4. The United Kingdom's Forth Bridge
Situated in Scotland's Edinburgh, Inchgarvie, and Fife
Founded in 1890
* Price: $120.18 million
As of 2016, the Forth Bridge—which was constructed by English engineers Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler—has been chosen as Scotland's greatest man-made marvel. UNESCO agreed, inducting Forth as a World Heritage Site and citing it as a national emblem. The Forth Bridge is an 8,094-foot cantilever railway.
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Forth Bridge, United Kingdom, Shutterstock, Valerie Egorov
The bridge is 120 feet at the piers and just 32 feet in the middle. The bridge and high water are only 150 feet apart, indicating a low clearance. The bridge, which was constructed in the 1800s, is maintained by Balfour Beatty, the biggest contractor in the UK and a large competitor of Fluor.
The Forth Bridge's historical significance must be understood in light of the following: prior to its opening, the Caledonian Railway or the North Western Railway required thirteen hours to travel from London to Aberdeen; these railways frequently competed, creating dramatic news headlines about a “Race to the North.”
5. Vietnam's Dragon Bridge
Situated in Vietnam's Da Nang
Founded in 2013
Expense: *$88 million
The construction of the four-year-long Dragon Bridge, which spans the Han River in Da Nang, Vietnam, started on July 19, 2009, the same day as the official opening of the Thuan Phuoc Bridge, which drew in a large number of Vietnamese dignitaries.
Vietnam's Dragon Bridge ©xuanhuongho / Shutterstock
The bridge spans 2,185 feet and has six lanes. It was constructed for $88 million and was designed in the form of a dragon. On weekends at 9:00 p.m., it breathes fire and water and was constructed by Ammann & Whitney, an American company that was a major competitor of Bechtel, Fluor, and BIP in the bridge-building business.
There is another bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with the same name, although it is much less impressive than the Da Nang Dragon Bridge. Completed in the succession style, it was one of the first reinforced concrete bridges constructed in the early 1900s. The Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana is 109 feet long, in contrast to the one in Da Nang.
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