The Gibraltar Bridge....holy crap!!

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
5
81
You guys heard about this proposed bridge?

-9 miles long
-3 towers which support it are 3000 feet tall each
-combination of suspension and cable-stay
-the base of each tower would be about the size of a football field
-amount of steel cable used to build it: 1 million miles (enough to circle earth 30 times)
-takes 10 years to build (and 15 billion dollars)

saw a special on the discovery channel about it. this is even more astonishing than that huge freedom boat. all of that weight is supported by 3 towers!!! :Q now that is simply a marvel of engineering.

pic1
pic2

:Q:Q
 

fatbaby

Banned
May 7, 2001
6,427
1
0
:Q!

9 miles???

I'll put this on my lifes to do list along with the 3 gorges dam in china if its built!
 

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
5
81
The reason it's a combination of suspension and cable-stay bridges is that if they only used suspension, the towers would have to be 1 mile high each :Q:Q:Q:Q
 

Goosemaster

Lifer
Apr 10, 2001
48,775
3
81

The Lawer, the Policeman and an Arsehole
Bob, a lawyer, was driving home over the The Gibraltar Bridge after spending a great day out on the ocean fishing. His catch, cleaned and filleted, was wrapped in newspaper on the passenger side floor. He was late getting home and was speeding. Wouldn't you know it, a cop jumped out, radar gun in hand, motioned him to the side of the bridge. Bob pulled over like a good citizen.

The cop walked up to the window and said, "You know how fast you were going, BOY?" Bob thought for a second and said, "Uhh, 60?" "67 mph, son! 67 mph in a 55 zone!" said the cop. "But if you already knew, officer" replied Bob, "Why did you ask me?"

Fuming over Bob's answer, the officer growled, in his normal sarcastic fashion, "That's speeding, and you're getting a ticket and a fine!" The cop took a good close look at Bob, in his stained fishing attire and said, "You don't even look like you have a job! Why, I've never seen anyone so scruffy in my entire life!" Bob answered, "I've got a job! I have a good, well-paying job!" The cop leaned in the window, smelling Bob's fish catch, said, "What kind of a job would a bum like you have?" "I'm a rectum stretcher!" replied Bob. "What you say, BOY?" asked the patrolman. "I'm a rectum stretcher!" The cop, scratching his head, asked, "What does a rectum stretcher do?" Bob explained, "People call me up and say they need to be stretched, so I go over to their house. I start with a couple of fingers, then a couple more and then one whole hand, then two. Then I slowly pull them farther and farther apart until it's a full six feet across."

The cop, absorbed with these bizarre images in his mind, asked, "What the hell do you do with a six foot asshole?" Bob nonchalantly answered, "You give it a radar gun and stick it at the end of a bridge!"
 

N8Magic

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
11,624
1
81
Originally posted by: Mucman
dayum! How long is the one connecting PEI and NB?

The 12.9 kilometre Confederation Bridge joins Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick and is the longest bridge over ice covered waters in the world.

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

Not quite like the Gibraltar Bridge, but impressive nonetheless. :)
 

Mucman

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
7,246
1
0
N8Magic - Those are good pics of the bridge! Any idea why it has that bend in it? Why wasn't it straight?
 

N8Magic

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
11,624
1
81
Originally posted by: Mucman
N8Magic - Those are good pics of the bridge! Any idea why it has that bend in it? Why wasn't it straight?

Thanks.

I *imagine* the bend has something to do with the flow of the ice in the winter. I could be wrong though.
 

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
5
81
That confederation bridge has all those damn pillars, and it's shallow water I believe. The Gilbraltar Bridge is over water that is almost 1 kilometer deep, so building a ton of towers isn't very feasibly because of the depth. They need to do this technique. At least that's my guess...
 

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
5
81
Originally posted by: N8Magic
Originally posted by: Mucman
N8Magic - Those are good pics of the bridge! Any idea why it has that bend in it? Why wasn't it straight?

Thanks.

I *imagine* the bend has something to do with the flow of the ice in the winter. I could be wrong though.

