NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
The bridges to make ‘The World’s Most Spectacular Bridges’ list have been crowned by National Geographic Travel.
There are 12 included from around world that are sure to have adventure-seekers, engineers, bikers and romantics checking them off their bucket lists.
From the fairytale-esque Die Rakotzbrucke in Kromlau, Germany to the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy - would you pay these bridges a visit?
Nicknamed the ‘Devil’s Bridge’, the 19th century bridge is nestled in the fairytale setting of Kromlau Park.
Commissioned by Friedrich Hermann Rotschke in 1860, the bridge has become a spectacle amongst the park’s visitors as its specific design creates a circle when its reflected in the water below.
NATIONAL GEGRAPHIC
From the fairytale-esque Die Rakotzbrucke in Kromlau, Germany to the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy - would you pay these bridges a visit?
Paddington Basin isn’t like any ordinary office development in the capital. Created in 2004, Heatherwick Studio’s Rolling Bridge gives city commuters and tourists access to the Grand Union Canal.
The bridge’s eerily quiet hydraulics were inspired by Stan Winston’s animatronic dinosaur tails from the film Jurassic Park, writes Caitlin Atherton for National Geographic.
The bridge mimics a caterpillar unravelling after opening to let boat traffic through.
Known as Q’eswachaka, the bridge is among the last handwoven Incan bridges.
It’s made of woven grass and spans a massive 118 feet, hanging 60 feet above the river.
Every June, local bridge builders gather to untie the existing bridge and weave a new one out of local ishu grass. A traditional song and dance then takes place.
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Rakotzbruckes - Commissioned by Friedrich Hermann Rötschke in 1860
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Located in Randa, the bridge is the longest hanging bridge for pedestrian use in the world.
It offers hikers a jaw-dropping experience, spanning 494 metres and running 85 metres above ground level at its highest point.
While the bridge is free to access, it may be one for those afraid of heights to avoid as you can se through the grating you walk along.
Carrying both US Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait, the suspension bridge has been been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Rather than walking along the bridge sidewalk you can now enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the bridge from Hawk Hill’s new trail or while whale watching on a deck trampoline as you sail beneath the bridge at sunset.
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Made of cut and sunken stones, the bridge stretches across the Tuojiang River in China’s Phoenix Ancient Town.
It may be a challenge for some walkers, but the surrounding views have been described as second to none.
Like the name suggests, the bridge it made out of Indian rubber tree roots and is said to be able to support the weight of 50 people at once.
The double-decker bridge is soon to be a triple-decker one and is expected to survive several hundred more years.
Passing over the Rio di Palazzo, the bridge is made of white limestone and was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment.
The bridge’s name was given by the poet Lord Byron to suggest that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.
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