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Frequently passing under bridges for a living and over them in the family sedan we, like most mariners, have a fascination with bridge design. In fact one of the most popular posts on gCaptain is “The 5 Most Ambitious Bridge Designs Of Today“. Today we bring you a great link from the Bridge and Tunnel Authority of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania titled “A Spotter’s Guide To Bridge Design“. Here’s a preview:

A cantilever is a structural member which projects beyond its support and is supported at only one end. Cantilever bridges are constructed using trusses, beams, or girders. Employing the cantilever principles allows structures to achieve spans longer than simple spans of the same superstructure type. They may also include a suspended span which hangs between the ends of opposing cantilever arms.

Some bridges which appear to be arch type are, in fact, cantilever truss. These may be identified by the diagonal braces which are used in the open spandrel. A true arch bridge relies on vertical members to transfer the load to the arch. Pratt and Warren bracing are among the most commonly used truss types.

The classic cantilever design is the through truss which extends above the deck. Some have trusses which extend both above and below the deck. The truss configuration will vary.

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A video on building the World’s Largest Suspension Bridge…. in an earthquake zone.

Photo by Peter MacDonald

Here at gCaptain we are interested in all things we can drive our ships over, under or through… this includes bridges. Our friends at Deputy Dog bring us the world’s most interesting bridge. Ok, it’s not really a bridge but its location (map) at the north end of the Malacca Straight makes it of particular interest to mariners. Click HERE for more information and the video!

Hot on the heels of our featured stories “5 Most Ambitious Bridge Designs of Today” and “Windoc Incident - Story Behind YouTube’s Most Chilling Video” our digg friend msaleem points us to this post titled. “Most Horrific Bridge Collapses of Past 100 Years”

The article contains many pictures and can be found HERE.

History is littered with bridges designed to do the impossible. One example, Euroroute (pictured above), would literally take drivers through the White Cliffs of Dover to an island five miles into the English Channel where a tunnel would bring drivers the twenty remaining miles to France. This bridge was never built of course but the dream existed.

Today bridges are being designed that would cast shadows over Euroroute’s proposed span. Here’s what is being planned.

Fehmarn Belt Bridge

Fehmarn Belt Bridge: Germany and Denmark have agreed upon building a 19km long bridge in between the two countries in the Fehmarn Belt region, and in that way shorten the trip between Scandinavia and central Europe. The construction of the bridge will be financed mostly by Denmark, with 4.8 billion euros, and Germany with 800 million Euros. The bridge will have two levels, one for road traffic, and one for rail. The start of construction is expected in 2011, and its opening in 2018. (Source: Javno)

Bering Strait Bridge

Bering Strait Bridge: The 55 mile long bridge across the Bering Strait would connect Asia and North America for the first time since the continents touched each other. At an estimated cost of 15 to 25 billion dollars this proposal is not only expensive but fraught with challenge. Ice breakup after each winter is violent and would destroy normal bridge piers. Specially shaped massive piers along the ocean floor would be needed to keep the bridge stable. (video - Map)

Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge

Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge: Being situated at the waters of Lingdingyang of Pearl River Estuary, is a large sea crossing linking the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province and Macao Special Administrative Region. The functions of the bridge is to meet the demand of passenger and freight land transport among Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macao, to establish a new land transport link between the east and west coasts of the Pearl River, and to enhance the economic and sustainable development in the three places. (Source: Hong Kong Highways Dept.)

Strait of Gibraltar Bridge

Strait of Gibraltar Bridge: One of the great challenges to the bridge and structural engineering profession is the design and construction of a fixed bridge spanning the Strait of Gibraltar. Several engineers have advanced designs for the Gibraltar Bridge on various alignments and with differing structural configurations but it was Professor T.Y. Lin’s proposal that captured the attention of the world. This design is different. With its 14km length, deep piers, and unprecedented 5000 meter spans Lin’s proposed crossing is innovative but, considering an estimated cost of over 15 Billion dollars and the lack of approval for this nearly 10 year old design, we doubt it will ever be built.

Straight Of Gibraltar Island Bridge

Straight Of Gibraltar Island Bridge: Eugene Tsui, a US architect has an alternative idea for the Straight Of Gibraltar, in fact it could become the longest bridge in the world spanning the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the continents of Europe and Africa. This revolutionary design does not resemble any existing bridge and features an original floating and submerging concept while creating a three mile wide floating island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. From this newly created island a person could view both the European and African continents for the first time in human history. If construction ever begins it will be the biggest architectural project in the world. (Source: tdrinc

The following bridge proposals are in so new that we could not locate any design drawings but you don’t need the drawings to grasp their awesome size:

Sunda Strait Bridge

The Sunda Strait Bridge is a planned road and railway connection between the two Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. After years of discussion and planning, eventually in October 2007 the Indonesian government gave the initial go-ahead for what will become the world’s longest suspension bridge, across the 26km (16mi) Sunda Strait. The $10bn project is for a series of bridges carrying a six lane highway and double track railway traversing three islands. The project’s greatest challenge is the fact that the strait lies in one of the world’s most dangerous earthquake zones. Sumatra is frequently rocked by significant tremors and more than 230,000 people were killed when a 9.0-magnitude quake in December 2004 triggered a tsunami. Many active volcanoes lies in the area, including Krakatoa only 40km away. (Source: Wikipedia - Map)

