June 23, 2013 - A Harp of a Bridge

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Puente del Alamillo (Alamillo Bridge)
Designed by Santiago Calatrava
Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Señor Calatrava designed and built this bridge, and one other, for the 1992 Expo (World's Fair) on La Cartuja Island in Seville, Spain.

The bridge crosses the Guadalquivir River, connecting the old quarter of Seville with the island. Construction on the bridge began in 1989 and was completed in 1992.

Type: Cantilever spar cable-stayed.
The deck is secured by a single, cabled pylon angled at 58 degrees.
Span: 200 meters

Details, and another good images, via About.com Architecture

Image via PatsSoxfan

More great images at Amazing Wallpapers[/SIZE]

Beautiful!

The roadway in Seville is running almost due east/west,
so there wasn't much of an opportunity to make it into a sundial.

But a near-copy design was built a few years later outside
Redding, California where the walkway does run due north/south.
Some nice photos of this "Sundial Bridge" over the Sacramento River are here ...
.

Lamplighter;868698 wrote:

But a near-copy design was built a few years later outside Redding, California where the walkway does run due north/south. Some nice photos of this "Sundial Bridge" over the Sacramento River are here ...
.

Beautiful and very elegant. I had no idea we had such works of art in our "backyard." It is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it might be worth a [long] drive to check it out someday.



We live across the bay from San Francisco and are anxiously awaiting the opening of our own new bridge.



This is what happened during an earthquake, which is why we are getting this:

While 95% of a bridge is still zero bridges, that does look like a remarkably contained bit of damage.

If I recall correctly someone actually ate it on that failure. That was the work of the Loma Prieta earthquake

Of course the new lovely bridge above is the one where 30 of the foot-in-diameter, 20 foot long bolts have snapped while they were torquing them down. DOH!

If you are into unique bridges, there are 25 images of "Amazing Bridges" here.

The "humble" Sundial is #16, and Seville's Alamillo is #23.
IMO, the one with the highest "cute" factor is # 5,
...London's "Rolling Bridge, but these 25 are quite amazing.

There's a cool pedestrian bridge in Freiburg Germany. It's a suspension bridge that's got a concrete walkway that follows the supporting cables instead of hanging from them.

I've got a picture around here somewhere...

Here it is. See those curves? Definite suspension bridge.

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Doesn't "to suspend" mean "to hang?"

Okay, dictionary.com says: "a bridge that has a deck suspended by cables or rods from other cables or chains that hang between two towers and are anchored at both ends"

So, how can it be suspended by cables underneath? Sounds like a "tension" bridge. ?

SPUCK;868742 wrote:

Of course the new lovely bridge above is the one where 30 of the foot-in-diameter, 20 foot long bolts have snapped while they were torquing them down. DOH!

At one point I heard they were going to leave the bolts in place and replace them as they snapped. Scary!

They are still talking about getting it done early so the contractor can get a huge bonus.

In any event, they are sure it will be finished by the grand opening on Labor Day weekend.

I think I'll give it a few months before I trust driving across. :p:

Lamplighter;868744 wrote:

If you are into unique bridges, there are 25 images of "Amazing Bridges" here.

#1 and #3 are spectacular! Thanks for sharing!

I live in Redding..moved here from SF. Not really the middle of nowhere but then again not close to much either..lol.. The bridge is nice but not worth the drive from the Bay Area...if you make the drive enjoy our lakes and mountains..that is where the real beauty is in my backyard.

NorCal

glatt;868748 wrote:

There's a cool pedestrian bridge in Freiburg Germany. It's a suspension bridge that's got a concrete walkway that follows the supporting cables instead of hanging from them.

I've got a picture around here somewhere...

Here it is. See those [SIZE="5"]curves[/SIZE]? Definite suspension bridge.

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pop quiz

Name that curve.

Just because I think it's a neat word... conchoid

good news, it's a neat word

bad news, it has nothing to do with that curve.

Aw, think of all the disappointment out there in all those conch communities :cry:

It's a catenary.

So named for the cat-that-ate-the-canary

SPUCK;869867 wrote:

It's a catenary.

so. close.

but, it's not. at one time, that would also have been my first guess. As it stands, the curve is a parabola, not a catenary curve. Here's the explanation.

Interesting. I really didn't think it was a catenary since it had the concrete loading it.