35) RA
RAONG Passi, READING (DAY-35)
OU shoud
Pend hut sage 3
beloy, *0Ut 20 minutes on Questions 28-40, which ae based on Reading 2
BRIDGES
OBJECTS OF BEAUTY
OR USEFULNESS?
Of bridges? are they just funcional pieces
of infrastructure, or are they objects of delight?
‘What isthe purpose
Bridges are amon,
their main att
ye latter is
' the most beautiful structures inthe world, andthe most useful. The l
Obstacles, streat
Bute 5 they have served mankind though the millennia bridelng natu!
ms, rivers, valleys, gulfsand even bays such as Hangzhou Bay Bridge in China
Tea tNt 2 4 tetanent othe ingen ofthe human ce Byte elegance of
saan tert mateal they use the distance they span andthe purpose he serve connecting
Pace. And architects continu to delight and astonish us wth their prowess.
oma ciation might nt nave spread qute so fr had tot been forthe Romans ably t0
bul not just roads, but sls bridges to cary water and armies that endue to ths day. The
Roman bridge was 2 farcry from the wooden or stone stuctres ofthe past made by out
ancestors,
wo must have created simple bridges over streams, marshy terran or possibly even
‘vers using the material that was a hand suchas rocks,
the Romans introduced the
stones or fallen trees. ft was not until
longer became a reat
arch that building bridges and
such as the Roman bridge at Alcantara in Spain that spans the River
‘Togas th sto massive central arches, twas ony in 1779 that Darby's Won Sige across
‘he River Sever in the United Kingdom, wel known fr bn the fist fis kind in the wold
‘achieved what the Romans had hundreds of years before.
Bridges were and are uit tobe elegant architectural matepieces a well as
functional pas of tansportinastructre Wile any selene briges
any country can ony be subjective ew would deny that he Zhou
Brge in Hebel Province in north-east China, the cles tancing bridge
in China i one ofthe mos lant nthe world with its famous mag
arch a intricate enroings Bul uring he Sul Dynasty (81-38 20,
a