While many of the new bridges are magnificent, the cost of building them may be prohibitive. When you spend your days surrounded by skyscrapers and other examples of human ingenuity, it’s easy to forget how difficult they are to develop and maintain. Here are a few names frequently considered the most costly bridges ever built, ranging from historic stone bridges to moving ones.
An integral aspect of the nation’s infrastructure is bridges. Some bridges are costly to build and quite gorgeous. Certain bridges are long-term investments in the country, with others having incredibly extravagant and spectacular designs constructed at great expense. There are other famous bridges around the globe, including the famous London Bridge.
The functions the bridge serves and the volume of traffic it must handle determine its dimensions and other features. Measuring in meters, bridges are frequently constructed over land or in water. Bridges are expensive structures because of the high cost of the technology required to create them.
The world’s most expensive bridges are stunning technical achievements that are breathtaking. We have assembled a list of the priciest artificial crossings ever, ranging from China’s brand-new, cutting-edge mega-bridges to the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The designers of such bridges have demonstrated their extraordinary creativity and ability to use technology in their exquisite designs.
Here are the most expensive bridges in the world:
USA’s Golden Gate Bridge: $704,950,000 (£536,000,000): The famous Golden Bridge in San Francisco spans 2,737 meters. It got its name from the Golden Gate strait that it passes across. It connects Marin County to San Francisco by carrying US Route 101 and California State Route 1. From 1937 to 1964, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Up until 1964, it also possessed the world’s longest suspension bridge main span. It is recognized as one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It is hung from two 227-meter-tall towers above sea level. When it was built in 1937, the building cost an astounding $37 million (£28 million).
USA’s Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is worth $900 million (£684 million): In South Carolina, the cable-stayed bridge crosses the Cooper River. The Arthur Ravenel Bridge spans the Cooper River in South Carolina and is 4,023 meters long. It is sometimes referred to as the Ravenel Bridge and the Cooper Bridge. It transports US Route 17, which links Mount Pleasant and downtown Charleston. The Cooper River Bridge Run crosses the bridge and is the third-biggest 10K in the United States. Around 50,000 people attend this event on the first weekend in April. When the building was finished in 2005, it cost an incredible $700 million (£527 million).
Canada’s Confederation Bridge: $971 million (£738 million): The box-girder Confederation Bridge connects Prince Edward Island to the mainland of New Brunswick. It spans the Northumberland Strait and carries the Trans-Canada Highway. The bridge spans 12.9 km and is the longest in Canada and globally that crosses ice-covered water. Since the bridge’s construction was finished in 1997, Prince Edward Island has seen a rise in tourism from 740,000 to 900,000. Since its opening, the bridge has improved the province of Prince Edward Island’s economy.
USA’s George Washington Bridge is worth $935 million (£714 million). Other names for this double-decker suspension bridge include the George, GWB, GW, or GW Bridge. The US Route 1/9 and Interstate 95 cross it, linking Manhattan, New York, with Fort Lee, New Jersey. The Hudson River is crossed by it. With its two decks, it can accommodate 14 lanes of traffic in total. Eight lanes are on the top deck, and six are on the lower level. One of the landmarks in the New York metropolitan region is the George Washington Bridge. 51.5 million cars crossed this busiest vehicular bridge in the world in 2018. The main span of the 1,450-meter-long bridge is 1,100 meters.
South Korea’s Incheon Bridge is worth $1.55 billion (£1.18 billion). Yeongjong Island and the mainland of Incheon are connected by this cable-stayed bridge made of reinforced concrete. It is the tenth-longest cable-stayed bridge in the world and the longest in South Korea. The Incheon Bridge connects the Songdo International Business District and the Incheon International Airport. It saves an hour of travel time by doing that. When the building was finished in 2009, it had cost $1.4 billion (£1.06 billion).
Qingdao Bridge – $8.8 billion: It took $8.8 billion to build the Qingdao Bridge across Jiaozhou Bay in eastern China. The bridge’s construction started in May 2007 and was completed on June 30, 2011. The bridge’s construction got underway in May 2007.
