6,400 km long, but there is no bridge across the Amazon River, which is a surprise

May 31, 2022 06:36 GMT+7

The Amazon is the longest river in the world, flowing through 9 countries, accounting for about 40% of South America, one of the most important waterways on the planet, but there is no bridge across the river.

6,400 km long, but there is no bridge across the Amazon River, which is a surprise

The Amazon River contains more freshwater than any other river, is home to the world’s largest river dolphin and diverse flora and fauna.

The lack of a bridge over the Amazon River has caused many difficulties for explorers and those who want to cross from one end to the other. This is quite unusual since even small rivers have bridges over them.

Or with the longest Nile in the world, only in the area where the Nile flows through Cairo, Egypt also has 9 bridges across, or the Danube in Europe is only 1/3 as long as the Amazon River but has 133 trees. bridge over.

So what is the reason for the lack of any bridge over the Amazon River? Are there any fundamental difficulties in building bridges in rainforests, large wetlands, and deep, dense grass? Is there a financial barrier?

Walter Kaufmann, Swiss Institute of Technology, chair of the structural department, explained the reason behind the absence of bridges that took everyone by surprise. The simple reason for that puzzling question was that there was no need, no urgent need for a bridge across the river.

He explained that many areas of the Amazon River run through sparsely populated areas. Therefore, there are not any main roads to connect with a bridge. In addition, the large towns near the river have convenient means of transport to bring people from one bank to the other without the need for a bridge.

Walter Kaufmann also pointed out the technical difficulties, as well as the logistics, the huge investment costs if building the bridge over the river. Lots of marshes, soft riparian soil, long bridges and deep foundations make construction somewhat more expensive.

In addition, the water level changes over the past seasons are obvious, the depth is big, so the construction of the bridge requires extremely rigorous techniques. During the dry season, from June to November, the Amazon River has an average width of 3.2 to 9.7 km. In the rainy season from December to April, the river can be up to 48 km wide, the water level is 15 meters higher than in the dry season.

In the end, no bridges were built over the river. And when asked if there is a chance there will be a bridge over the Amazon in the near future, Walter Kaufmann said: “I think a bridge will be built if the need is far outweighed by the need. with the difficulty and cost to build. I personally doubt that this will happen anytime soon.”

Hoang Dung (synopsis)