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In 1940, an insurance agent sold an $800K policy on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and secretly pocketed the premium, believing the new bridge to be indestructible. The bridge collapsed spectacularly 4 months after opening, and the agent was jailed for fraud.
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A bridge in Ireland that was designed to swing open for ships couldn’t be opened for four years because someone lost the remote control.
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In 1968 US businessman Robert P McCulloch bought London Bridge for $2,460,000 plus shipping costs of around $240,000 and moved it to the Arizona desert. Instead of applying the 11% import tax for granite, US customs declared the 137-year-old bridge to be an “antique” and therefore duty-free.
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In 1998, Honduras finished building a large bridge over the river Choluteca. In the same year, flooding from Hurricane Mitch rerouted the river Choluteca, so now the bridge goes over dry land.
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As a kid, did you ever think using giant LEGO bricks to build houses and stuff would be cool? Well, people driving through the Wuppertal, Germany, are living the dream.
Sort of.
A few years ago, the city commissioned German street artist Martin Heuwold of MegX to turn one of its concrete (and thus dull) overpasses into a work of art. And what he did was a stroke of genius – he transformed the train overpass to look like it’s been made out of giant, colorful LEGO pieces.
The city did have to cordon off the overpass from traffic while MegX worked, but just imagine everyone’s surprise when after the barriers came down, and they could drive under a bridge of LEGOs!
To be clear, though the result looks like mega pieces of LEGO, but is actually entirely paint.
The idea came from his two daughters, who loved playing with LEGOs. He approached The LEGO Group for permission (copyright is so pesky), which, of course, they gave gladly. Then, for the next few weeks, he and his crew painted and shaded the 2,700 square-foot bridge to create the incredibly realistic display.
It’s called the Lego-Brücke, which means Lego Bridge. In 2012, the structure was awarded the Deutscher Fassadenpreis Advancement Prize.
To see all the images of the Lego Bridge, both completed and while in progress, visit the artist on his Instagram page. He has all sorts of wild and colorful projects there to check out.
Seems as if MegX is on a mission to take the dull and utilitarian and transform it into something mega-delightful.
The post An Artist Painted This Bridge to Look like LEGO Bricks appeared first on UberFacts.
The world’s shortest international bridge is 3.2 meters long. It connects Spain and Portugal.
Rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure has been a big talking point among politicians over the past several years, but it doesn’t seem like any real action is ever taken.
And the news isn’t getting any better. A new report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association revealed that more than 47,000 bridges in the U.S. are in bad condition and need urgent repairs. The organization estimates that it would take 80 years to repair all the bridges in the U.S. that are deficient.
Stillwater Bridge, MN
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The term “structurally deficient” doesn’t necessarily mean that a bridge is in danger of collapsing, but it does mean that a bridge needs repairs and renovations. Clearly that’s not a good thing.
Alison Black, the chief economist for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, said, “In addition to those bridges that are structurally deficient, about 4 out of 10 bridges across the country need some sort of major rehabilitation work. So unfortunately, it’s not just these 47,000 structures that need to be fixed.”
Arlington Memorial Bridge, VA
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The report says that the deficient bridges in the U.S. are crossed 178 million times each day. Many notable bridges are on the “structurally deficient” list, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Arlington Memorial Bridge that connects Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia, and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge that stretches across the San Francisco Bay.
San Mateo Bridge, CA
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
To add insult to injury, 2018 saw the slowest rate of repairs in five years. According to Black, “There’s not a lot of new money. It really is just keeping pace with project costs and inflation. I think if we saw a significant increase in the federal funding side of this that would really go a long way to help states that are trying to provide some of these repairs and fix these bridges.”
Let’s all hope that our local, state, and national politicians can work together to repair our infrastructure and ensure the safety of the millions of Americans who drive across these bridges each and every day.
The post Startling Report Finds the U.S. Has Over 47,000 Bridges That Are “Structurally Deficient” appeared first on UberFacts.
Still planning on where to take your summer vacation? You might want to consider heading to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where the longest suspension bridge in the United States is set to open soon.
The Gatlinburg SkyBridge is located in that town’s SkyLift Park, and, from photos and videos of it, it looks like it’ll be incredible.
The bridge offers amazing views of the Smoky Mountains, is 680 feet across and 140 feet high.
The SkyLift takes tourists from the center of Gatlinburg to the top of Crockett Mountain and back, where they can enjoy a restaurant, a bar, and a gift shop.
It looks amazing! Unless you’re afraid of heights…
Posted by Gatlinburg SkyLift Park on Thursday, January 10, 2019
Judging by social media posts, it looks like the SkyBridge will open in either April or May. Just in time for tourist season!
The post America’s Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge is Set to Open Soon appeared first on UberFacts.
It’s always a terrible sight to see a dead animal on the highway, whether it’s a deer, coyote, dog, cat, armadillo, or whatever. Unfortunately, we’ve built endless ribbons of roads through wilderness (aka, the homes of animals) and that is just part of everyday life. It’s estimated that roads affect one-fifth of the ecology of the entire United States and that vehicle collisions with animals cost $8 BILLION per year.
Of course, you’ve seen the “Deer Xing” signs and other notices for animals that might be in a particular area, but those warnings can only do so much. That is why animal overpasses and underpasses are so important to maintaining animal habitats and saving the lives of all kinds of creatures – not to mention the hoods of our cars.
Photo Credit: Reddit
The trend started in France in the 1950s, and Europe remains a trendsetter for animal bridges. The Netherlands alone has 66 bridges scattered throughout the country to protect their wildlife, like the one you can see above. Below is an example of an animal bridge in Belgium:
Photo Credit: Reddit
The trend has taken hold in the United States and Canada over the past 30 years. The bridges and underpasses come in all shapes and sizes and are specifically designed for each ecosystem. Here is an example from New Jersey.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Here are some other great examples from across the globe. One from Germany.
Photo Credit: Reddit
One from Montana.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Alberta, Canada.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Here’s a video about the animal crossings in Banff National Park in Canada that will give you some more insight into how important this trend really is.
Now this is a trend we can all get behind in a big way.
The post People are Building Bridges for Animals to Safely Cross Freeways appeared first on UberFacts.
Despite ancient Roman bridges being the first large and lasting bridges ever built, many are still used despite being around 2,000 years old.
#Repost @streetartnews with @make_repost ・・・ The work of MegX in Germany
. Coming later this spring! Check out the full video here: https://youtu.be/ABS5NNz2PGo #gatlinburgskylift #gatlinburgskybridge
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