地球上最著名的十座橋樑(上)
zhou Bay Bridge
10.杭州灣跨海大橋Hangzhou Bay is an immense estuary delta that divided the Chinese municipality of Jiaxing from neighbouring Ningbo. The idea for the bridge was touted for many years before construction even reached the drawing board, but the bridge was eventually completed in 2007. It was not opened to the public until 2008, after a period of rigorous and stringent testing. The area where the bridge lies is prone to not only typhoons, but also some of the highest tidal forces in the world and, as if that was not enough to be going on with, earthquakes! To account for all these adverse forces, the builders used steel piles, rather than the more usual concrete ones, and employed the cable-stayed bridge formation that is recognised as one of the strongest and most stable methods of bridge-building. Stretching some 22 miles across the bay, the bridge leapt into the top ten of trans-oceanic bridges on its completion and immediately cut travel times between the two regions from around 250 miles to a mere 50.
杭州灣是一個巨大的河口三角洲，將中國的直轄市嘉興和它的鄰居寧波分隔開來。在正式建設之前，大橋的想法已經構思醞釀多年，甚至已經到了圖紙設計階段，但到2007年大橋最終建成。經過一段時間的嚴格測試之後，直到2008年大橋纔對外開放。大橋所處區域不僅僅易受颱風影響，同時也受世界上最高強度潮汐力的影響，似乎這些並不夠，還有地震的存在！考慮到所有這些不利因素的影響，建造者使用了鋼管樁而不是更常用的混凝土樁，並且所採用的斜拉橋的形式被公認爲是最堅固和最穩定的橋樑建設方法之一。橫跨海灣總長將近22英里（35.4公里），杭州灣跨海大橋建成後即躋身十大跨海大橋之列，直接將兩區域之間的行程時間由大約250英里（402公里）縮短到只有50英里（80公里）。
l Gorge Bridge
9.皇家峽谷大橋
Not one for those scared of heights, the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, USA stands some 291 metres from the ground at its highest point. This made it the highest bridge in the world from the time of its construction until as late as 2003. The bridge was purposefully built as a tourist attraction in 1929 and it can be found inside an amusement park, surrounded by rides and carnival attractions. Sadly, the bridge and many of the attractions were damaged by fire in June 2013 and the park has only recently partially re-opened to the public (March 2014). It is hoped that the park will be fully operational by August 2014.
位於美國科羅拉多州的皇家峽谷大橋，從地面到最高點大約291米的高度，因此恐高人羣過橋之前要三思。該橋從建造起到2003年一直保持着世界上最高懸索吊橋的記錄。在1929年，大橋作爲一個旅遊景點建於一座主題公園內，四周被遊樂設施圍繞。ey Harbour Bridge
8.悉尼大橋
Opened in 1932 the Sydney Harbour Bridge has become synonymous with Sydney's other great attraction, the magnificent Opera House that sits alongside the bridge. It is the world's tallest steel arch bridge, and is sometimes affectionately known as 'The Coat-hanger' because of its arched appearance. The bridge caters for all forms of transport – save trams! There were originally two tram lines but these were converted into spare vehicle roadways. Trains, bicycles and even pedestrians can find their way across the bridge, which was conceived of in 1815, although it would be almost a hundred years before the first feasible plans were drawn up. The bridge was opened on both sides simultaneously (not without some drama) and hailed as a huge success and the saving of many lives during the Great Depression by providing employment. Today, tourists can climb the arch of the bridge going over the top to enjoy the breath-taking views from the summit in a strenuous, three-and-a-half hour climb that ascends on the eastern side and finishes on the west.
