bridges have been used for many thousands of years to provide shortcuts across obstacles in the landscape that would otherwise take a long time to travel around and as techniques and construction materials have improved their designs have become bigger and safer than ever there remains some though that are either aging cross dangerous regions or that are purposefully designed to be nerve-wracking which are guaranteed to get your heart racing as you set foot on them we hope you've got a good head for heights because it's time to take a look at the 15 most terrifying bridges you don't want to cross
number 15 zhang jaja glass bridge china found in the hunan province of china which is a landlocked region that's known for its stunning mountainous areas the zhangjiajie glass bridge has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the wuling yuan world heritage site it was first opened in august of 2016 and at the time it was the longest and highest glass bottom bridge on earth while this record has since been broken it remains one of the most frightening pathways you could ever cross the bridge itself connects two mountain cliffs in the national forest park and is 1410 feet long and 20 feet wide it's suspended 980 feet or 300 meters above the canyon floor and has been fully designed to play tricks with your mind the main structure of the bridge is made up of metal frame but the floor that you walk across was built with 120 tempered glass panels each of these actually consists of three layers which are about two inches or 5.1 centimeters thick and are certified to hold a huge amount of weight the bridge itself can according to the designers comfortably accommodate as many as 800 people at a time but this was put to the test when it was first opened they had expected 8 000 guests per day to begin with but numbers swell to more than 10 times that figure which led to people cramming out of the bridge and exerting far greater loads onto it than had been designed for authorities were forced to close it for a month to introduce crowd control measures and since then there have fortunately been no further incidents
number 14 the cloud bridge taidunshin mountain south korea located between the cities of daejeon and jeonju and south korea the 2800 foot tall dai tun chin mountain has been long regarded as one of the most beautiful geographical features on the korean peninsula the changing conditions throughout the year have made it an extremely popular hiking route whether it be for the autumnal colors the winter snow or the glorious summer sun but for those wanting to experience the beauty but not the full trekking experience there's an alternative option you can take a cable car to skip an hour of the route and then all that's left is traversing to frightening bridges before you reach the top the first is a 131 foot long suspension bridge but the real test is known as the samson overpass or the cloud bridge it's a 127 step ladder bridge that at an angle of around 70 degrees connects two mountain peaks it's only 164 feet long but it's often covered in clouds so there are moments when you can't see the start or the end at the top is the summit of the mountain with some of the most spectacular views you'll ever see of korea but it takes true nerves of steel to get there
number 13 el caminito del rey ardale spain el caminito del rey which translates to mean the king's little path is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying pathways that you could ever attempt to cross over it was built between 1901 and 1905 to provide a route between two hydroelectric power plants for construction workers and is made up of concrete blocks positioned on top of steel rails that have been drilled into the rock face the pathway is just three feet wide and sits above a perilous 330 foot drop to the river beneath when it first opened only those who needed to cross would ever dare to do so but in 1921 king alfonso xiii famously walked the route to officially open one of the dams which is why it's now been named in his honor over the years parts of the bridge began to collapse which left holes in the concrete base and the handrails needed to be replaced with sturdier safety wire still as it became more popular with thrill seekers it became increasingly dangerous and this culminated in five deaths in 1999 and 2000. the route was officially closed as a result of this but there were another four fatalities in the following decade which resulted in the local government investing in a safer design that opened in 2015 while the risk is certainly lower than it originally was this remains an extremely frightening route and you'd surely have to be crazy to try it yourself
number 12 langkawi sky bridge malaysia the 410 foot or 125 meter long langkawi sky bridge is a beautiful example of modern architecture but reaching a height of 2170 feet above sea level it's one of the most exposed and nervy bridges you can walk on if you can get beyond these spheres though you'll be treated to a simply stunning view of a virtually pristine jungle canopy it's on the island of pulau langkawi which is off the northwestern coast of malaysia and was built within a national park between two hilltops to offer guests a once in a lifetime experience it's just six feet or about 1.8 meters wide in sections and is curved to give an ever-changing and unobstructed view as you walk along the bridge wasn't built in place and was instead made up of a series of prefabricated sections that were connected together to avoid damaging the local ecosystem to allow for anyone to try it for themselves access to the beginning of the bridge is via an inclinator train which takes two minutes to reach the top for an extra challenge you can avoid this altogether and take a treacherous mountain track instead after an upgrade in 2012 the bridge now features sections with glass panels in the floor as well which has further up the fear factor and has proved to be a major success in attracting tourists to the area
number 11. uhuela bridge mapimi mexico the oguela bridge which is also known as the mapimi bridge was designed by the same company responsible for the brooklyn bridge but the experience for anyone trying to cross the one in northwestern mexico is very different from the daily commute in new york to start with reaching the ahuela bridge involves an arduous drive along a 4.3 mile long stretch of road up the side of a mountain which locals suggest shouldn't be attempted by anyone not comfortable with the idea of potentially having to reverse an almost two-mile winding stretch if you encounter a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction after reaching the suspension bridge itself which was first opened in 1898 you're then faced with an altogether different challenge it was built to grant access to a gold mine before a time when motor vehicles were available and is just two feet wide meaning it's only accessible to pedestrians made of wooden planks that are held up by a steel superstructure it's held around 327 feet or about a hundred meters above a ravine it almost gives you the sensation you're walking in midair as you cross to make matters worse once you've got over to the other side there's only one way to return where you started that's by walking over the bridge for a second time
