Zollamtsbrucke over the Wien River in Vienna (Austria) painted by artist Winjent

"Something impractical cannot be beautiful"

Otto Wagner, designer of this bridge

Yingwuzhou Bridge (Parrot Island Bridge) over the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei (China)

A fisherman

skirting shore

in his high-prowed skiff

crossing bamboo oars

comes up with a jolt –

nets catch not fish

but the wizened finger

of a submerged branch

for below

a sunken valley persists –

slick bare trunks

furred in wafting fronds

have water for sky,

ghost forest.

Roots rot deep in the hill

where buried rock

is still dry.

Excerpt from the poem Yangtze by Sarah Howe

Mesi Bridge across the river Kir in Skohder (Albania)

 

Gur, gur bëhet kalaja.

Stone after stone, you can build a castle.

Albanian Saying

Roman Bridge over the Guadiana River in Mérida, Badajoz (Spain)

Esta ciudad no late si tú no la acaricias,
si no tocan tus manos
la calidez del mármol que modela su cuerpo
ni los labios encienden
palabras que iluminen su noche dilatada.

To Mérida by Rafael Rufino Felix

Brige over a creek in the Jostedall Valley (Norway)

Mange bekker små gjør en stor å.

Many small streams make a large river

Norwegian saying

Drawing of the Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississipi River in Minneapolis (United States)

Mississippi is like my mother. I am allowed to complain about her all I want, but God help the person who raises an ill word about her around me, unless she is their mother too.

Kathryn Stockett

Storseisundet Bridge on the road between Averoy and mailand (Norway)

The Atlantic Road zigzags across 12 low bridges that jut out over the sea, linking the islands between Molde (famous for its annual Jazz festival in July) and Kristiansund in the western Fjords. The Hustadvika is an infamous stretch of ocean and in storm it's fantastically dramatic. In calmer weather you might spot whales and seals.

Article in The Guardian about the most beautiful Roads Trips in the world, 1th April 2006

Mehmed Pasha Sokolovich Bridge over the Drina river in Visegrad (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

The Višegrad bridge is a remarkable architectural testimony to the apogee of the classical age of the Ottoman Empire, whose values and achievements mark an important stage in the history of humankind."

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge as

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal n Venice (Italy)

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”

Truman Capote

Shin-Yotsugi Bridge crossing the Arakawa River in Tokyo (Japan)

"More than any other city, Tokyo demonstrates that "city" is a verb and not a noun."

Toshiko Mori, architect

Moseltalbrücke over the Moselle River near Winningen, Rhineland Palatinate (Germany)

"In the wide German land

Many a stream flows

Of all those I knew,

One lies in my mind."

Moselle,

traditional song

Panther Hollow Bridge over the Junction Hollow Valley in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States)

 "A very old and large example of steel arch technology and is also a rare example of a three-hinged deck arch. Just as noteworthy are the bridge’s stone arch approach spans."

 historicbridges.com

Railway Bridge over the Rhine River between Kehl (Germany) and Strasbourg (France)

"Of all rivers, I prefer the Rhine. It is now a year, when passing the bridge of boats at Kehl, since I first saw it. I remember that I felt a certain respect, a sort of adoration, for this old, this 
classic stream... Yes, the Rhine is a noble river—feudal, republican, imperial—worthy, at the same time, of France and of Germany."

Victor Hugo

Padma Bridge over the Padma River between Mawa and Jazira (Bangladesh)

"The completion of this bridge will fulfil the long cherished dream of the nation for connecting the 19 south-western districts with the rest of the country resulting in collective prosperity, socioeconomic development of Bangladesh as well as enhanced regional connectivity"

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh

Natural Bridge in Porto Colom, Majorca, Balearic Islands (Spain)

Mallorca, terra estimada,
que fa tants d’anys que jo trepig,
si no ets ma pàtria, Mallorca,
com si ho fossis jo t’estim.
...

