'Great Bridges of the
World' Extended by Popular Demand
Published: 1
September 2009
Following a hugely popular summer
activity, the most famous bridge in the world is continuing a
spectacular display of full colour, large-scale photographs which
celebrate the highest achievements of the bridge-builder’s art.
'Great Bridges of the World' is housed in the panoramic
high-level West Walkway of Tower Bridge - itself the most famous
bascule bridge in the world.
Twenty-two giants of the genre are featured in the exhibition,
each of which represents a breathtaking feat of engineering, an
architectural tour de force or the realisation of a dream. Images
will be interchanged, with twelve on display at any one time.
Subjects span the centuries, beginning with the Roman Pont du
Gard aqueduct at Nimes, constructed between 40 and 60 A.D. and now
a World Heritage Site. The most contemporary is the audacious
Millau Viaduct on the Paris / Barcelona highway, completed in
2005 - the world’s highest vehicular bridge and a stunning
work or art.
Beautiful, breathtaking, familiar or fantastic, in brick or
timber, steel or stone, many other icons selected for display are
also the first, the highest or the boldest of their kind.
Shropshire’s revolutionary Iron Bridge appears along with
Lucerne’s awesome Kapellbrucke/Chapel Bridge (Europe’s oldest
wooded trestle bridge), the monumental Brooklyn Bridge and Japan’s
six-lane Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the
world. In South Africa, the Bloukrans Bridge (the largest
single-span concrete arch bridge) offers thrill-seekers the
ultimate adrenalin bungee jump while in contrast, Shanghai’s
16th-century Zig-Zag Bridge harnesses the forces of Yin and Yang to
smooth the path to its “garden of quiet joy”.
Great Bridges of the World is included in Tower Bridge
Exhibition admission prices: adults £7, concessions £5, child
£3.