number 10 titleist cliff walk swiss alps at an elevation of 9 800 feet or 3 000 meters above sea level the titleist cliff walk is the highest suspension bridge in europe it poses a real challenge for anyone brave enough to cross it it's just 320 feet or about a hundred meters long follows a route alongside one of the cliffs of mount tuculus but the truth rights come from the fact that the walkway is only three feet or about a meter wide it was opened in 2012 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of a nearby funicular railway but on that first day vips were shown how scary it was a snowstorm struck which means they were only able to see a few steps ahead of themselves since then it's become renowned for the unpredictable weather you can experience when trying to traverse it but the designers claim it's not dangerous at all it's supposedly able to withstand wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour can even support up to 500 tons of snow a spokesperson once said that it's really impossible to fall from the bridge would you trust their word for that
number nine quepos bridge costa rica every vehicle that travels along the road between jaco and quepos on the central pacific coast of costa rica will at a point have to cross the nightmarish quepos bridge it's often referred to by locals as the bridge of death or the oh my god bridge that soon becomes clear why built by the bananera company in the 1930s to shorten the transport time of perishable banana crops to the port at quepos it's an incredible looking structure and is sure to have your life flashing before your eyes several times before you made it over the road of the bridge is made of wooden planks that barely look strong enough to support pedestrians or bikes but it's regularly used by heavy trucks which can feel the loose slats rumbling beneath their wheels as they slowly make their crossing no barriers on either side precision driving is needed otherwise a sharp fall into the river beneath awaits on either side and there have been countless stories over the years of people who have made small mistakes and paid the price luckily vehicles can only travel in one direction across it on the journey to quepos so you don't have to contend with anyone making the reverse trip something that takes several hours longer and involves the use of a twisting hilly road instead
number eight royal gorge bridge colorado there's no doubt that the landscape of colorado is one of the most breathtaking sites you'll see in the whole of north america and to capitalize on this the royal gorge suspension bridge was built in 1929 to draw tourists to the region from then until 2001 it held the record as being the highest bridge in the world and to this day remains the highest in the united states at a length of 880 feet or about 268 meters between the two towers it's 18 feet or five and a half meters wide and has 1292 wooden planks positioned on its steel base amazingly it only took six months to build despite passing 955 feet above the gorge carved by the arkansas river which today also features a sky coaster zipline and gondolas despite being more than 90 years old the sensation of crossing the bridge is still breathtaking not just because of the views but because of the seemingly perilous altitude and it's certainly not recommended for people who are nervous about heights
number 7 ubn bridge myanmar the three-quarter mile or 1.2 kilometer ubn bridge is the main means of crossing the taong taman lake which is near amarapura the former capital city of myanmar it was built in the 1850s and holds the record for being the oldest teakwood bridge in the world as well as arguably the longest and was almost entirely built from wood that had been reclaimed from a nearby palace there are 1086 pillars set seven feet or just over two meters into the lake bed that support the platform and there are nine passageways that can be opened to allow boats to pass beneath cleverly the bridge was built in a curved shape that allows it to more effectively withstand pressure from the prevailing wind and water currents while it only rises a short distance above the water surface there are some real risks with using this bridge the first simply comes from its age and the lack of maintenance which means that a number of the support struts have seriously decayed and in some cases have completely detached from the lake bed entirely changing uses of the lake have also caused further damage with floods and other issues being caused by a fish breeding program that has caused much of the water to become stagnant the other risks come from criminality something that has arisen because the bridge is a popular destination for tourists they're often easy prey for thieves this has become so widespread that there's now a permanent deployment of police personnel on the bridge in the hopes that it dissuades any potential troublemakers
number six hanging bridge of gasa nepal the mountainous country of nepal still relies heavily on traditional nomadic farming and this leads to some astonishing scenes on a daily basis at the simply terrifying hanging bridge of gasa leading across a river valley to the village of gaza it's one of the most important routes in and out of the community with the alternative being a grueling mountain pathway originally the bridge was built with ropes and wooden planks but was reconstructed a few decades ago with sturdier steel cables but this doesn't take away from how high and narrow it is and how susceptible it can be to the powerful winds that often tear through the region it would be tricky enough crossing this with a group of people but the bridge is most often used by farmers moving their livestock to new pastures the high railings at least make it easier to cross but the method that's been found to be most successful to get cattle to continue moving is perhaps the most surprising thing of all it's a common practice to simply cover their heads with hoods so they don't have any idea that they're walking over the bridge this avoids them being spooked by the height or the stunning vistas