Mallorca, beloved land,

which I have been treading for so many years,

if you are not my homeland, Mallorca,

as if you were I love you.

In the poem Lo meu desig

by Margarida Caimari i Vila

Sky Bridge in the island of Langkawi (Malaysia)

Mahsuri, the most beautiful woman in Langkawi was married to a warrior. When her husband had to go to war she befriended a young traveler named Deramang. The village chief's wife was jealous of Mahsuri's beauty. She spread a rumour that Mahsuri was  was having an affair with Deramang in the absence of his husband. Soon villagers openly accused her of adultery. Mahsuri pleaded her innocence, but no one believed her. Mahsuri was tied to a tree and stabbed to death but it did not work. After every execution attempt failed, Mahsuri told them to kill her with her family's knife. When she was stabbed, white blood flowed from the wound, signifying her innocence. With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi to have seven generations of bad luck.

Langkawi legend

Ningde Sea Crossing Bridge in Ningde, Fujian (China)

 
Tender love drops cherry blossom rain fully

Charming blows willow wind frequently
Tide of The South China Sea on time every year
Country still but people different every year

Poem The South China Sea

by Luo Zhihai

Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge over the river Rogue in Gold Beach, Oregon (United States)

See there down at the liquor store
Gone to drink those troubles in some more
Down at the old Rogue River
That old Rogue River
You were daddy’s sunshine days
He left, left for good went down to his grave
Mother Mary full of grace won’t you
Watch these children in my place
I’m going under the river
That old Rogue River

Rogue River

song by Elephan Reivival

Bridges across the Seine River in Paris (France)

 

Whenever you are in Paris at twilight in the early summer, return to the Seine and watch the evening sky close slowly on a last strand of daylight fading quietly, like a sigh.

Kate Simon

25th April Bridge over the Tagus River in Lisbon (Portugal)

 
Once more I see you—Lisbon, the Tagus and the rest—
A useless onlooker of you and of myself,
A foreigner here like everywhere else,
Incidental in life as in my soul,
A ghost wandering through halls of remembrances
To the sound of rats and creaking floorboards
In the accursed castle of having to live …

In a poem by  Fernando Pessoa

Bridge over the Qingyan River in Luofang Town, Liancheng, Fujian (China)

One night's east wind adorns a thousand trees with flowers
And blows down stars in showers.
Fine steeds and carved cabs spread fragrance en route;
Music vibrates from the flute;
The moon sheds its full light
While fish and dragon lanterns dance all night.
In gold-thread dress, with moth or willow ornaments,

...

From poem The Lantern Festival Night

by Qiji Xin

Tokyo Gate Bridge over the Tokyo Bay in Tokyo (Japan)

 
“Tokyo is a city of contrasts—where the past and future coexist in a strange harmony.”

Haruki Murakami

Bridge over a canal in the Stanislawa Staszica Park in Pila, Wielkopolska (Poland)

"Equality, liberty and property are the most necessary and simplest corollary of human rights."

Stanislaw Staszic,

after whom this park is named

Painting of the Fury Bridge over the Yulong River in Yangshuo, Guangxi (China)

The grass path
the secluded forest
the new leaves are tender
The morning cocks are singing
Orioles resonate

Water state of the Lijiang River
the grotesque peaks are pretty
Scenery of Yangshuo
the emerald mountains lie across

From the poem Scenary of

Yangshou, by Luo Zhihai

Chains Bridge crossing the Danube River in Budapest (Hungary)

...And the rain began to drizzle,
but as if it didn't matter, it stopped.
And yet, like someone watching
the long rain from a cave - I looked at the border:
it fell like a monotonous, eternal rain,
colorless, what was colorful, the past.

The Danube just flowed. And like a small child
on the lap of a fertile, absent-minded mother
, the foams played beautifully
and laughed at me.
They trembled in the tide of time like
rolling cemeteries with tombstones.
...

From the poem By the Danube,

Attila Jozsef