10.Hangzhou Bay Bridge
10.杭州湾跨海大桥
Hangzhou Bay is an immense estuary delta that divided the Chinese municipality of Jiaxing from neighbouring Ningbo. The idea for the bridge was touted for many years before construction even reached the drawing board, but the bridge was eventually completed in 2007. It was not opened to the public until 2008, after a period of rigorous and stringent testing. The area where the bridge lies is prone to not only typhoons, but also some of the highest tidal forces in the world and, as if that was not enough to be going on with, earthquakes! To account for all these adverse forces, the builders used steel piles, rather than the more usual concrete ones, and employed the cable-stayed bridge formation that is recognised as one of the strongest and most stable methods of bridge-building. Stretching some 22 miles across the bay, the bridge leapt into the top ten of trans-oceanic bridges on its completion and immediately cut travel times between the two regions from around 250 miles to a mere 50.
杭州湾是一个巨大的河口三角洲，将中国的直辖市嘉兴和它的邻居宁波分隔开来。在正式建设之前，大桥的想法已经构思酝酿多年，甚至已经到了图纸设计阶段，但到2007年大桥最终建成。经过一段时间的严格测试之后，直到2008年大桥才对外开放。大桥所处区域不仅仅易受台风影响，同时也受世界上最高强度潮汐力的影响，似乎这些并不够，还有地震的存在！考虑到所有这些不利因素的影响，建造者使用了钢管桩而不是更常用的混凝土桩，并且所采用的斜拉桥的形式被公认为是最坚固和最稳定的桥梁建设方法之一。横跨海湾总长将近22英里（35.4公里），杭州湾跨海大桥建成后即跻身十大跨海大桥之列，直接将两区域之间的行程时间由大约250英里（402公里）缩短到只有50英里（80公里）。

9.Royal Gorge Bridge
9.皇家峡谷大桥

Not one for those scared of heights, the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, USA stands some 291 metres from the ground at its highest point. This made it the highest bridge in the world from the time of its construction until as late as 2003. The bridge was purposefully built as a tourist attraction in 1929 and it can be found inside an amusement park, surrounded by rides and carnival attractions. Sadly, the bridge and many of the attractions were damaged by fire in June 2013 and the park has only recently partially re-opened to the public (March 2014). It is hoped that the park will be fully operational by August 2014.
位于美国科罗拉多州的皇家峡谷大桥，从地面到最高点大约291米的高度，因此恐高人群过桥之前要三思。该桥从建造起到2003年一直保持着世界上最高悬索吊桥的记录。在1929年，大桥作为一个旅游景点建于一座主题公园内，四周被游乐设施围绕。

8.Sydney Harbour Bridge
8.悉尼大桥

Opened in 1932 the Sydney Harbour Bridge has become synonymous with Sydney's other great attraction, the magnificent Opera House that sits alongside the bridge. It is the world's tallest steel arch bridge, and is sometimes affectionately known as 'The Coat-hanger' because of its arched appearance. The bridge caters for all forms of transport – save trams! There were originally two tram lines but these were converted into spare vehicle roadways. Trains, bicycles and even pedestrians can find their way across the bridge, which was conceived of in 1815, although it would be almost a hundred years before the first feasible plans were drawn up. The bridge was opened on both sides simultaneously (not without some drama) and hailed as a huge success and the saving of many lives during the Great Depression by providing employment. Today, tourists can climb the arch of the bridge going over the top to enjoy the breath-taking views from the summit in a strenuous, three-and-a-half hour climb that ascends on the eastern side and finishes on the west.
自1932年竣工通车起，悉尼大桥便成了悉尼的另一道“风景线”，与瑰丽的歌剧院毗邻而居，交相辉映。它是世界上最高的钢架拱桥，因其拱状的外形，常被人亲切地称作“大衣架”。悉尼大桥可通行各种运输工具——除了电车！原本桥上铺设有双轨铁路，后来为给汽车道腾出空间而被拆除。1815年，有人就提出了“火车、自行车甚至是行人皆可过桥”的构想。然而过了近乎一百年，第一个可行性方案才被草拟出来。大桥两边的同步通车（此过程是几经波折啊）是一次巨大的成功，人们为此欢呼雀跃。世界经济大危机期间，这一工程提供了不少就业机会，也因此挽救了许多人的生命。如今，游客们可以攀爬至拱桥顶端，欣赏独到的美景。从桥东的起点攀爬至桥西的终点需要三个半小时。