number five husseini hanging bridge pakistan pakistan has some of the most varied terrain of any country in the world and when you combine this with the fact that some regions are sparsely populated and relatively poor the result is at times a virtually non-existent travel network the northern region of gilgit baltistan was for example only accessible by treacherous mountain passes or for the wealthy small aircraft up until 1978 when the karakoram highway was completed but still inter-region transportation remains difficult the main way to traverse the ravines and lakes is by a network of flimsy cable and plank bridges and the husseini hanging bridge is one of the best examples it crosses the borat lake and provides residents of the hosseini village with one of the only connections with the outside world as you can see it's extremely long and is poorly maintained countless planks are now missing and is prone to shaking in a violent way when the mountainous winds pick up and while locals now often use alternative routes the bridge has become a popular tourist challenge admittedly with the water close beneath you're more likely to experience a wet inconvenience than an actual danger if you fall but there's still something unnerving about trying to cross a bridge that's made up of more gaps than actual platforms
number four gaialai germany inspired by the way suspension bridges are used to connect remote regions in nepal a swiss engineer came up with the idea of a new bridge to connect the german towns of morsdorf and sauzburg and in 2015 the gaialai was opened at a height of 330 feet or 100 meters above the ground and stretching 1180 feet or about 360 meters between hilltops on either side of the most offer buck river valley it's designed solely for the use of pedestrians or cattle and immediately became a tourist attraction because of the seeming danger of trying to cross it as with most bridges of a similar design it's particularly susceptible to strong winds that pass through the valley something that only adds to the thrill of the experience because it's impossible to pass people walking in the opposite direction it's only possible to use the bridge from the moorsdorf side it's estimated that at least one in five people that originally plan on crossing it decide not to at the last moment after seeing what it's actually like in real life
number three kwendinsky bridge russia the trans-baikon region of russia which surrounds lake baikal in southern siberia is one of the most inhospitable regions in the country but despite being subjected to freezing temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns it's long been a place that's been inhabited by various communities because of the natural resources that can be found there the lake itself is the largest store fresh water on the planet with more than 23 percent of the world's surface supply which is more than all of the great lakes combined efforts have therefore been made to connect the region to the rest of the country mainly by the construction of the baikol armor railway one part of the original plan was the trans-baiko region bridge which crosses the vicam river and while this never became part of the final railway it was subsequently used by locals from the nearby kwanda village for vehicle crossings due to its age the lack of maintenance and the fact that it was never actually designed for cars and trucks to cross it's now often said to be the most dangerous bridge in the world often subjected to strong winds there are no safety barriers drivers that are brave or crazy enough to attempt the crossing are advised to open all of their windows to reduce the wind force against them which risks blowing them off either side into the watery depths it's rare to see anyone using the 1870 foot long bridge and this is believed to be the only reason there's no record of an accident taking place there that and the fact that anyone who does make a fatal error would likely soon be swept away by the river and covered in such thick ice that there'd be no sign of them ever being there in the first place
number two living bridges of meghalaya india depending on where you are in the world bridges are made from various different materials but possibly the most unique and bizarre ones that you'll ever encounter are the living bridges of meghalaya in india throughout the region there are believed to be as many as 74 of these incredible structures and while they may not be the highest or longest bridges you'll ever see none of them have been made with steel or wooden planks and they have instead been created by guiding the growth of the roots of the ficus elastica or the indian rubber tree to build them a seed is first planted on either side of the bank of a river or ravine edge and once this has begun to develop aerial roots they are trained in the desired direction by being wound around bamboo or palm stems once they reach the other side they're implanted into the soil where they develop further daughter roots from there they continue to grow thicker and stronger it can take decades for a bridge to fully establish itself but once it has it's far more reliable than a man-made structure in such a wet region where steel would be prone to rust or wood would be likely to rot despite knowing this there's something disconcerting about crossing one of these bridges for the first time once you overcome these nerves you'll soon realize that this is the greenest and most environmentally friendly way of building structures like these we could all probably learn lessons from these techniques to reduce our own impact on the natural world
number one huashon planck road huayin china around an hour away from the chinese city of xi'an which is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations you'll find mahwah which is also known as huashan and is one of china's five sacred mountains it's a place steeped in history that people have traveled to for hundreds of years and while there are five distinct peaks the one that's the highest and most significant is the 7070 foot or 2150 meter tall south peak at the top is a small shrine but it's the journey there that makes it such an unbelievable achievement to reach it because to do so you have to cross the insane hawashan plank road which is nothing more than a series of wooden planks that have been bolted into the cliff face described as the most dangerous hike in the world this isn't for the faint of heart the near vertical drop to one side provides stunning views a real sense of danger as you continue on originally this acted as a test of faith for those wanting to reach the peaceful sanctity of the summit while it's now a tourist site where everyone's required to wear safety harnesses this doesn't make it feel any less treacherous watch our binge watching playlist if you'd like to watch all of our most popular top 15 videos grab a drink grab a snack and get ready to binge