Are the conditions there ever bad? Like hurriances, strong winds, etc.? Maybe they had to use this design for the gibraltar because of the winds. They did tests at 150mph winds and it was fine (it needs to sway though), and it would also survive tsunamis.
 

Mucman

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
7,246
1
0
Cool... I love bridges for some odd reason... sometimes when I am biking in Vancouver I just stare at the bridges because they are so darn cool :)

I think I will arrange some of my travel plans in the future to see the largest and most famous bridges in the world :)
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,365
8,475
126
chesapeake bay bridge-tunnel is a pretty nice piece of work. 20 miles across one of the busiest waterways in the world. granted, the water is pretty shallow there, but they invented all sorts of equipment to build the thing.
 

deftron

Lifer
Nov 17, 2000
10,868
1
0
Originally posted by: ElFenix
chesapeake bay bridge-tunnel is a pretty nice piece of work. 20 miles across one of the busiest waterways in the world. granted, the water is pretty shallow there, but they invented all sorts of equipment to build the thing.

That thing is pretty scary when its windy..

Gets shutdown in hurricanes, thankfully


 
Oct 9, 1999
15,216
3
81
That Gibralter Bridge will probably wont get built in my life time. However one that will get built and is as long or longer as the gibralter bridge will be a bridge that will connect India and SriLanka. Plans are already in study to see the designs and siesmic data related stuff. Distance about 16km (10miles). It will have both Rail and Road. SriLanka has a better seaport (and its more out in teh ocean than the closest indian port) so lots of cargo can be dropped off from there and picked up.

However this will work only if LTTE coorperates. So far they seem to be doing so. We might see this bridge in maybe 10 years or so.
 

Jeffwo

Platinum Member
Mar 2, 2001
2,759
0
76
I used to cross this one all the time.

It is pretty spooky sometimes.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest highway bridge over water in the entire world, spanning 23.9 miles from Metairie on the South

Jeff
 

HombrePequeno

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2001
4,657
0
0
I've been over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway a couple of times and it is a bloody long bridge. I heard about the Gibraltar Bridge a couple years ago. It might be a little easier to build using carbon nanotubes but we're a few years away from making them long enough.
 

SHoddyCOmp

Platinum Member
Apr 1, 2002
2,072
0
0
Originally posted by: Goosemaster

The Lawer, the Policeman and an Arsehole
Bob, a lawyer, was driving home over the The Gibraltar Bridge after spending a great day out on the ocean fishing. His catch, cleaned and filleted, was wrapped in newspaper on the passenger side floor. He was late getting home and was speeding. Wouldn't you know it, a cop jumped out, radar gun in hand, motioned him to the side of the bridge. Bob pulled over like a good citizen.

The cop walked up to the window and said, "You know how fast you were going, BOY?" Bob thought for a second and said, "Uhh, 60?" "67 mph, son! 67 mph in a 55 zone!" said the cop. "But if you already knew, officer" replied Bob, "Why did you ask me?"

Fuming over Bob's answer, the officer growled, in his normal sarcastic fashion, "That's speeding, and you're getting a ticket and a fine!" The cop took a good close look at Bob, in his stained fishing attire and said, "You don't even look like you have a job! Why, I've never seen anyone so scruffy in my entire life!" Bob answered, "I've got a job! I have a good, well-paying job!" The cop leaned in the window, smelling Bob's fish catch, said, "What kind of a job would a bum like you have?" "I'm a rectum stretcher!" replied Bob. "What you say, BOY?" asked the patrolman. "I'm a rectum stretcher!" The cop, scratching his head, asked, "What does a rectum stretcher do?" Bob explained, "People call me up and say they need to be stretched, so I go over to their house. I start with a couple of fingers, then a couple more and then one whole hand, then two. Then I slowly pull them farther and farther apart until it's a full six feet across."

The cop, absorbed with these bizarre images in his mind, asked, "What the hell do you do with a six foot asshole?" Bob nonchalantly answered, "You give it a radar gun and stick it at the end of a bridge!"


lmao