Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Majestic, graceful, powerful — the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a breathtaking sight visible from vantage points in all five of New York City’s boroughs. The bridge celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014, which the U.S. Postal Service commemorates with this new Priority Mail stamp.

The digital illustration on the stamp captures the grandeur of the Verrazano, not only showing its sheer size and scale, but also giving a sense of the sweeping curve of the double-decker roadway. The artist chose to showcase the bridge at twilight, which offers an interesting play of light and shadow.

Named for explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European to enter New York Bay, the bridge spans the Narrows, the strait dividing Upper and Lower New York Bay, and connects Brooklyn and Staten Island. The bridge’s two massive towers support four enormous cables that each weighs more than 9,000 tons. From each cable hang 262 suspender ropes that hold up the double-decker roadway. Each deck carries six lanes of traffic.

The bridge’s center span is 4,260 feet long—so long that its two monumental towers, soaring 690 feet into the sky, are spaced one-and-five-eighths inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases to compensate for the curvature of the earth.

At time of the opening of the upper deck on November 21, 1964, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. (The lower deck opened five years later.)

Designed by art director Phil Jordan, the stamp features a digital illustration created by Dan Cosgrove.

Stamp Issue: 2014

Arlington Green Bridge

The scenic Arlington Green Bridge in Bennington County, Vermont, takes center stage in this Priority Mail stamp. One of the most-photographed covered bridges in the state, it was built in 1852.

The digital stamp art depicts the red wooden bridge against a backdrop of autumn leaves. On the far side of the bridge, a white church steeple rises from a traditional village green. The bridge spans the Batten Kill trout stream in Arlington, just off Route 313 in southern Vermont. Although it stretches 80 feet across the stream, the bridge’s roadbed is only wide enough to allow one lane of traffic to rumble over its wooden planks at a time.

Stamp Issue: 2013.01.25

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The U.S. Postal Service recognized the 25th anniversary of Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge by issuing the $5.15 Sunshine Skyway Bridge Priority Mail stamp. In the stamp artwork, the bridge rises from Tampa Bay's vivid blue water and is silhouetted against an orange sky. Tiny vehicles on the roadbed reveal the massive scale of this engineering marvel.

The new Sunshine Skyway bridge started with a disaster and concluded with the world's most beautiful bridge. The collision and loss of life which occurred on May 9, 1980, created an opportunity to build a new bridge which memorialized the 35 people who lost their lives that day; engaged state of the art design, engineering and construction and unified the Tampa Bay communities to create what is now the signature of Tampa Bay.

Construction began on the new bridge began two years after the tragedy. The new bridge featured on the stamp is one of the first major concrete-and-steel, cable-stayed bridges in the United States. Completed in 1987, the main bridge and approach spans stretch more than four miles across Tampa Bay and link the Gulf Coast communities surrounding St. Petersburg and Bradenton.

To many people the 42 brilliant yellow cables look like sails and their two supporting pylons like masts rising from the water. Engineers designed the cable-stayed section of the new bridge to soar 190 feet above the water to allow unhindered navigation to and from the busy port of Tampa.

Setting new standards for technical innovation and esthetics, the structural design is considered by many to be a modern masterpiece. Renamed in 2005 after the former governor who envisioned its construction, the Bob Graham/Sunshine Skyway Bridge has been the recipient of dozens of engineering and design awards.

The stamp, designed by Carl T. Hermann of North Las Vegas, NV, showcases a digital illustration created by artist Dan Cosgrove of Chicago, IL.

Stamp Issue: 2012.04.28

New River Gorge Bridge

The stamp features the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County, West Virginia, and is based on a digital illustration by Dan Cosgrove of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, depicting the bridge as sunset approaches.

One of the highest bridges in the United States, the bridge features a 1,700-foot span that is the longest steel arch in the Western Hemisphere. The Washington Monument could fit under its 876-foot arch with more than 100 yards to spare.

 

The two-hinged deck arch spans a gorge that, before its completion in 1977, required drivers 40 minutes to navigate because of narrow and winding roads. The steel and concrete bridge weighs more than 88 million pounds. Its unpainted, weathering steel oxidizes with age and becomes a rustic brown color that blends the bridge into its rugged surroundings. 

