These pontoon bridges are semi-permanent floating bridges located throughout the world. Four of the five longest floating bridges in the world are in Washington state.
Longest
edit# | Bridge | Location | Length | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge | Washington state, US | 7,710 feet (2,350 m) | 2016 |
2 | Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge | Washington state, US | 6,620 feet (2,018 m) | 1940 1993 (rebuilt) |
3 | Hood Canal Bridge | Washington state, US | 6,521 feet (1,988 m) | 1961 1982 (rebuilt) |
4 | Demerara Harbour Bridge | Guyana | 6,074 feet (1,851 m) | 1978 |
5 | Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge | Washington state, US | 5,811 feet (1,771 m) | 1989 |
6 | Berbice Bridge | Guyana | 5,153 feet (1,571 m) | 2008 |
7 | Nordhordland Bridge | Norway | 4,086 feet (1,245 m) (the floating bridge part) |
1994 |
The former Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Bridge, at 7,578 feet (2,310 m), built in 1963, was the longest floating bridge in the world until the replacement bridge opened in 2016.
List
editAustralia
edit- Hobart Bridge
- Completed 1943. Spans 3,154 feet (961 m)
- Spanned the Derwent River at Hobart, Tasmania
- Constructed of hollow concrete pontoons, it was replaced by a new bridge in 1964
Belarus
edit- Sozh Floating Bridge
- The new floating bridge replaced an older one and spanned the Sozh River at Korma, Belarus
- Built in 2003/2004, carries light automobile traffic.
Canada
edit- William R. Bennett Bridge in Kelowna, British Columbia
- Completed 2008. Spans 1,060 metres (3,478 ft).
- Spans Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, carrying Highway 97 from Kelowna to West Kelowna. Built to replace Okanagan Lake Bridge, which was the first floating bridge built in Canada. The old 3 lane floating bridge has been replaced by a new, 5 lane floating bridge. The old bridge—Okanagan Lake Bridge—was closed on May 31, 2008.
China
edit- Dongjin Bridge in Ganzhou, China
- Pontoon bridges have been constructed over the Zhang and Gong rivers since the Song dynasty (960–1279).
- One of the bridges, the Dongjin Bridge, can still be seen.
- It is 400 metres long, made up of wooden planks placed on around 100 wooden boats linked together with iron chains.
- Guangji Bridge (Chaozhou), China
Curaçao
edit- Queen Emma Bridge
- A pontoon bridge from Punda to Otrabanda across the harbor of Willemstad on the island of Curaçao. Notable because this permanent bridge is hinged and opens regularly to enable the passage of oceangoing vessels.[1]
- Span 548 feet (167 m)
Egypt
edit- Martyr Ahmed El-Mansy Floating Bridge
- A pontoon bridge in the Suez Canal in Ismailia to connect the west and east banks of the canal with two lanes of vehicular traffic and a pedestrian lane.[2]
- Span 1,148 feet (350 m)
Guyana
edit- Berbice Bridge
- Completed 2008. Spans 5,153.277 feet (1,571 m).
- Located near New Amsterdam in Guyana.
- Demerara Harbour Bridge
- Completed 1978. Spans 6,074 feet (1,851 m).
- Located immediately south of Georgetown, Guyana, it is constructed with steel pontoon units and is the fourth longest floating bridge in the world.
India
edit- Howrah Bridge
- Completed 1874.
- Decommissioned 1943
- This bridge, connected Howrah and Calcutta on opposite banks of Hooghly River, was built using timber on pontoon and was opened to let river traffic through.
Norway
edit- Nordhordland Bridge
- Completed 1994. Spans 4,086 feet (1,245 m) (the floating bridge part).
- Located near Bergen, Norway, the Nordhordland Bridge consists of a free-floating bridge and a high level cable-stayed bridge. The free-floating bridge has the longest laterally-unsupported span in the world. It is sometimes referred to as the Salhus Bridge.
- Architect's web site
- Bergøysund Floating Bridge
- Completed 1992. Spans 3,061 feet (933 m).
- Located in Kristiansund, Norway.
Spain
edit- Puente de Barcas (Boat bridge), Seville[3]
- Completed 1171, Spans 149 meters (488,8 ft).
- Moved 1845 for construct Puente de Isabel II
- Scrapped 1852
Turkey
edit- Galata Bridge
- Completed 1875. Spans 2,985 feet (910 m).
- Decommissioned 1992.
- This floating bridge crossed the Golden Horn in Turkey. After it was damaged by a 1992 fire, it was towed up the Golden Horn to make way for the fifth and current Galata Bridge, a bascule bridge.
