This week’s DP photo challenge is Curve.
Those who have been following me know that I am a fan of bridges; I like them as they connect one place to another, overcoming obstacles like river, sea, rivers, gorges etc.
They improve connectivity which we all need.
In the early part of my career, I have been designing and project engineering some bridges which still stand today, after 40 years of their design and over three decades of their construction.
This post is about curve bridges; in fact, they are mostly masonry bridges.
In early part of the human history, we have discovered that if we arrange the masonry or stones in the shape of arches, the resulting structure will be put into compression for which stones have a lot of compressive strength.
The stone or masonry of course will need to be cemented together so that there will be a smooth flow of compression in the arches. Human beings have been very clever in erecting curved spans over torrential waters etc..
Many of the bridges were built on this principle and quite a lot of them have lasted for hundreds of years.
Here I will first showcase some of the arch bridges built in the West, the first two examples were taken in Spain, namely, Seville and also Toledo.
The third one is a medieval bridge near France in the area known as Cahorrea.
The fourth one was taken in Central Park, NYC.
The fifth one was taken in Switzerland, this is a contemporary structure with vertical memebers transferring loads from the highway onto a concrete arch. 
The rest of the bridges are built in the East.
The one with three curved spans over a river, looking like three contagious ribbons were taken in Shinkoku, Japan.
This is followed by a three span masonry bridge in the West Lake China, creating an attractive reflection in the West Lake waters.
The last one with the red Autumn foliage was captured in South Korea.
I could go on and on, citing more examples – if I can get hold of my old pictures.
For the time being, please enjoy 🙂
retireediary 