On our way to breakfast we did a little exploring of Dubrovnik from the top of our ship. In the distance I could see the tower of a suspension bridge.
It wasn't until getting home and doing some research I discovered the bridge was named the Franjo Tudman Bridge. Tudman was a very significant politician during the breakup of Yugoslavia and the setting up of Croatia and was the first President of the new country.
Our cruise ship was parked further down the dock behind the ship on the right... thank you Wikipedia for this great photo of the bridge... and your help with the details.
Our tour bus did not drive over the bridge, but as we went under I did a little drive by shooting.
The bridge was started in 1989... but due to the Croatian war it was not completed until 2002.
The tower reaches 464 high...
and there are 36 cable stays.
The bridge spans across the Rijeka Dubrovacka and is 1599 feet between abutments... with the girder span of 1066 feet.
What a cool bridge! I love the design... not just another girder truss job.
"Some bridges are so beautiful that we wish them to be our own home!"
-Mehmet Murat Ildan
nice combination of simplicity and asymmetry..
ReplyDeletefunny to read about the "naming controversy"! i wonder how long it will be until corporations will pay for bridge naming rights. maybe they already do. sports stadiums are definitely big money for naming rights.
Not everyone liked Franjo Tudman... hence many did not want his name on the bridge.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that his name is got approved shows me he was a powerful man.
Pretty bridge! And beautiful blue skies that day, too. Nice traveling weather.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: next time you go on a trip this significant, would you think about doing the research before you, to prepare? Or do you think that doing it after is the way to go? Just curious how your research will impact future trips.
I would do more research before if I were doing this again. We did some before... but this was a really huge trip with lots of points of interest... and it didn't seem like we had enough time to do as much we wanted to ahead of time.
Delete