Tag: bridge

The Umshiang Double Decker Bridge

The Umshiang Double Decker Bridge

In Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, man has befriended nature and cajoled it into bending to his ways. People build bridges, but the Khasis of Meghalaya grow bridges. Ficus Elastica or the Rubber Tree produces strong secondary roots from their trunks. These  have been trained to grow in a particular direction using betel-nut trunks, forming sturdy, living bridges over decades. Some of these bridges are more than a hundred feet long. The Umshiang Double Decker Bridge is truly one of a kind in the entire world.

Puente Nuevo Bridge

Puente Nuevo Bridge, Ronda, Spain

Ronda is a city in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about 100 kilometres west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. The Puente Nuevo is the newest and largest of three bridges that span the chasm that carries the Guadalevín River and divides the city of Ronda, in southern Spain.

The construction of the Puente Neuvo Bridge that stands today was started in 1759 and took 34 years to build. There is a chamber above the central arch that was used for a variety of purposes, including as a prison. During the 1936-1939 civil war both sides allegedly used the prison as a torture chamber for captured opponents, killing some by throwing them from the windows to the rocks at the bottom of the El Tajo gorge. The chamber is entered through a square building that was once the guard-house. It now contains an exhibition describing the bridge’s history and construction.

Construction of the previous bridge started in 1735, this was the first attempt to span the gorge at this height and was completed by the architects Jose Garcia and Juan Camacho using a single arch design. Unfortunately, this bridge was quickly and poorly built and in 1741 the entire bridge collapsed resulting in the death of 50 people.