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Eric Thayer/Reuters
This public art project is the brainchild of Olafur Eliasson. Four different waterfalls were installed in New York Harbor; pictured here is the Brooklyn Bridge. The waterfall churns 2.1 million gallons of water per hour.
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Reuters Photographer
Sydney, Australia is the first major city to celebrate the New Year. The Sydney Harbour Bridge provides a gorgeous backdrop for the tremendous fireworks display that kicks off at the stroke of midnight on January 1.
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Reuters Photographer
The Peace Bridge connects Buffalo, New York in the United States and Fort Erie, Ontario in Canada. The bridge was named to honor 100 years of peace between the U.S. and Canada.
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Reuters Photographer
The Golden Gate Bridge spans the San Francisco Bay, connecting San Francisco to Marin County. Painted the official color "international orange," the bridge blends into its surroundings while remaining visible in the frequently foggy bay area. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most recognizable bridges in the world, and has become a worldwide symbol of both San Francisco and California.
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REUTERS
Driving across the Millau Viaduct in southern France is “close to flying,” says its chief architect, Lord Norman Foster, and you can see why. The bridge (which stretches a mile and a half) soars above the Tarn River at a top height of 1,125 feet: That's 62 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower and 379 feet higher than the Golden Gate Bridge. Built in 2004 to connect superhighways between Paris and Barcelona, the bridge features transparent aerodynamic windscreens to protect cars from blowing off. Honeymooners flock to the village of Millau below to enjoy gazing up at a little bit of heaven.
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Each June, villagers near Cuzco, Peru, spin bundles of stiff coya grass into 7,000 yards of rope to rebuild the last existing Incan rope bridge. Just as their ancestors did, they braid new cables from the grass, string them over the Apurímac River, and wind them around stones sunk into the gorge. Finally, the cables are meticulously balanced, then blessed. The structure was functional for nearly five centuries after the Spanish conquest, carrying both foot passengers and beasts of burden. Today, the yearly renovation is more an act of love; a steel bridge nearby is now the way across.
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JEFF WHEELER/MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE/ZUMA PRESS
On August 1, 2007, the I-35W highway bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis gave way. Approximately 110 vehicles were on the center span at the time; 17 plunged into the water. Thirteen people died, 145 were injured, and millions of dollars in damage was done. Undersized gusset plates on the main trusses of the bridge may have been to blame for the failure, and since then, three other Minnesota crossings have been shut down for similar faults. Says James Oberstar, a Minnesota Congressman, “Our nation is living with a serious infrastructure deficit,” with broad implications: Some 460 other steel deck truss bridges are listed in the National Bridge Inventory.
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JOHNSON SPACE CENTER/NASA
Photos taken by NASA satellites show a sandy string of rock formations linking India and Sri Lanka. An ancient bridge? To some eyes, yes-devotees believe it's evidence of how the Hindu god Ram and his army of warrior monkeys journeyed to Sri Lanka to claim his wife. To the Indian government, the photos are an awful nuisance, as authorities would like to blast a shipping channel through the strait and are now hung up by religious challenges. Environmentalists are on the devotees' side, treasuring the 30 miles of shoals for their pearl oysters and sea fans, while fishermen say the barrier reef saved them from the 2004 tsunami. The debate about god and nature will likely continue-while the trade route remains stalled in court.
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