May 30, 2022 12:30:00

Why is there no bridge on the Amazon River, which is over 6000km long?

The

Amazon River is the second longest river in the world that flows through Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, etc., has the highest flow rate in the world, and has a valuable ecosystem such as diverse fish and endemic Amazon river dolphins . .. However, despite the fact that the main stream of the Amazon River has a total length of over 6000 km and spans multiple countries, there is no bridge, and the science media Live Science said, 'Why on the Amazon River? Is there a bridge? '

Why are there no bridges over the Amazon River? | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/why-no-bridges-over-amazon-river

The Nile , the longest river in the world, has nine bridges in Cairo, the capital of Egypt alone, and the Changjiang River, one of Asia's leading rivers, has more than 100 bridges built in the last 30 years. The Donau River is about one-third the length of the Amazon River, but it has 133 bridges. Compared to these rivers, it seems strange that no bridge is built over the Amazon River, which is home to more than 30 million people in the basin.

Walter Kaufmann , a professor of structural engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, wrote in an email to Live Science about the mystery of no bridge over the Amazon River: 'The bridge across the Amazon River needs to be so urgent. No, 'he points out. Most of the Amazon River meanders in sparsely populated areas, with few major roads around which bridges can connect, and boats and ferries have been established as transportation in cities and towns bordering the river. Therefore, there is no need to hurry to build a bridge.

by

Stephen Horvath

Kaufmann says that the technical and logistical difficulties of the Amazon River's nature also hinder the construction of the bridge. For example, the Amazon River basin has extensive wetlands and soft soils that require very long viaducts and deep foundations. This means that a large amount of financial investment will be required to construct the bridge, and it seems that there is little merit in constructing the bridge that is worth the economic cost.

In addition, the position of the Amazon River changes depending on the season, and the water level also changes significantly. Especially in the lower reaches of the Amazon River, the average river width is about 3 to 10 km in the dry season from June to November, but it can reach up to 50 km in the rainy season from December to April. 'The Amazon environment is certainly one of the toughest in the world,' Kaufmann said. 'Building a bridge across the strait is difficult at deep waters, but at least using pontoons (float structures) . Is possible. '

At the time of writing, there was no bridge across the main stream of the Amazon River, but a bridge called Ponte Rio Negro , which crosses the tributary of the Negro River , opened in 2011. In 2019, Brazil's President Jail Borsonaro announced an infrastructure project including the construction of a 'bridge over the Amazon River', and the city of Manakapur in Amazonas, Brazil announced plans to build a bridge upstream of the Amazon River. The possibility of a bridge over the Amazon River in the future is not zero.

But American biologist Philip Fearnside , who had a long career in Brazil, said, 'The construction costs will be very high compared to the economic benefits of a bridge over the Amazon River.' ' Free Economic Zone of Manaus .' It is cheaper to transport products by water from the district 's factories to Sao Paulo . ' It also warns that plans to bridge the Amazon River will make loggers more accessible to the rainforest and lead to environmental destruction.

'I think it's only difficult and cost-effective to build a bridge,' Kaufmann said. Personally, unless there is unexpected economic development in the region, bridge construction will be immediate. I don't think it will happen. '