construction

gephyrophobiacs: look away now

by deputydog ⋅ 05 / 05 / 2008 ⋅ post a comment

just when you think you’ve seen every type of bridge possible.

this is the sky bridge in langkawi, malaysia, a stunning cable-stayed bridge which actually curves around the single support column from which it’s suspended, 687 metres above sea level. completed in october 2004, the structure relies on an 87 metre high support column to hold the weight of the deck, this weight distributed through 8 load balancing cables attached to its head.

whilst the upsides are incredible views and a testament to engineering brilliance, the downside for gephyrophobiacs is that you’re seemingly placing all your trust in a single, relatively thin lattice tower which also happens to be standing at an angle. of course this is essential for the bridge to stay upright (a quality i always look for in a bridge) but visually it couldn’t be more frightening.

all in all, a unique feat of engineering.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

discussion

54 comments for “gephyrophobiacs: look away now”

  1. What a fabulous piece of work. I hope they close it off during storms.

    posted by ian in hamburg | 5th of May, 2008, 6:52 am

  2. Stop jerking the camera all over the place goddammit, 30 years of personal video devices and people loooove to showcase their bad shooting and obsessiveness with posting dizzying shit.

    By the way, I sense a difficulty in your breathing, you need to loose weight and stop smoking fast dude.

    posted by Bigkus Dicgus | 5th of May, 2008, 9:26 am

  3. coming from Malaysia, I’ve got to say that is one really cool bridge, i’m studying in Australia now, they too have something similiar but much more interesting, they called it the Tree Top Walk.

    posted by Calvin | 5th of May, 2008, 11:00 am

  4. “By the way, I sense a difficulty in your breathing, you need to loose weight and stop smoking fast dude.”

    Because it sure isn’t the wind.

    posted by Jaeger | 5th of May, 2008, 3:17 pm

  5. These are the most awe inspiring sites one could ever witness.

    Nature is so beautiful.

    It is almost like being in heaven

    Just imagine the fresh breeze and wonderful smells

    Can you imagine how glorious the sunsets must be :-D

    posted by * Miss Universe | 5th of May, 2008, 3:27 pm

  6. LOL BigkusDicgus, it wasn’t bad at all. No need to harsh on him like that.
    I don’t know how steady I’d be at that height myself.

    Thanks for sharing Deputydog. Now I have a new destination the next time I go to Malaysia.

    posted by PaulRay | 5th of May, 2008, 8:08 pm

  7. hey bigkus dicgus go on that fucking bridge yourself and see you you hold a camera you fucking troll. jesus christ i’d beat the shit out of you in real life… no life fucking trolls ruining the internet… come to new york ill kick your ass to the fucking curb

    posted by fuck you bigkus | 5th of May, 2008, 8:51 pm

  8. he’s breathing hard because it is a terrifying bridge. i’d fucking be breathing hard too.

    posted by Anon Ymus | 5th of May, 2008, 8:51 pm

  9. Held up by 1 metal pole?

    posted by luke | 5th of May, 2008, 8:55 pm

  10. Amazing engineering work, but I do not trust such design which has way too many single point hazardous failure. The vertical truss would become unbalanced if any one cable snaps, then what?

    Wow! my knee would be shaking if I were be up there.

    posted by Stephen | 5th of May, 2008, 9:38 pm

  11. Is it the place where final scene of “Don” was shot?

    posted by Lukasz Horodecki | 5th of May, 2008, 9:58 pm

  12. omg P_O Incredible!!

