Buzz
Despite the Amazon River stretching from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean across multiple South American countries, no bridge has been built over the river.
Why does the Amazon River, extending over 6,000 km, lack cross-river bridges?
Located in South America, the Amazon River ranks among the world's longest rivers. Its title is yet to be globally recognized, although a group of scientists from Brazil and Peru once declared the Amazon River to be 6,800 km long, surpassing the Nile (6,695 km) by 105 km, according to National Geographic in 2007.
The Amazon River's watershed flows through a vast rainforest, featuring breathtaking waterfalls and the world's largest freshwater dolphin. However, what makes this river more memorable than anything is what it lacks: a bridge.
Building a bridge for whom
Originating from the upper reaches of the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon is the world's longest river without cross-river bridges. Whether from remote, secluded villages to bustling cities in Brazil, Peru, or Colombia, 25 million people share a commonality: crossing the river requires boats or ferries.
Throughout its length, the Amazon offers no place too narrow or too wide for bridge construction during the dry season. However, in the rainy season, the river's water rises over 9 meters, transforming 4.8 km stretches into 48 km within weeks. Soft sediment continuously erodes the banks, and the riverbed is often filled with debris, including floating forest patches called matupás, sometimes spanning up to 4 hectares. The Amazon's rainy season truly brings nightmares for construction engineers.
However, the real reason for the absence of bridges is quite simple: The Amazon Basin has very few roads to connect with bridges. Apart from a few major cities, the population in the dense rainforest is sparse, and the river itself serves as a highway for the people in the region. Macapá, situated on the northern bank of the Amazon continental land, is a city with half a million people, but there is no road connecting it to the rest of Brazil. If you rent a car there, you only have one direction to go – north, towards the overseas territory of French Guiana.
The First Bridge
In recent years, water traffic between Manaus, Brazil, and the nearby town of Iranduba has faced congestion with crowded ferry trips. Ferry tickets cost around $30 per passenger.
In 2010, the Brazilian government constructed a cable-stayed bridge between the two cities. Technically, this bridge does not cross the main flow of the Amazon but spans its largest tributary, the Rio Negro. Hence, this marks the first bridge in the Amazon River system, celebrated by locals upon completion. However, environmentalists were skeptical of Manaus' new bridge and highway project, seeing them as the initial steps in Amazon development parallel to deforestation activities.
According to Phạm Huyền/Vnexpress
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Reference: Travel guide Mytour
MytourApril 20, 2018
