Sunday, September 4, 2011
THEN
On Sept. 4, 1964, Queen Elizabeth II opens the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland, making it the longest suspension bridge outside of the United States at the time. The bridge links the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Perth across the River Forth. During the opening ceremony, tens of thousands of spectators watched as the royal cavalcade crawls across the 3,300-foot main span of the bridge. Together with two side spans, the bridge stretches 1.56 miles and cost about $31.6 million to build.
NOW
Today, the Forth Road Bridge provides safe crossing for more than 24 million vehicles annually. However, the 10.7-mile, the $1 billion dollar Vasco da Gama Bridge, which opened in 1998, is now the longest bridge in Europe. The Vasco da Gama Bridge crosses the Tagus River designed to ease commuter traffic conjestion in Lisbon, Portugal.
