Bridges - Spanning Urban Architecture with Civil Engineering

I like bridges

Ever since I did a grade school science project involving making bridges out of pasta, I've been fascinated with bridges. They have a long history and represent one of the oldest architectural challenges.

These days, the most impressive bridges tend to be road bridges for cars. However, while driving across, the view often isn't that great. Usually, there are high barriers to help block winds and prevent falling off, and since they are a natural choke point there is plenty of traffic.

It's also impossible to see the entire bridge until you are off on the other side at the island rest stop. The bridge you see here is the Seohae BRidge on the West Sea Highway which spans the channel between Pyeongtaek and Dangjin on the Korean coast. According to the wiki, it was built in 2000, it's 7310m long and 34m wide (6 lanes) with the main span being 470m.

I like crossing it because it reminds me of taking seaside vacations to where the better beaches on this coast are.

This bridge is quite different. It's just a typical orange road bridge in Danyang Korea. It's called Cave bridge and basically it is a giant bridge leading to a lovely cave. The bridge itself is probably best described as a white elephant especially due to other bridges being only a couple of kilometres both up and downstream in each direction. It has hardly any traffic. If there weren't a dam 50km downstream, this channel would be like 10m wide, if that.

This bridge is a typical bridge across the Han River in Seoul. It's called the Gayang Bridge. I just like the view up here. I took the photo from Skypark which is in West Seoul about as far downstream as you can get without leaving the city. It's the site of a former garbage dump (the mountain isn't natural) next to the World Cup stadium.

This is another Seoul bridge spanning the Han RIver which is best viewed from below. It's one of the most well-known, but infamous bridges in the city. It's called the Mapo Bridge. It's most famous because people jump off of it. There used to be all these friendly reminders on the bridge that life is good and you are loved. They used to light up if you touched the railings. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Apparently, suicidal people do not want a light show and meaningless platitudes.

Technically, the bridge is a double bridge. I prefer being under it because it is shady. Also, I like how the parallel piers look like they merge.

I walked across the bridge that day. It's about 1.3km across here. This is what it looks like at the other side. A highway passes under it here. Highways run on bothsides of the Han River through Seoul and there is a huge park also. Naturally, it's a flood plain, so you can't really build here and when it rains a lot it is flooded. You can see some neat stuff if you venture into the underground tunnels, but it's also dangerous.

This bridge is called the Moksang Bridge. I like its simple design and look. This bridge crosses the Ari Canal which connects the Han River to the Sea near North Incheon. You may wonder why there is a canal connecting the river to the sea especially so close to its mouth. Well actually The Han River flows Northwards here to where it meets the Imjin River. That is the border of North Korea, also called the DMZ.

It's not a really good place to be taking a pleasure cruise since the river is mined and there are weirs to prevent torpedos and ships from coming up to Seoul. This canal allows boats to get into the river while avoiding those dangers. Obviously, the cut is deepest around here.

This bridge is called the Yeongjeong Bridge, it's the first large bridge I saw in Korea. It was built in 2000 and connects the Incheon Airport to the mainland. It's a two-level bridge and also includes a railroad on the bottom level. Nowadays there is a second bridge to the South that I use when going to the airport that is much longer, but this bridge is more iconic and hardly a baby at 4420m. Although as you can see it is mostly muddy.

Actually, the reason I took a picture here is not because of the bridge, this is the start of the 4 rivers bike course and the cross-country bike road. I used to live at the far end of Seoul and enjoyed my 70km bike trip through Seoul, Gimpo and Incheon to here, then I would take a subway home.

This is another iconic Korean bridge, however, it's not a Seoul area bridge. This is way down in the South East port city of Busan, Korea's second most famous city. Like the first bridge, this bridge also just spans a few channels to save time and doesn't cross a river or over to an island. It's called the Gwangan Bridge, like the Yeongjeong Bridge, it's also a double-decker bridge, but it only has road traffic. Unlike that bridge, it's a suspension bridge and not one of the more modern fixed-cable bridges. It's 7420m long.

Mainly I like it because there is a beach in front of it. This is Gwangali beach and probably the second most famous beach in Busan after Haeundae beach which is a few kilometres up the coast.

Sorry for the bad quality, this is a really old photo I took back in 2008. I haven't been to Busan recently (last visit was maybe 2014), but I like looking at old photos sometimes.

This bridge isn't at all famous, I just like the angle of the photo. It looks like the cables are coming straight down. But nope, it's a fixed cable suspension bridge and I just got the right angle as I was driving across stuck in horrible traffic. In case you are wondering, this is the Yeongheung Suspension bridge which heads out to an island in south Incehon that is famous for having a giant coal power station. It's also a nice place for an easy weekend or day getaway.

This is the only non Korean bridge. It's actually the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver Canada connecting Stanley Park to West Vancouver. I included it because I took this with my first digital camera back in July 2004 and it has some serious nostalgia to it. It also starts my fascination with taking photos of bridges.

I don't know what it is about bridges, but I like seeing the superstructures. The triangles, arches and lines interest me. In normal buildings, they are often hidden behind walls, but in bridges, they really stand out. Just like towers, bridges also defy gravity, but in the opposite direction.

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I probably won't be posting so much these days because I have an infant at home. I'm busy to say the least. Even 1 a week will be tough, lol.