Held on the third Saturday of October, New River Gorge Bridge Day draws more than 100,000 people, including hundreds of rappellers, who descend down the bridge on ropes, and BASE (building, antenna, span, and earth) jumpers

Stamp Issue: 2011.04.11

The Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge towers 200 feet above the windswept waters of Lakes Huron and Michigan.  “Mighty Mac” extends 5 miles across the Straits of Mackinac to link Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Before the bridge opened in 1957, travelers waited in long lines to cross the channel by ferry or drove all the way around Lake Michigan and through Wisconsin to get to the other side.  The Mackinac Bridge shortened the trip to a ten-minute drive and opened the Upper Peninsula to tourism – adding an estimated $100 million a year to Michigan’s tourist trade.

Bridge designers took special precautions for Michigan’s severe winter weather.  Grated openings between the center lanes improve airflow and prevent the road deck from being pushed up by strong winds.  During high winds, the road deck can also move up to 35 feet from side to side to keep the bridge from buckling.

Some drivers are uncomfortable crossing the Mighty Mac.  Bridge personnel call these commuters “timmies,” because they are too timid to drive across.  The bridge authority provides them with a chauffeur at no extra fee. 

On September 6, 2009, the 150 millionth vehicle crossed the Mackinac Bridge.

Stamp Issue: 2010.02.03

Bixby Creek Bridge

With the blue waters of the Pacific rolling out below and the rugged mountains of Santa Lucia in the background, the Bixby Creek Bridge carries travelers toward their destinations. The California landmark also connects people with nature. 

Completed in 1932, the Bixby Creek Bridge introduced automobile travel to Big Sur, California.  Prior to its opening, travelers endured rough wagon roads.  The 30-mile round-trip journey from Monterey to Big Sur used to take 3 days.  The bridge has improved travel and opened up tourism to the region.  

Bixby Bridge is a tourist destination in itself.  Using Art Deco style, the sweeping arch and slender columns make it appear part of the natural landscape.  Rather than cut through the countryside, Bixby was purposely designed to preserve and complement it.  The two large pillars are set wide apart, allowing Bixby Creek to run its natural course.  The columns are also set directly into the canyon wall, reducing the amount of excavation needed.

Bixby Creek Bridge is one of the most recognizable landmarks in California.  Spanning Rainbow Canyon, the bridge combines art, conservation, and function.  Its beauty is matched only by the ocean waves crashing on the sandy shores below.

Stamp Issue: 2010.02.03

Puentes de España

The Puente Ingeniero Carlos Fernández Casado -which takes its name from the construction engineer - spans the Barrios de Luna reservoir, in the province of Leon. It was built between 1981 and 1983 as part of the AP-66 or Ruta de la Plata motorway. It is a cable-stayed bridge, measuring 643 metres long and 22 metres wide, for four lanes, and was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world at that time. It has two towers more than 100 metres high, which open at the bottom. Each tower has 27 pairs of front cables and 28 pairs of rear cables. The bridge is divided into three spans, the central span measuring 440 metres and the two side spans measuring 66 metres. A sliding joint was built into the central span to absorb expansion movements.
Carlos Fernández Casado (Logroño, 1905- Madrid, 1988) was one of the most prestigious and innovative civil engineers in his profession. From the outset, he specialised in resistant bridge structures, researching new materials in his own laboratory. Professor of Bridges, he examined archives and libraries and travelled the roads of Spain to classify bridges, Roman roadways, aqueducts and other civil engineering works to lay the foundations of the history of engineering.

The Roman bridge in the city of Mérida stands on the Guadiana river as part of the archaeological site of the ancient Augusta Emerita, the name by which the town was known in ancient times. It was built in the 1st century to facilitate communications with Hispania Baetica and give access to the city after the settlement of the Roman legions in town. It is 792 meters long with 60 round arches and it is considered to be the longest bridge of antiquity. It is built with a concrete core made of materials from the river and covered with granite padded blocks. It was originally divided into three distinct sections. The location where the bridge was raised was chosen taking into account the lower flow in that part of the river and because of the fact that the course was divided into two surges with an island in the middle which served to support the bridge. Over two thousand years of flooding and overflowing of the river have led to several restorations although the bridge still keeps its original construction in the part closest to the city known as the Humilladero.