On June 30, 2011, a bridge that spans Jiaozhou Bay in eastern China opened. According to UK publications The Daily Mail and The Telegraph, Eight.8 billion is the building project’s estimated cost. There were reports of $1.5 billion and $2.27 billion from Chinese sources. The construction’s 42.5 km length is the longest bridge ever built over water. A kilometer of the structure’s construction may cost as much as $207 million.
The bridge’s construction got underway in May 2007. Shandong High-Speed Group Corp., a state-owned company, was the primary financier and constructor. Ten thousand individuals split into two teams and began constructing the item from opposing sides of the bay. December 22, 2010, saw the connection of the two sections. Four hundred fifty thousand tons of steel—more than the 65 Eiffel Towers combined—and 2.3 million cubic meters of concrete—enough to fill 3,800 Olympic swimming pools—were utilized in the construction. Standing on 5,200 pylons is the bridge. The building of this project reduced the travel time and distance between Qingdao City and Huangdao, an industrial suburb, by 20–40 minutes. However, this project’s viability has been questioned on several occasions.
There are six lanes on the 35-meter-wide bridge bed—three in each direction. After a free month of operation, a 50 yuan ($7.75) toll was imposed. Although the government predicted 30,000 cars would cross the bridge every day when it opened, the number of vehicles using it barely exceeds 10,000. Official claims claim the bridge is resilient to typhoons and can survive an earthquake of magnitude 8.
Bay Bridge – $6.4 billion: September 2, 2013, saw the opening of the east span of the Bay Bridge suspension bridge, which connects the Californian towns of Oakland and San Francisco. When a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, the damaged span was to be replaced with this one. $6.4 billion was spent on the project.
September 2, 2013, saw the opening of the east span of the Bay Bridge suspension bridge, which connects the Californian towns of Oakland and San Francisco. When a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, the damaged span was to be replaced with this one. $6.4 billion was spent on the project. Given the 3.5 km length of the structure, each kilometer cost $1.8 billion.
1933–1936, the first bridge connecting the two cities was constructed. Eight three thousand individuals worked on the construction. The project’s total cost back then was $77 million, approximately $1.32 billion. The 7.2 km long bridge is divided into two sections: the eastern section links Yerba Buena and Oakland, while the western section links San Francisco and the island. The building opened for business on November 11, 1936. An aircraft procession and a yacht regatta were among the five days of events. The celebration was $2.50 per ticket. Nine million cars crossed the bridge in its first year, paying $0.65 (about $8 now) apiece.
The east end of the bridge was found to be inadequately seismically stable following an earthquake in 1989. Instead of the anticipated five years, the new span’s construction took eleven years, starting in January 2002. The $6.4 billion budget ultimately exceeded the initial $1.1 billion budget. The new building is designed to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8.5.
At 78.7 meters, the bridge is the most multilane globally (10 automobile lanes). It passes around 250,000 cars every day. From San Francisco to Oakland, the westbound toll is $6 Monday through Friday from 5 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m., $5 on weekends, and $4 at other times. There is a bike and pedestrian area on the bridge as well.
Great Belt Bridge – $3.14 billion: Ten years after construction started, on June 14, 1998, the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark that connects the islands of Funen and Zealand opened. One km of the bridge cost $174.4 million, and the 18 km of construction cost $3.14 billion (DKK 21.4 billion in 1988).
On June 14, 1998, the bridge that connects the Danish islands of Funen and Zealand over the Great Belt was inaugurated. The bridge’s first km cost $174.4 million, while the entire 18-kilometer building project cost $3.14 billion (DKK 21.4 billion in 1988).
The building is divided into two sections that are connected to Sprog Island. A suspension bridge and an underwater rail tunnel connect Sprogue and Zealand in the eastern part, while a road-rail bridge connects the island of Funen to Sprogue in the western half. There are four lanes on the roadway and two tracks on the train. The eastern portion is 65 m above sea level, while the portion of the west is raised 18 m.
