The Three Bridges - 1

Down here, in Sydney, Australia, we are pretty chuffed with our bridge, even more so than with our opera house. But that doesn't necessarily mean it is the best bridge in the whole damned universe. For starters, there are so many TYPES of bridges. Some small village bridges are just wonderful, be they short, be they made from heaped stone. Sydney's bridge is a through arch bridge made of steel, and stone, mostly. A through arch bridge, also known as a half-through arch bridge and through-type arch bridge, is a bridge made from materials such as steel or reinforced concrete in which the base of an arch structure is below the deck, but the top rises above it, so the deck passes through the arch. Cables or beams in tension suspend the central part of the deck from the arch.

This image of Hell Gate Bridge was taken by Dave Frieder.

Here are three through arch bridges, chosen because I have read time and again, that they are similar, or even that they are modelled one upon the other. The first image is the Sydney Harbour Bridge spanning Port Jackson, opened in 1932, and being 503 metres in length. The second image is the Hell Gate Bridge, over the East River in New York City, opened in 1916, and being 298 metres in length. The third image is the Tyne Bridge over the Tyne River in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, in the UK, opened in 1928, and being 389 metres in length. I suspect these measurements are apples, and oranges, but what would I know. The longest through arch bridge in the world is the Chaotianmen Bridge, in China, opened in 2009, being 552 metres in length. This is the first of a series of comparative posts about these three bridges.