自1932年竣工通車起，悉尼大橋便成了悉尼的另一道“風景線”，與瑰麗的歌劇院毗鄰而居，交相輝映。它是世界上最高的鋼架拱橋，因其拱狀的外形，常被人親切地稱作“大衣架”。悉尼大橋可通行各種運輸工具——除了電車！原本橋上鋪設有雙軌鐵路，後來爲給汽車道騰出空間而被拆除。1815年，有人就提出了“火車、自行車甚至是行人皆可過橋”的構想。然而過了近乎一百年，第一個可行性方案才被草擬出來。大橋兩邊的同步通車（此過程是幾經波折啊）是一次巨大的成功，人們爲此歡呼雀躍。世界經濟大危機期間，這一工程提供了不少就業機會，也因此挽救了許多人的生命。如今，遊客們可以攀爬至拱橋頂端，欣賞獨到的美景。從橋東的起點攀爬至橋西的終點需要三個半小時。les Bridge
7.查理大橋
Originally called The Stone Bridge, Charles Bridge's first stone was laid by King Charles IV, at 5.31am on the 9th of July 1357. The time and date are precisely recorded because Charles was deeply interested in numerology and it was felt that this was an auspicious time for the bridge building process to begin. (The date and time form a 'bridge' 1357:9/7:5.31 which Charles believed would imbue the construction with strength and durability.) The bridge today offers something of a short history of Prague and Czechoslovakia as a whole featuring statues of characters from various points in history. A recent (and hotly decried, in some circles) renovation saw the original statues being replaced with modern replicas and the originals carefully removed to a museum. Whenever you are in Prague, be sure to wander over the Charles Bridge and stare into the water of the Vltava River as you bask in the history of this historically significant bridge.
查理大橋起初被稱爲石橋，1357年7月9日上午5點31分，查理國王四世爲這座橋壘上了第一塊石頭。開工日期和具體動工的時間都是預先記下的，因爲查理十分癡迷於占卜之術，而這個時辰被確認爲是大橋開工的黃道吉時（查理相信1357:9/7:5.31始建可保建築堅如磐石、巍然不倒）。這座橋如今承載着布拉格和捷克斯洛伐克的一段簡史，在各個歷史的節點中，如一座獨具一格的雕像。在最近的一次翻修中（在一些圈子裏遭到了強烈的譴責），人們用現代的複製品替換了原有的雕像，將其小心地移放進博物館中。若是有朝一日你身處布拉格，定要在查理大橋上漫步而過，凝望沃爾塔瓦河，去觸碰這座歷史名橋的記憶。au Viaduct
6.米洛大橋
The drive from Paris to Spain, especially if following a route near the small town of Millau, was known to be problematic, especially in summer, when hundreds of tourists and day-trippers would crowd the roads, and the idea of a bridge over the Tarn Valley was quickly mooted and accepted. The authorities held a contest, inviting architects and designers to come up with possible ideas and routes, and the best of these was selected. Despite fierce opposition from various parties (some felt that Millau would lose all passing trade, others felt that the toll charge on the bridge would mean that few people used it and still others advocated a different route, a little longer but that would have meant a cheaper project) the bridge is well used and appreciated by many who remember getting stuck on the overcrowded small roads below! The bridge has won various awards, including the prestigious Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering in 2006.
在巴黎開往西班牙的路程中，尤其是靠近米洛小鎮的那條路線，是衆所周知的困難重重。特別是夏季，會有成百的遊客和過客擁堵在路上。因此，在塔恩河谷上方架設一座橋的想法很快就討論並敲定了下來。當局舉辦了一場招標會，邀請建築師和設計者前來進獻可行的想法及路線，並從中挑選出最優的方案。儘管這一決策遭到了多個政黨的強烈反對（一些政黨認爲，架橋會使米洛鎮丟失所有的過境貿易；另一些則認爲，大橋的通行稅致使較少的人選擇過橋，而其他人仍會選擇一條不同的路線，雖然相對繞遠但成本更低），許多在橋下的小路上有過堵車經歷的人都對這座橋讚不絕口，事實也證明架設這座橋是一項利民工程。這座橋獲得了衆多的獎項，包括2006年國際橋樑與結構工程協會頒發的著名的“傑出構造獎”。翻譯:李聞昱 審校：Aileen 來源:前十網
