Bridges have been drawing plenty of attention lately, with numerous construction projects around the world and the controversy over the deteriorating bridge infrastructure in the US. They have been an essential part of transportation for hundreds of years, and it is the job of civil engineers to design the safest, most durable bridges possible. Bridge Basics (1) has a large list of different...

This wonderful site, provided by NOVA Online, brings to life the engineering challenges inherent to bridge-building. Designed for those who want the challenge, the site offers four bridging scenarios (with photos): "a 5,000-foot span across an ocean bay where huge ships come and go, ... a 700-foot span across a deep canyon gorge," and two others. A step-by-step tutorial teaches about four...

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a 20 mile long series of bridges and tunnels that connect Virginia Beach/Norfolk to Virginia's Eastern Shore. The project is an engineering marvel; besides supporting vehicular traffic, the tunnels allow sea-going vessels passage into and out of the bay. A great deal of information is given on the project's home page, including a map of the surrounding area,...

"The Digital Bridges Web site consists of a collection of thirty representative 19th century American bridge engineering monographs, manuals, and documents from the Lehigh University Libraries' Special Collections." The archive provides an interesting retrospective into the beginnings of major bridge projects; the material is complete with high-resolution photographs and text scanned from original...

The Department of Special Collections at the University of Washington has created an excellent online exhibit documenting the rise and (literal) fall of the Tacoma Narrows bridge in Washington State, an event referred to as the Pearl Harbor of engineering. The massive structure was built between 1938 and 1940 and, at the time of its completion, was the third longest suspension bridge in the world....

Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structures (ISIS) is a joint program between several Canadian universities. Its work is spread across such disciplines as "civil, mechanical, materials, aerospace, and electrical engineering." The ISIS Web site has detailed information about four main research focuses, including fibre optic sensors, remote monitoring, innovative structures, and structural...

During the past several decades, France has become the home of some rather iconic modernist structures, such as La Defense and the rather intriguing Pompidou Center. With one quite bold stroke, the rural landscape of southern France has just this week become home to one of the world's truly impressive engineering (and architectural) feats as the Millau bridge opened this past Tuesday. Designed by...