Bridges in Urban Planning and Architectural Culture

Bridges obviously serve multiple functions but the primary purpose is to traverse a terrain obstacle to get goods and/or people across to the other side. Bridges are often viewed as an indicator of progress in technical capability, engineering skills as well as a symbol of economic potential of a particular city, region or a country. Often, this is the reason why many urban bridges become the most important infrastructure in some cities. This paper discusses several examples of bridges which have made a significant impact on the perception of a city and resulted in substantial changes to landscape configuration. The following available research methods of evaluation were used: analysis of literature, observational in-situ studies of objects and own research. Analysis were performed on dozens of bridges constructed over the centuries. The example selection was directed to the well-known objects, the spectacular new implementations or icons of bridge architecture. The study involved both contemporary and historical objects.