of the containers landing right in front of someone’s car. Fortunately the driver of the car was able to slam on brakes in time.

My last bridge, also on the way to my sister’s, is the bridge to nowhere at the moment. This is as far as this new interchange has progressed in two years. It’s anyone’s guess when it will be completed.  (TIA)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my bridges, and hope you will visit Cee’s blog to see the bridges she’s posted for the challenge.