United Arab Emirates
edit- Floating Bridge, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- A new floating bridge has been erected over Dubai Creek to ease traffic on over creek crossings in Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
- The bridge opened to the public on 16 July 2007; two weeks after applying the Salik road toll to the Al Garhoud Bridge.
United States
edit- Admiral Clarey Bridge, a moveable pontoon bridge that connects Ford Island with Oahu in Pearl Harbor.
- The Dardanelle pontoon bridge over the Arkansas River connecting Pope and Yell counties at Dardanelle, Arkansas.
- Replacing a private ferry when it opened in 1891, the movable structure operated as a toll bridge. It was used until January 1929, when a toll-free bridge of concrete and steel replaced it at a cost of $600,000.
- Once considered the longest pontoon bridge in the world at 2,150 feet, its original construction cost $35,000.
- The original reason for the bridge was the hauling of cotton bales considered vital to the railroad that owned it.
- Over the years, it was washed away, in parts or completely, many times.[4]
- Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge — Evergreen Point
- Completed 1963. Spans 7,578 feet (2,310 m).
- Formerly spanned Lake Washington in Washington State, carrying State Route 520 from Seattle to Medina. A toll bridge until 1979, its common name is the 520 bridge or Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. It was the longest floating bridge in the world until 2016.
- This bridge was removed in Spring, 2017.[5]
- SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (2016 bridge)
- Completed 2016. Spans 7,710 feet (2,350 m).
- World's longest and widest floating bridge. Built to replace the 1963 bridge of the same name.
- Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge
- Original bridge completed in 1940 but sank in 1990 because of weather and mishaps in maintenance.
- Second bridge completed 1993. Spans 6,620 feet (2,018 m).
- Spans Lake Washington in Washington State, carrying Interstate 90 traffic eastbound from Seattle to Mercer Island. A toll bridge until 1946, its common name is the I-90 bridge or Lake Washington Floating Bridge. It was the first floating bridge longer than a mile, and at the time was the longest floating structure in the world. It is now the second longest floating bridge in the world.
- Hood Canal Bridge
- Completed 1961. Spans 6,521 feet (1,988 m).
- Carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal in Washington state. It is the third longest floating bridge in the world.
- This bridge broke apart in the February 13, 1979 windstorm. It was rebuilt 3 years later.
- Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge
- Completed 1989. Spans 5,811 feet (1,771 m).
- Spans Lake Washington in Washington state, carrying Interstate 90 traffic westbound from Mercer Island to Seattle. It runs parallel to the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, which carries eastbound Interstate 90 Traffic, and is also commonly referred to as the I-90 bridge or Lake Washington Floating Bridge. It is the fifth longest floating bridge in the world.
- Eastbank Esplanade
- Completed 2001. Spans 1,200 feet (366 m).
- Located in Portland, Oregon, it is the longest floating pedestrian bridge in the United States.
- Sunset Lake Floating Bridge
- Located in Brookfield, Vermont
- Built on logs in 1820, then upon tarred barrels in 1884, rebuilt using plastic barrels filled with styrofoam in 1978, carries light automobile traffic. This bridge was closed for replacement spring of 2008, and the current iteration makes use of fiber-reinforced polymer pontoons.
References
edit- ^ "album - Pontoon Bridge, Willemstad". boldts.net. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
- ^ "Martyr Ahmed El-Mansy Floating Bridge in Suez Canal". .presidency.eg. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
- ^ Troyano, Leonardo Fernández (2003). Bridge Engineering. Thomas Telford. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-7277-3215-6.
there have been pontoon bridges which lasted many centuries due to successive repairs and rebuilds. A good example is [...] Triana bridge, which was a pontoon bridge for almost 700 years, from the twelfth century, when the Moors built it
- ^ "The Famous Pontoon Bridge at Dardanelle". The Arkansas Gazette. Little Rock, Arkansas: Gazette Publishing Company. July 30, 1922. p. 26. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
Although it has been rebuilt a number of times, its general plan remains essentially the same as the day it was completed. Its pontoons have disintegrated when the receding of the river has left them high and dry and they have sunk in periods of high water. They have broken loose in flood and drifted out of the memory of men; they have gone down under the weight of snow and ice. Yet always they have been salvaged or rebuilt or replaced or recovered and the highway thrown again across the river...
- ^ "SR 520 Floating Bridge and Landings Project" (PDF). p. 8. Retrieved July 19, 2022.