Qatar Bahrain Friendship Bridge

Look at a map of the world, and Qatar and Bahrain are so close that you would assume there was a ferry crossing between the two gulf countries. In fact, there is no way to enter the country except for a round trip through Saudi. The Bahrain-Qatar bridge, at 40 kilometres long, will be the longest bridge in the world, and it is estimated that it will take over four years to complete. Due to its length, the causeway will not consist of a single bridge but of a number of roads on dams connected by individual bridges, with a central island in the middle of the causeway. The has been planned for many years, but talks and plans have been moving ahead in recent months and work is now planned to start in May 2008. (Source: Qatar Visitor | Feasibility Study)

Millau Bridge

While these bridges are challenging, expensive and some are unlikely to be constructed the most impressive of the bunch is already built! Meet France’s Millau Bridge:

Millau Bridge: Towering 1,125ft above the Tarn Valley in southern France, driving along the Millau Bridge, the largest cable-stayed vehicular bridge in the world, is said to feel like flying. This Foster + Partners marvel is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower, took three years to build and opened to the public in 2004. While it may provide picturesque views of the valley below, once the mist descends it is not a route for the faint hearted! The Millau Bridge has a total length of 8,071ft with the longest single span at 1,122ft and a maximum clearance below of 886ft; in short the bridge is massively impressive both on paper and in real life. The deck is lofted on 7 pylons and weighs 36,000 tonnes. A series of 7 masts, each 292ft tall and weighing 700 tonnes, are attached to the corresponding pylons. (Source: Frikoo | Construction Photos)

MarineBuzz points us to Norway’s plan to build a One Nautical Mile long tunnel for ships. Reuters tells us:

Norway has drawn up plans to build the world’s first shipping tunnel which would save time and money for vessels passing through a coastal area known for its dangerous seas.

Strong winds, high waves and powerful currents in the area of Stad on the southwest coast of Norway cause long delays while ships wait for calmer conditions.

The tunnel, estimated to cost around $310 million and take five years to build, would cut through a peninsula, saving ships the risky journey around the coastline. Continue Reading…

While the concept isn’t new, France has been building tunnels for barges since the 19th century,  this is the first tunnel of it’s size. Head over to Marine Buzz for more photos and information.

MarineBuzz points us to Norway’s plan to build a One Nautical Mile long tunnel for ships. Reuters tells us:

Norway has drawn up plans to build the world’s first shipping tunnel which would save time and money for vessels passing through a coastal area known for its dangerous seas.

Strong winds, high waves and powerful currents in the area of Stad on the southwest coast of Norway cause long delays while ships wait for calmer conditions.

The tunnel, estimated to cost around $310 million and take five years to build, would cut through a peninsula, saving ships the risky journey around the coastline. Continue Reading…

While the concept isn’t new, France has been building tunnels for barges since the 19th century, this is the first tunnel of it’s size. Head over to Marine Buzz for more photos and information.

UPDATE: BoatingSF has a new animation that can be found here: COSCO BUSAN’S TRACK - UPDATED

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Our friend John of VesselTrax.com submitted this link to our Maritime News Discoverer. Click on the picture below and watch as the Cosco Busan leaves the dock and embarks on its fateful voyage.

From BoatingSF.com:

Path of the Cosco Busan Hitting the Bay Bridge

The animation below shows the Cosco Busan as it leaves the Port of Oakland on November 7, 2007, and hits the Bay Bridge at 8:30 am on its way to the Golden Gate.

The Cosco Busan is the bright red arrow. (Hover over a ship to see its information.)

You can see that the ship was traveling at an acute angle to the bridge and then turned sharply, directly into the center tower of the bridge. (The towers are highlighted with red dots to make them more visible.)

No cleanup ships show up in our AIS records. It is not clear whether they arrived later, did not have their AIS transponders on, or if for some reason our receiver did not detect their signals. (Coast Guard ships generally do not turn on their AIS transponders, so they do not show up.)

Click here for FULL ANIMATION

Stay Tuned as our licensed ship captain John Konrad is preparing a play-by-play video of this AIS data. In the meantime CLICK HERE for the SFGate’s excellent coverage of the incident.

UPDATE 2:

You can find a complete article on how this animation was made HERE.

In light of the Minnesota bridge collapse I wanted to share the mayday called immediately following the Skyway Bridge Collapse on May 9th 1980.

The Transcript from the Mayday Call: [Continue Reading →]

After five years and over $700 million dollars the new Tacoma Narrows bridge opens to traffic today. It is the longest bridge constructed in the US since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, a bridge close to us as my grandfather was the first person to cross as a Captain in the FDNY. We only hope it is more successful than the first attempt in 1940 shown in the video below:

[Continue Reading →]