Bridge That Gap Trivia Quiz

Answer: Reuss River

The Chapel Bridge, the oldest covered bridge in Europe, was originally built to protect Lucerne from attack. Constructed in 1333, it is 670 feet long and the interior contains paintings done in the 17th century depicting scenes from the history of the city. Unfortunately it suffered a catastrophic fire in 1993 which destroyed much of the original wooden bridge and the paintings. It was swiftly restored and is now one of the major tourist attractions in the area.

Lucerne is in the German speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne. Situated on the edge of Lake Lucerne, it is a popular tourist destination.

Question by Christinap

Answer: Passerelle de la rue de Crimee

Paris has 37 bridges taking traffic of various sorts from one side of the Seine to the other. Most of these are for motorised vehicles and people, but two are rail bridges and four are pedestrian footbridges only. The Canal de l'Ourcq has sixteen bridges crossing it and these are mainly footbridges only. The few road bridges that cross the canal can be opened, either by lifting or turning, to allow water borne traffic to pass. Paris is in fact a city of bridges. Apart from the bridges over rivers and canals there are also many other bridges that take streets over other streets, helping to keep the traffic moving.

Question by Christinap

Answer: Romans

The Alcantara Bridge crosses the Tagus River. Emporer Trajan ordered it to be built and the construction was done between 104 and 106AD. There is a central triumphal arch in honourof Trajan, and also a temple dedicated to him at one end. Over the years, wars have done far more damage to it than weather conditions. The Moors destroyed a small arch on one side, and the Spanish themselves destroyed an arch to stop Portugese invaders.

Alcantara is close to the Portugese/Spanish border in one of the least developed areas of Spain. It was in decline for some time, but the building of hydroelectric plants in the area did stop the population decline, although it did not significantly boost the local economy.

Question by Christinap

Answer: Mostar

Situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stari Most, which translates to The Old Bridge, was originally of Ottoman construction. The original 1566 bridge was destroyed in the Bosnian war. When the war was over it was rebuilt, and the new bridge opened in 2004. It is something of a rite of passage for the young men of the town to dive from the bridge into the river. This can be quite a shock to the system, as the Nerelva is very cold, even in high summer.

Mostar is one of the largest cities in the Herzegovina region, and the fifth largest in the country as a whole. The name Mostar comes from the name for the medieval bridge keepers who guarded the Stari Most bridge.

Question by Christinap

Answer: Prague

Despite construction on the bridge beginning in 1357, the site had been home to a bridge for two centuries prior to that. The Judith Bridge, built between 1158 and 1172 was damaged by a large flood in the 1340s and so had to be replaced. The bridge was built under the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, but only adopted the name 'Charles Bridge' in 1870, previously being called 'Stone Bridge' or simply 'Prague Bridge'.

As well as offering fantastic open views to the rest of the city, particularly the castle, there are several sites to be seen on the bridge itself. Thirty statues line the length of Charles Bridge, mostly built around the turn of the 18th century. Amongst them are St. Francis of Assisi, St. Wencelas and St. John the Baptist. Another site to be seen while on the bridge are the 'bridge band', who play live music throughout the day and are sufficiently famous that they feature on posters and t-shirts in tourist outlets.

Question by pagea

Answer: Combined Bascule and Suspension Bridge

Iconic Tower Bridge was completed in 1894 and rises to a height of 65m. It consist of two sturdy stone towers linked by pedestrian walkways at the top, and a bascule bridge at the lower level. The bascule opens to an angle of 86 degrees to allow the passage of river traffic that is too tall to go under it. Each arm of the bascule bridge weighs over 1,000 tons and is counterweighted to minimise the force needed to raise it. It takes five minutes to open fully, and this is done by electric hydraulic motors which replaced the original pressurised water system in 1974.

You can visit the museum in the base of the bridge and see parts of the old system, as well as walk across on the high level bridge. It is well worth a visit, especially if you are lucky enough to see the bascules opening to allow a tall ship to pass through.

Question by invinoveritas

Answer: Plymouth and Saltash

Often called "The bridge that keeps Cornwall joined to the rest of England", the Royal Albert Bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was completed in 1859, much earlier than the perhaps better known Tamar road bridge, which was not opened until 1961. Crossing the bridge gives a wonderful view of the historic naval dockyards in Plymouth. These were of great importance to the city, providing much employment locally. They were also the reason that the city suffered a lot of bomb damage during World War 2.

Question by invinoveritas

Answer: Vasco da Gama

The Vasco da Gama Bridge was built between 1995 and 1998, opening in time for the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition and commemorating the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's discovery of a sea route between Europe and India. The bridge hosts six lanes of traffic and is one of the longest in Europe, stretching across the Tagus River at one of its widest points (at the mouth of the river). The bridge is thought to be extremely sturdy; it is built to resist winds of over 155mph and withstand an earthquake 4.5 times stronger than the famous 18th century Lisbon earthquake.

Although also Portuguese, Ferdinand Magellan was famous for leading the expedition to first circumnavigate the world, while Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador of the Aztec Empire. Vasco Núńez de Balboa crossed the isthmus of Panama to become the first European across into the Pacific Ocean.

Question by pagea

Answer: Budapest

The two cities formerly split by the river Danube were simply called Buda and Pest. Buda comprises the western part of the city and was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. It is notably home to Buda Castle and the luxurious presidential residence Sándor Palace. Pest is home to around two thirds of the city of Budapest and is found on the eastern bank of the Danube. It is home to the Hungarian Parliament (aka the National Assembly), Heroes' Square and Andrássy Avenue.

The bridge was built in 1849 and formed the first link over the Danube between the two cities. They merged with a third city, Óbuda, in 1873 to form the city of Budapest we know today.

Question by pagea

Answer: No

The connection between the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo is one of the strangest in the world. The bridge travels around 8km out into The Sound to the artificial island of Peberholm. At this point the crossing between the two countries goes underwater for the remaining 4km via the Drogden Tunnel. Madness!

This link is seen as a key connection, joining the road and rail networks of Scandinavia with Continental Europe. The bridge opened in July, 2000, and sees around 17,000 vehicles cross every day.

Question by pagea