Youtube link for the bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mytGMsn4wvk
thanks, that website is horrible
Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
171–180 of 214 posts
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well it's not the same game. Here in China we're in this phase of accomplishing big stuff to help each other and flex a bit and wow at our own development. When the British colonized America, it was exactly the same - an insane accomplishment to capture and re-develop that land into something half-working so far away. When China starts capturing and colonizing other continents, you can start being really jealous ! No…
I like the /s here When China starts capturing and colonizing other continents, you can start being really jealous ! We're still doing /s right? This mentality is outdated..
They're saying it tongue in cheek, and everyone here is wowing over the infrastructure.
But China still believes that Taiwan (and other places) is theirs.
I think one reason this infrastructure is possible is not just regulations, but first party construction + private companies for construction that can't grab corrupt contracts or overcharge because it's a gov contract. Whereas in the West getting a gov contract is the opposite; it's a business' chance to overcharge to fuck, paid by the public who are too distracted to petty squabbles to care.
I'm a foreigner in the UK and the infra here is ailing. The UK voterbase will complain about rising bills, costs, etc. But will they change the way they vote, will they protest for change, will they actually work together for once to demand value for their tax money? Nah, of course not. Because people would rather argue about which bathroom someone can use, rather than intelligent discussion, fair compromise and moving the fuck on to the next problem.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like the /s here When China starts capturing and colonizing other continents, you can start being really jealous ! We're still doing /s right? This mentality is outdated..
Outdated or not-- it's already happening. China is creating "economic colonization" zones across second/third world nations by lending loans such that countries that can't pay up have to settle by giving up strategic bastions of power. Take a look at ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambantota_International_Port ). Overtly, not owned by the Chinese government but you can draw your own feelings. This is how western col…
They've been doing it to the neglected railroads in Africa for decades now.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#174I knew it was going to be China. China's infrastructure building is beyond impressive. I always come back to this map of China's high speed rail built in 16 years (2008-2024) [1]. China is actually run by a meritocratic bureaucracy rather than the dumbest of people who do nothing more than sell pardons, run crypto scams, transfer government funds to the wealthiest of people, pander to religious hallucinations and sel…
Americans try not to make a thread about themselves challenge: impossible
Is a comment line this still made when foreigners chime in on their own experiences on America based posts?
Not an American btw.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#175I was going to make some joke about not wanting to be the dude driving over the bridge for the load test - entirely presuming there was some more sophisticated way to load test new bridges . . . but no: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/load-testing...
They look so relaxed that a few of them have their feet kicked up on the dash.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chinese civil engineers, and engineering orgs, are good because they get a lot of practice. In the West, and especially in the US, individuals and orgs don't get practice, so when they finally do get a new contract they have to stumble around for 5-10 years figuring out all the institutional knowledge that was lost. By the time they figure it out, the project is over budget, so it gets canceled, and then it's 20 year…
To say nothing of the NIMBYism. To acquire the land for use, you have to fight some armies of lawyers retained by a population with a lot of disposable income. (Yes, the US for all her problems has the biggest pool of disposable income in the world)
There's no NIMBYism in China, so that's a huge barrier that they don't have to worry about.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's hilariously depressing to imagine how impossible it would be to build something like that in the US. It's not only the fact that it's an engineering feat—it's also the fact that it was built in such a human-centric way. The cafe at the top, the light show with the water. These things are all superfluous, but make these projects exciting and add novelty which makes these areas just fun places to be. The U.S., in…
The two longest floating bridges in the world are in Seattle, Washington. The longest, Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, has a mixed use lane for cycling and walking and supposedly took 5 years to construct after construction started (ignoring that it replaced a bridge that existed there and also planning took longer, I'm not sure how to compare that). Seattle also has the world's only floating bridge that has rail on…
And the best demonstration of Seattle's hapless "can't do" attitude is that they left the watertight doors open one day in 1990 and the bridge pontoons filled with water and the bridge sank. Back then, by some miracle the bridge was fixed in a few weeks, but today it would take 10 years.
When the light rail line was installed on the I-90 bridge, after the whole thing was done it was discovered that the rail ties were built incorrectly. This was in April 2023. Thousands of concrete ties had to be demolished and construction had to start over. Of course this took years. God forbid that someone should check the work along the way.
If Seattle was a Simpsons character, it would be Ralph Wiggum when he's grown up and has one foot permanently stuck in a bucket.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
A confident, unified people under competent leadership can accomplish great things. I wish the Chinese continued success and hope their example eventually spurs the development of a new ruling class in the West.
Especially when dissent is ruthlessly crushed and any record of it is erased.
The West also crushes dissent: try to organize a pro-Palestinian protest on a university campus and tell us how it goes. Crushing dissent is simply what governments do.
In the meantime I would like to see more Hoover Dams and Apollo programs here, with fewer tent cities and high-speed rail boondoggles. This will require a ruling class that 1) is competent and 2) cares for the people it governs.
Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#179Very impressive. The economic angle is a bit confusing. Wonder why China thought this was a worthy investment. Guizhou is a poor part of China, without much international tourism or trade. Wikipedia indicates it is meant to increase tourism, but even China's most attractive regions (Beijing, Shanghai, Great Wall, Chengdu, Chongqing) are under-visited. I can't imagine that Guizhou will be on foreign tourist's agenda f…
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Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly, I would give up my right to vote or to speak against the government in exchange for free healthcare and cheap housing.
Or you could exercise your right to vote and speak against the government to get healthcare and cheap housing.
Yeah, that's been so effective!