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Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

independent.co.uk

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Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#61

Post by [deleted] »

epolanski wrote: post #27
screye wrote: post #15

Very 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…

> The economic angle is a bit confusing. We don't need an economic angle to build great things that help people. It's a bridge, it's meant to be a shortcut from point A to B. We aren't just cogwheels in an economic system, there's more to life and progress as humans.

[deleted]

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#62

Post by AngryData »

screye wrote: post #15

Very 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…

Could not part of its poverty problem be caused by the restrictive travel time and rough terrain that this bridge avoids and could help them become prosperous? If you only build prosperous things for prosperous areas, poorer areas will never get better and could even get worse in comparison as competing becomes even harder.

Its like if you put a dimensional portal across a Great Lake, even if neither side of the portal is currently not very prosperous, the fact that hours of ferry turned into minutes of travel would be a huge boon to both sides and gather attention, investments, and economic benefits that could turn both sides into prosperous cities.

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#63

Post by nikkwong »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #53

Youtube link for the bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mytGMsn4wvk

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 it's current form, could never build any infrastructure projects in such a human-centric way, because, well, we apparently have an inability to build anything at all.

Seriously, when's the last time we built something like this. The only initiative I can even think of is California high speed rail and that project just so happens to be a testament to the absolute antithesis of what I'm proclaiming.

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#64

Post by pcl »

I really don't understand all the hyperbole around this bridge. It's a suspension bridge, so the relevant bits are at the pylons, which just happen to be on either side of a huge canyon. It clocks in at #14 on Wikipedia's list of longest suspension bridges, with a main span that is 603 meters shorter (2023 meters vs 1420) than the longest.

More interestingly, to me at least, is the fact that 31 of the longest 50 are all in China (as are all but two of the 24 in the "under construction or planned").

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_suspension_bri...

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#65

Post by bravetraveler »

nikkwong wrote: post #63
ChuckMcM wrote: post #53

Youtube link for the bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mytGMsn4wvk

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…

Going to need a business case that translates to value, sorry. Common sentiment, apparently, is that our postal service must generate profit. Clown show.

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#66

Post by burnt-resistor »

About 6 hours ago, I watched a video of this from a motorcycle Youtuber who crawled down a sketchy, enclosed, temporary ladder into an unfinished visitor area.

There will be a place for people to run on a track on the outside (with an above harness), bungee jumping, misting rainbow effect sprayers, and visitor's areas underneath and in the top of one of the towers.

The team of engineers who developed this are also quite young.

https://youtu.be/sm5kLw54uVA

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#67

Post by dceddia »

nikkwong wrote: post #63
ChuckMcM wrote: post #53

Youtube link for the bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mytGMsn4wvk

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…

And it’s amazing that this got built in only 3 years! I can’t imagine anything this substantial being built that fast in the US. I can’t think of any examples either but I’d be happy to see some that anyone knows of.

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#69

Post by AlotOfReading »

stevage wrote: post #47
VariousPrograms wrote: post #14

As someone who doesn't keep up with bridge news, China seems to have a monopoly on incredible new mountain bridges. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_bridges

They do also have a lot of incredible mountains that would benefit from bridges. There aren't that many 600m deep canyons in the world.

There's quite a few places that have them, but don't prioritize bridge height. The other Himalayan countries (India, Nepal, Pakistan, etc) have similar terrain, but prefer vastly cheaper slope-hugging roads, and tunnels with shorter bridges. Not to mention the danger of winter winds in Himalayan canyons.

The US or Mexico could build a bridge over the deeper bits of their national canyons and hold the undisputed crown, but won't.

Re: Highest bridge unveiled at more than 2,000ft above ground

#70

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

pcl wrote: post #64

I really don't understand all the hyperbole around this bridge. It's a suspension bridge, so the relevant bits are at the pylons, which just happen to be on either side of a huge canyon. It clocks in at #14 on Wikipedia's list of longest suspension bridges, with a main span that is 603 meters shorter (2023 meters vs 1420) than the longest. More interestingly, to me at least, is the fact that 31 of the longest 50 are…

> I really don't understand all the hyperbole around this bridge. It's a suspension bridge, so the relevant bits are at the pylons

I understand what you're saying, but the experience is quite different for the people driving over it compared to a bridge where it isn't a 2000 foot drop.

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