Monday, May 24, 2010

Bloukrans Bridge (1984)

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Bloukrans is one of 5 large concrete bridges on the beautiful N2 Garden route, a highway between Port Elizabeth and Capetown that runs along the southern coast of South Africa. It is the largest and most famous bridge on the route, Africa’s highest ever at 708 feet (216 meters) and the home of the world’s highest bridge bungee jump. This is also the only highway in the world outside of China or Italy to have 3 bridges in excess of 500 feet (152 meters) in height.



When it opened in 1984, the Bloukrans also held the record for being the world’s highest concrete arch bridge. Since then it has been surpassed by the Jiangjiehe bridge in China and the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman bridge that bypasses the Hoover Dam near Las Vegas, Nevada in the U.S.

The bridge made news in 1997 when the Face Adrenalin Bungee operation opened. As the highest commercial bungy jump operation in the world, it has turned the bridge into a major tourist attraction for South African visitors.

Source: Highest Bridges






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