Somewhat adorably named the Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Causeway, this massive bridge is expected to take around 4.5 years to complete and cost somewhere between $2.3 and $3 billion, but should be a great help for travel between Qatar and Bahrain. The trip currently takes more than four hours and will be reduced to 30 minutes on the bridge, and those in charge expect 10,000 to 20,000 vehicles per day to use it.

For a sense of scale, here's a chart that compares the bridge to other very large things. Of course, I need a scale chart to tell how big a blue whale is, which sort of defeats the purpose of measuring this bridge in blue whales, but still: This is one large bridge. [Mena Infrastructure via Reddit]

"Imagine housing, recreational and cultural facilities connected to a continuous, lushly planted, green strip, floating above the water-an aerial garden, as the city's newest park through which you could walk and wander and enjoy the most spectacular views of the bay," reads an excerpt from the proposal by architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello. The image here depicts a "tennis court, bicycle path, and observation module."

This image is an outdoor auditorium.

This final image shows off the Bay Bridge's deadly suspended swimming pool and some living/recreational quarters, as well as the green grass that would line the length of the "unwanted" bridge. One "little" caveat: In the event of a major earthquake, the Bay Bridge would probably survive, but as a result of the catastrophe would be unusable thereafter, rending all of these additions worthless. This is precisely why the idea is all but certain to be rejected (at least for this bridge, in this area, anyway). [BLDG Blog]

Locals use hollowed-out trunks of the betel tree to prop up the roots of the Ficus elastica (basically a rubber tree), pointing them across whatever body of water they want to cross, until the roots reach the other side and dig in. After awhile (a long while—think 10-15 years), the bridge becomes strong and sturdy enough for people to comfortable walk across. Some of these such bridges are hundreds of years old, since they just get stronger over time, being alive and all. Pretty amazing stuff. [Living Root Bridges via Reddit]

$11 million of the $36 million bridge is going to be paid for by federal stimulus, whereas the other 17.5 will be paid by Microsoft. In Microsoft's defense, they say that the bridge will be open to the public. On the other hand, who in the public is going to use a bridge that takes you from Microsoft's technical buildings to its retail buildings?

As some dude from the Taxpayers for Common Sense says:

"Let's face it. Microsoft is one of the most lucrative companies in the country," Ellis says. "They could have easily funded this out of pocket change. This is really about getting while the getting is good. Uncle Sam has a big wallet that's there for the taking, and Redmond wanted to take it — and Microsoft was happy to let them pick up that part of the tab."

[CNN]

Can architecture make Israel and Palestine coexist peacefully together? Sounds like a pie in the sky proposition—no pun intended—but with given the resources, it may be the only way to have the two countries living together, on top and below each other.

Viktor's concept is simple, but absolute genius: Bridge the Israel and Palestinian territories with large structures that can sustain life, house people, and allow for the free transit of people, animals, and merchandise. Both countries will have bridges over each other's ground, so nobody is isolated and there's no need for populations to get through the other territories.

Obviously, this is a huge project, but if structurally possible—which looking at the current state of engineering, looks it is—it brings a new way to look at the geography of the two countries, eliminating many of the demands and catering to the needs of the population of both states. It doesn't solve other issues, but at least they solve a big part of them. [Bldgblog]

BusinessWeek uses the new bridge as its case study for the future of smart infrastructure, marrying concrete and silicon in major construction projects—which are where big dollars are going as part of Obama's stimulus plan, to provide jobs through "shovel ready" projects. Apparently, there's some debate as to how "smart" these projects need to be: smart, smarter or smartest, as BW puts it. Bleeding edge tech obviously costs more, so striking a balance is key.

Less than one percent of the cost of the St. Anthony Falls bridge was spent on the sensor system, which tracks weather, stresses and even traffic, and it'll save money in the long run, with its automatic de-icing system cutting "weather management" costs by 10 to 50 percent. It's the incorporation of the smart sensor tech that actually won the contract to build the bridge for the FIGG team. The next step will be wireless sensors that are even cheaper, so it'll be loaded up with thousands of them, not hundreds.

You'd think they coulda made it a little less ugly though.
[BW]

The Langenlinine tower (left) uses the old harbor as its geometric inspiration and features bright orange soffits. Meanwhile, the Marmormolen tower (right) draws its inspiration as the city's gateway, mimicking the yellow light and shapes of a metropolitan area.

Of course the buildings are extremely green, packing everything from photovoltaics in the curtains to a seawater heating/cooling system that warms the floor slabs and cools the ceilings—plus wind turbines on top of the bridge power the ambient public lighting (so people don't fall off, die, etc).

Walking around Chicago and watching builders put the finishing touches on Trump's latest generic blue glass tower (which claims the accomplishment of the world's tallest continuous concrete pour, I believe), I can't help but to feel like the US isn't exactly pioneering the new era of remarkable architecture. [World Architecture News via Inhabitat]

It's like a combo of the NYC Waterfalls and the Bellagio fountains, but somehow is cooler than both. I like it! [Freshome via Neatorama]