These images of the bridge — called the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge — were shot in September 2009 as the 323m twin-rib concrete arch advances towards its late 2010 opening. The $US240 million, 610m bridge is part of a larger project, a 5.6km corridor that begins in Clark County, Nevada and ends in Mohave County, Arizona. [Hoover Dam Bypass via Industrial Interface via DRB]

I’m glad to see that it’s finally open for business because the way the Kurilpa Bridge was designed definitely enforces the green “Hey you! This bridge is made for walking” attitude:

The energy-saving lighting system will be powered by 84 solar panels that collectively generate a daily output of about 100KWh and an average yearly output of 38MWh. The solar energy generates supplies 75% of the power required to run the LED setup in the fully lit mode, but in most lighting configurations, 100% of the energy required will come from the solar panels. Surplus electricity generated by the solar array will be returned to the main grid.

How green and pretty it is aside, does that criss-cross design remind anyone else of pick-up sticks? [Ecofiend via kTreehugger]

Somewhat adorably named the Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Causeway, this massive bridge is expected to take around 4.5 years to complete and cost somewhere between $US2.3 and $US3 billion, but should be a great help for travel between Qatar and Bahrain. The trip currently takes more than four hours and will be reduced to 30 minutes on the bridge, and those in charge expect 10,000 to 20,000 vehicles per day to use it.

For a sense of scale, here’s a chart that compares the bridge to other very large things. Of course, I need a scale chart to tell how big a blue whale is, which sort of defeats the purpose of measuring this bridge in blue whales, but still: This is one large bridge. [Mena Infrastructure via Reddit]

This final image shows off the Bay Bridge’s swimming pool and some living/recreational quarters, as well as the green grass that would line the length of the “unwanted” bridge. One “little” caveat: In the event of a major earthquake, the Bay Bridge would probably survive, but as a result of the catastrophe would be unusable thereafter. This is precisely why the idea is all but certain to be rejected (at least for this bridge, in this area, anyway). [BLDG Blog]

[Perth Lego via Brothers Brick]

Last week I received a furniture order around 11pm. Yeah, it was late—but the drivers had good reason. Earlier that day they fell victim to the infamous Gregson Street RR bridge in Durham NC.

Fortunately, my buffet table and bed frames emerged from the incident unscathed—but I felt for the two dudes driving the truck. I get a lot of furniture from Ecko International and these guys have always been great with deliveries. Sure there are clearance signs, but this is definitely not the first time someone has made this mistake. In fact, the bridge is so notorious for chewing up trucks that it has its own YouTube channel packed with carnage. [Yovo's Bridgecam]

You can relive the moment in Street View or via Valleywag’s video, embedded here, but you’ll have to furnish your own sound effects. I’d like to suggest an Urkelian “Did I do thaaaaat?”, if I may. [Reddit via Valleywag]

UPDATE: Some commenters have plausibly suggested that the camera could have just been deliberately lowered and accidentally left on, creating this mind-melting set of image data. This explanation is reasonable, but more to the point it’s much less fun.

If you think Microsoft should use $US11 million in stimulus money—your tax money—to build a bridge connecting its West campus to its East campus, raise your hand. Banned.

$US11 million of the $US36 million bridge is going to be paid for by federal stimulus, whereas the other 17.5 will be paid by Microsoft. In Microsoft’s defence, they say that the bridge will be open to the public. On the other hand, who in the public is going to use a bridge that takes you from Microsoft’s technical buildings to its retail buildings?

As some dude from the Taxpayers for Common Sense says:

“Let’s face it. Microsoft is one of the most lucrative companies in the country,” Ellis says. “They could have easily funded this out of pocket change. This is really about getting while the getting is good. Uncle Sam has a big wallet that’s there for the taking, and Redmond wanted to take it — and Microsoft was happy to let them pick up that part of the tab.”

[CNN]