    posted by Herzeleyd | 6th of May, 2008, 12:20 am

  13. Simply incredible. It’s amazing what engineers can do!!

    http://www.juzamdjinn.blogspot.com

    posted by duhu | 6th of May, 2008, 12:52 am

  14. WOW!

    posted by Kristine | 6th of May, 2008, 1:35 am

  15. Oh..that’s great!!!

    posted by DMV | 6th of May, 2008, 1:53 am

  16. Now, that’s some cool bridges!

    posted by songboom.com | 6th of May, 2008, 1:55 am

  17. I doubt that one cable failure would cause the bridge to collapse. Also those cables are stranded so it’s not like one is just going to snap. If I were you I would be more worried about riding the cable car in the back ground where a cable failure would for sure mean everyone is going down. Looks like the bridge is cantilevered as well.. I’m sure the load of the bridge is not all that much either, it looks pretty light and it’s only a foot bridge. Bet it’s much stronger then it looks.

    posted by bryan | 6th of May, 2008, 2:01 am

  18. wow… It’s really a wonderful work.

    posted by Muhammad Khalid | 6th of May, 2008, 3:41 am

  19. @lukasz:

    I think so too. This is where last scene of DON was shot!

    posted by Nishit | 6th of May, 2008, 3:48 am

  20. OMMADONNA!!!
    P.S. io soffro di vertigini, comunque grazie per il pensiero!

    anna

    posted by anna | 6th of May, 2008, 4:58 am

  21. Bigkus Dicgus, you complete fucking moron… That’s the wind. You might not know this but the higher you go the stronger the wind. HO-LY SHIT!

    posted by soar | 6th of May, 2008, 5:04 am

  22. check out “Shea’s Rockin’ World Tour - Malaysia for some amazing footage of this bridge ! If it’s not on in your area COMPLAIN !!

    posted by Clark | 6th of May, 2008, 5:33 am

  23. DEAR BIGUSDICUS i think u should chill u fucking loser……i hope u die in ur sleep

    posted by Bigs Dicus......fuck u man | 6th of May, 2008, 5:55 am

  24. Hey check this out: You can see it from google maps (I think…).

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Langkawi,+Malaysia&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=50.956929,82.265625&ie=UTF8&ll=6.386373,99.662513&spn=0.00394,0.005021&t=h&z=18

    Pretty impressive. Thanks for the post.

    posted by andrew | 6th of May, 2008, 8:41 am

  25. Nobody has yet said the photoshop word? I guess gephyrophobiac is afraid of bridges?

    posted by John Smith | 7th of May, 2008, 5:38 am

  26. At what wind force will it be closed for public? I’m sure it will shake you well ;)

    posted by Nico | 7th of May, 2008, 9:39 am

  27. It’s definitely beautiful and an amazing feat of engineering, but I really don’t know it I would dare to cross it. I mean, I’m not really gephyorypo…gefire…geee… afraid of bridges, as long as the ground beneath my feet is sturdy and solid. But small suspension bridges that start to wobble under my feet definitely make me feel uneasy. Ever been that way since I crossed one at the local zoo as a child and it started to swing up and down under my feet.

    posted by Clemens | 7th of May, 2008, 10:35 am

  28. Saludos : Es fabuloso , impresionante diseño , digno de contemplacion

    posted by Roberto Garita Esquivel | 7th of May, 2008, 2:07 pm

  29. Less impressive when you (hopefully) realize that the ends are connected to the ground.

    posted by ted | 7th of May, 2008, 6:16 pm

  30. “Less impressive when you (hopefully) realize that the ends are connected to the ground.”

    Uh, yeah, that’s kind of the thing with bridges, they tend to have their ends connected to the ground. If they were just floating in the air, that would kind of defeat the point of having the bridge in the first place.

    How does that make it any less impressive or beautiful?

    posted by Ilmainen kirjekurssi | 8th of May, 2008, 1:41 am

  31. it’s beautiful but never in my life i would agree to be there

    posted by Omega | 8th of May, 2008, 8:34 am

  32. Wow! Really scary! but damn impressive!

    posted by Ionut Puiu | 9th of May, 2008, 4:42 am

  33. Engineering amazes me. What is even better are the people that install these types of things.

    posted by Birmingham SEO | 10th of May, 2008, 2:46 pm


post a comment


deputydog favourites