7.Charles Bridge
7.查理大桥

Originally called The Stone Bridge, Charles Bridge's first stone was laid by King Charles IV, at 5.31am on the 9th of July 1357. The time and date are precisely recorded because Charles was deeply interested in numerology and it was felt that this was an auspicious time for the bridge building process to begin. (The date and time form a 'bridge' 1357:9/7:5.31 which Charles believed would imbue the construction with strength and durability.) The bridge today offers something of a short history of Prague and Czechoslovakia as a whole featuring statues of characters from various points in history. A recent (and hotly decried, in some circles) renovation saw the original statues being replaced with modern replicas and the originals carefully removed to a museum. Whenever you are in Prague, be sure to wander over the Charles Bridge and stare into the water of the Vltava River as you bask in the history of this historically significant bridge.
查理大桥起初被称为石桥，1357年7月9日上午5点31分，查理国王四世为这座桥垒上了第一块石头。开工日期和具体动工的时间都是预先记下的，因为查理十分痴迷于占卜之术，而这个时辰被确认为是大桥开工的黄道吉时（查理相信1357:9/7:5.31始建可保建筑坚如磐石、巍然不倒）。这座桥如今承载着布拉格和捷克斯洛伐克的一段简史，在各个历史的节点中，如一座独具一格的雕像。在最近的一次翻修中（在一些圈子里遭到了强烈的谴责），人们用现代的复制品替换了原有的雕像，将其小心地移放进博物馆中。若是有朝一日你身处布拉格，定要在查理大桥上漫步而过，凝望沃尔塔瓦河，去触碰这座历史名桥的记忆。

6.Millau Viaduct
6.米洛大桥

The drive from Paris to Spain, especially if following a route near the small town of Millau, was known to be problematic, especially in summer, when hundreds of tourists and day-trippers would crowd the roads, and the idea of a bridge over the Tarn Valley was quickly mooted and accepted. The authorities held a contest, inviting architects and designers to come up with possible ideas and routes, and the best of these was selected. Despite fierce opposition from various parties (some felt that Millau would lose all passing trade, others felt that the toll charge on the bridge would mean that few people used it and still others advocated a different route, a little longer but that would have meant a cheaper project) the bridge is well used and appreciated by many who remember getting stuck on the overcrowded small roads below! The bridge has won various awards, including the prestigious Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering in 2006.
在巴黎开往西班牙的路程中，尤其是靠近米洛小镇的那条路线，是众所周知的困难重重。特别是夏季，会有成百的游客和过客拥堵在路上。因此，在塔恩河谷上方架设一座桥的想法很快就讨论并敲定了下来。当局举办了一场招标会，邀请建筑师和设计者前来进献可行的想法及路线，并从中挑选出最优的方案。尽管这一决策遭到了多个政党的强烈反对（一些政党认为，架桥会使米洛镇丢失所有的过境贸易；另一些则认为，大桥的通行税致使较少的人选择过桥，而其他人仍会选择一条不同的路线，虽然相对绕远但成本更低），许多在桥下的小路上有过堵车经历的人都对这座桥赞不绝口，事实也证明架设这座桥是一项利民工程。这座桥获得了众多的奖项，包括2006年国际桥梁与结构工程协会颁发的著名的“杰出构造奖”。

翻译:李闻昱 审校：Aileen 来源:前十网