Today's Geography Lesson

What does a bridge do? Well, when water is involved, the point of the bridge is to make it easier to walk across the waterway, so you don't have to make your horse swim across.   

What else could use a bridge to go across a waterway? Cars, tractors, ants, aliens without a space ship, aliens on horses, water...  Wait, did you say water? Yes, sometimes water needs helping going across other water. Witness this bridge in Germany.     

Shown above is the world's largest water bridge, built over the Elbe River in Magdeburg, Germany at a cost of 500 million Euros (about 672 million dollars). Completed in December 2003, the bridge is 918 meters long and has been modestly described as "a giant, kilometer-long concrete bathtub".  A pretty impressive engineering feat.   

The idea of a bridge for water is not new. There is one in St. Marys, Ohio where I grew up. It carries the Miami - Erie Canal over the St. Marys River on the south side of town (near Geiger Park, home of the newest Ohio miniature golf course which my Dad and I played two weeks ago). Technically, it is called an aqueduct pipe, but the point is the same.     

So there you have it. For $1000 you can fly to Germany to see the Magdeburg Bridge. For much less than that you can drive to St. Marys, Ohio and see the same thing (sort of). And play Putt-R Golf, which is worth the trip. Call my Dad. He loves to play miniature golf. Just don't let him keep score.