Historic Bridges: From the Brooklyn Bridge to the London Bridge and Beyond

Bridges are incredible architectural creations. Bridges have been used since the early times of civilization. The oldest bridge that is still in use (that humans can date) is an arch bridge over the River Meles in Turkey. The bridge can be dated to be built sometime around 850 BC! The oldest bridge humans have found to exist (that is no longer usable) is the Arkadiko Bridge in Greece. The building of this bridge is dated back to 1300 BC!

Facts About Bridges

• Bridge Facts & Worksheets
• Facts about Bridges – Information about Bridges and Tunnels
• Famous Bridges – Historical and Modern Bridges
• Facts About Bridges You Probably Don’t Know
• Oldest Bridges in the World
• Building Big: All About Bridges
• How Bridges Work
• Highest Bridges

Without bridges, the ease of everyday life would not be possible. Bridges allows us to travel over rivers, canyons and streams. While the idea of a bridge might seem simple, the engineering of a bridge is quite complex. Did you know there are many different types of bridges used for different purposes?

Types of Bridges

There are many different types of bridges. The specific type of bridge design depends on the location of the bridge, how the bridge will be used, the weight the bridge will bear, the age of the bridge and other factors.

• Arch Bridges – Super Bridge: Arch Bridge
• Suspension Bridges – Suspension Bridges, An Overview
• Cable-Stayed Bridges – Cable-stayed bridge facts for kids
• Truss Bridges – What is a Truss Bridge?
• Cantilever Bridges – Cantilever Bridge Facts, Design and History
• Tied-arch Bridges – Tied-arch bridges Construction
• Beam Bridges – Beam Bridges – Design Technology
• Footbridges – Pedestrian Bridges and Footbridges with Amazing Designs
• Movable Bridges – Movable Bridges
• Trestle Bridge – trestle bridges of the 19th Century
• Culvert – Differences Between Culverts and Bridges
• Viaduct – Viaducts – Viaduct vs Bridge

How Are Bridges Constructed?:

• Engineering Master: How bridges are built over water?
• How Are Bridges Built?
• Bridge Building (pdf)
• time-lapse reveals how bridges are built in America
• The Foundation Construction Process for Bridges
• A Look at Bridges: Types, Histories, andthe Marriage of Engineering and Architecture (pdf)
• Geometry of Bridge Construction
• Building Bridges: The Basics (pdf)

Covered Bridges and Historic Bridges

Covered bridges have been an artists’ dream for years. If you look at photographs and paintings throughout history, the beautiful country-side scenes of covered bridges over babbling brooks are abundant. You can find many covered bridges in the United States, in places like Vermont, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Pennsylvania. The picture perfect New England scenery surrounding most covered bridges makes covered bridges have quite the fan following. See some covered bridge collections and read about the history of covered bridges – and other historic bridges – below!

• Old Bridge Preservation Society
• National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges
• Olin’s Museum of Covered Bridges
• Vermont Covered Bridge Society
• Covered Bridge Society of Oregon
• The Ohio Historic Bridge Association
• The Covered Bridge in Black and White by Tom Hildreth
• The New York State Covered Bridge Society
• Indiana Covered Bridge Society
• The Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of Pa.
• Maryland Covered Bridges
• Historic Bridges in Maine
• Bridgehunter (a database of historic bridges in the United States!)
• Iron and Early Steel Bridges of OHIO
• Covered Bridges Photo Gallery by Alan Hartmann
• New Brunswick’s Covered Bridges
• New York Covered Bridges
• Historic Bridge Foundation
• Lost Bridges: Covered Spans of Yesteryear (a website documenting North American past and present covered bridges)
• National Covered Bridges Recording Project
• Historic Bridges

Bridge Failures and Disasters

Bridges don’t fail very often, but when they do, the end results are usually pretty disastrous. Bridges tend to fail for the same reasons: weakness and fatigue. There are exceptions though; sometimes bridges fail due in part to natural disasters or catastrophic collisions with other objects. Check out an overview of historic bridge failures below…

• List of bridge failures
• Why did the bridge collapse?
• Bridge Failures – Most Famous Bridge Disasters
• The Worst Bridge Collapses in the Past 100 Years
• The deadliest bridge collapses in U.S. history
• Famous Bridge Disasters – The Worst Bridge Failures

Famous and Impressive Bridges of the World

• Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
• Brooklyn Bridge New York
• Charles River Bridge
• Ponte Vecchio
• Gateshead Millennium Bridge
• Magdeburg Water Bridge
• Russky Bridge
• Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
• Lupu Bridge
• Rialto Bridge
• Firth of Forth Bridge
• The Confederation Bridge
• Bay Bridge
• Helix Bridge
• Capilano Cliffwalk
• Seri Wawasan Bridge
• Garabit Viaduct
• Hangzhou Bay Bridge
• George P. Coleman Bridge
• Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge
• Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Iron Bridge
• Scale Lane Footbridge
• London Bridge
• Szechenyi Chain Bridge
• Sunshine Skyway Bridge
• Millau Viaduct
• Tilikum Crossing
• Tacoma Narrows Bridge
• Tower Bridge
• Slauerhoff Bridge (Slaurhoffbrug)
• Bridges of New York
• Royal Gorge Bridge
• State Route 520/Evergreen Floating Bridge
• Sunniberg Bridge, Switzerland
• Shanghai Nanpu Bridge
• Jiaozhou Bay Bridge
• New River Gorge Bridge