Ten years of construction were spent. Opening the first section of the building, a rail link between the west bridge and the undersea tunnel, was Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on June 3, 1997. It takes 2.5 minutes to cross the Great Belt Strait.
The bridge replaced an 8,000-car-per-day ferry service. The bridge handled 18,000 automobiles a day in the first month after it opened and 31,000 cars a day in 2014. It took ninety minutes to travel by boat from the island to the island and ten to fifteen minutes to cross the bridge.
In Denmark, there is just one toll road: the Great Belt. A weekend ticket for a return journey would cost €57, while a one-way motorbike or passenger car fare would cost €18.
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – $2.5 billion: On November 21, 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Suspended Car Bridge opened, tying together the Brooklyn and Staten Island areas of New York City. $320 million was spent on the item, equivalent to $2.5 billion today. Over 200,000 cars cross the 4.18 km long bridge daily on its 12 lanes, six of which are on each level.
On November 21, 1964, the Brooklyn and Staten Island communities of New York City were connected by a suspension bridge. The $320 million that was spent on the item is equal to the current $2.5 billion. The bridge is 4.18 km long, meaning that $593 million would be needed to build one kilometer in today’s dollars.
The construction of the two-level bridge was underway in 1959. The upper level opened in 1964, while the lower level followed in 1969. It was the world’s longest suspension bridge until the British Humber Bridge was built in 1981. There is a 1,298 m long center span. 1.27 million tons is the structure’s weight.
The Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, who became the first European to reach New York Bay on April 7, 1524, is honored with the name of the bridge. The George Washington Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, and the Trogs Neck Bridge are just a few of the five bridges in New York that engineer Otmar Amman and renowned urban planner Robert Moses designed. Other notable structures he designed include the Lincoln Center and the UN Headquarters—the construction site employed about 12,000 workers.
Every year, atop the bridge, the nation’s largest mass biking event, the Five Boro biking Tour, and the New York City Marathon kick-off. More than 200,000 cars cross the 12 lanes daily—six on each level. When it first opened, the fare was $0.50 (less than $4 now). Tolls were imposed in both directions before 1986. Just travel from Brooklyn to Staten Island is now subject to fees. A vehicle costs $16 and a motorbike costs $6.5.
Yonjohn Bridge – $1.9 billion: December 2000 saw the opening of a road and rail bridge that connected South Korea’s Incheon metropolis with Yongjong Island. $1.9 billion was spent on construction. The bridge costs $430 million per kilometer and is 4,420 meters long.
In December 2000, a railroad and car bridge was inaugurated between South Korea’s Incheon City and Yongjon Island. $1.9 billion was spent on construction. The bridge costs around $430 million per kilometer and is 4,420 meters long.
The project’s planning was finished in December 1993, and in November 1995, construction with private funding help began. From the outside, the building looks like the roof of a traditional Korean home. The most extended section of the construction is 3,870 meters long and comprises two girder bridges. A suspension bridge with two 125-meter spans and a main span of 300 meters occupies 550 meters of this length. The towers are 107 meters above sea level. Two railroad lines run along the lowest deck of the 35 m-wide (eight-car lanes) bridge. Both powerful winds and earthquakes cannot destroy the building. The building was awarded the first-ever Tanaka Prize in South Korea by the Japanese Society of Civil Engineers in 2002.
Situated 70 kilometers from Seoul, at Incheon International Airport, the Yonghong Bridge is a component of the highway network. The toll ranges from 1,400 won ($1,26) to 16,800 won ($15,12), depending on the vehicle size and destination. The vehicle’s dimensions are limited to the following: width (3 meters maximum), height (4.2 meters maximum), and length (19 meters maximum with a trailer).
A large-scale collision involving over 100 automobiles occurred on the bridge in February 2015, resulting in two fatalities and over 65 injuries.
Read Also – Which City In Europe Has The Highest Crime Rate?
