Mar 04, 2016
42nd Anniversary of Rio-Niteroi Bridge Opening
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Completed 42 years ago today, Brazil’s Rio–Niterói Bridge beautifully exemplifies the ingenuity of the human spirit. It met with great international praise when it opened in 1974 as the second-longest bridge in the world, spanning the vast Guanabara Bay. Guest Doodler Patrick Leger has crafted a lovely recreation of the bridge on the bay with the Brazilian coast visible in the background.
At 13.29 km (8.3 mi), it remains the longest bridge in Latin America and one of the longest in the world. On the day it opened it was second only to the near-infinite Lake Pontchartrain Bridge in Louisiana (38.35 km, 28.3 miles long).
But this structure’s greatest accomplishment is connection. Carrying over 100,000 passengers daily, it unites Nieterói and Rio de Janeiro, cities with populations of 487,000 and 6.5 million respectively. With that kind of impact, the Rio–Niterói Bridge reminds us that nothing lies beyond the reaches of the human imagination.
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