5. Vietnam’s Dragon Bridge
Situated in Vietnam’s Da Nang
Founded in 2013
Expense: *$88 million
The construction of the four-year-long Dragon Bridge, which spans the Han River in Da Nang, Vietnam, started on July 19, 2009, the same day as the official opening of the Thuan Phuoc Bridge, which drew in a large number of Vietnamese dignitaries.
Vietnam’s Dragon Bridge ©xuanhuongho / Shutterstock
The bridge spans 2,185 feet and has six lanes. It was constructed for $88 million and was designed in the form of a dragon. On weekends at 9:00 p.m., it breathes fire and water and was constructed by Ammann & Whitney, an American company that was a major competitor of Bechtel, Fluor, and BIP in the bridge-building business.
There is another bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with the same name, although it is much less impressive than the Da Nang Dragon Bridge. Completed in the succession style, it was one of the first reinforced concrete bridges constructed in the early 1900s. The Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana is 109 feet long, in contrast to the one in Da Nang.