The souvenir sheet depicts a view of the Roman bridge with its many arches.

  

The  Puente del Pilar, also known as the Iron Bridge crosses over the River Ebro in the city of Zaragoza. It was built in the late 19th century by the Spanish engineering company La Máquina Marítima y Terrestre specializing in the manufacture of metal bridges in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was one of the first fixed bridges in Zaragoza since up till then the only fixed bridge in town was the 15^th  century Puente de Piedra. In 1991 it underwent a restoration directed by civil engineer Javier Manterola in which two arched side boards were added for the passage of vehicles reserving the central platform for pedestrians. The metal structure was painted in blue and white, the colours chosen in a popular vote.

The Dragon Bridge crosses the river Guadaíra in the town of Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville). It was built by the Civil Engineers José Luis Manzanares and Íñigo Barahona and opened on the 28th of March 2007. It is 123 metres long, with four spans: 43 metres the two central ones and 18.5 metres the two end ones. It was one of the first figurative bridges in the world and the first in Spain, and it emulates a dragon emerging from the Castillo hill and swimming across the river. Its inspiration comes from the architecture of Antoni Gaudí in Güell Park in Barcelona. The bridge is made of reinforced, pre-stressed concrete covered in "trencadis", a mosaic composed of pieces of ceramic and traditional tiles. It forms part of the Alcalá de Guadaíra bypass.

Europa 2012 - Visit Mostar

Mostar is a city in the valley of the River Neretva, in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the economic, cultural, educational, commercial and tourist centre of Herzegovina. Numerous archeological sites confirm that the broader area of Mostar has been inhabited since the Early Eneolitich, while during the Roman rule the area was inhabited by Illyrian tribes.
The city was named after bridge keepers (natively: mostari) who guarded wooden bridge which connected two banks of the River Neretva and for the first time the name Mostar is mentioned in the 15th century. After the fall of Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire, the Turks built the stone bridge in 1566, today famous as the Old Bridge. After the Berlin congress in 1878, the Turkish administration was removed by Austro-Hungarian administration. The valuable cultural monuments, oriental style buildings and Austro-Hungarian buildings have remained from that period which makes Mostar beautiful and interesting city.

The Old Bridge was destroyed during the terrible destructions in the last war from 1992 till 1996. It was renovated in 2004 and in 2005 it was included in the UNESCO list of protected monuments of cultural heritage as the first monument from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian Lodge „Herceg Stjepan Kosaca“, the center of cultural events of the city of Mostar, was built in 1959/1960. It is named after the ruler of Herzegovina, Duke Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca (around 1404-1466).
Today, Mostar is beautiful and hospitable city that enriches the different cultures and traditions with its beauty that makes it the city of open doors.

Stamp Issue: 2012.04.05

China-Turkey joint stamp issue

The joint stamp issue by Chinese and Turkish posts is dedicated to famous bridges of the both countries: the Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge in China and the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the Yangtze River some 20 km downstream from the center city of Yichang, China. The bridge was essentially designed to be extremely similar in appearance to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. The construction of the bridge started on February 19, 1998 and it was open for traffic on September 19, 2001. It was a main span of 960 meters. As of 2012 m it is among the 30 longest suspension bridges, based on the length of the main span.

The Bosphorus Bridge is one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey, spanning the Bosphorus strait and thus connecting Europe and Asia. It is a gravity anchored suspension bridge with steel towers and inclined hangers. The aerodynamic deck hangs on zigzag steel cables. It is 1,560 long with a deck width of 33.40 m and the total height of the towers 165 m. The Bosphorus Bridge had the 4th longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1973, and the longest outside the United States. At present, it is the 19th longest suspension bridge span in the world

Stamp Issue:  2012.11.26

Puentes de España

The Bridge of Sancho el Mayor, in Navarra, crosses the river Ebro and is part of the A-15 highway. It was built in 1978 by civil engineers Javier Manterola and Leonardo Fernández Toyano and as a cable-stayed bridge. It has a total length of 204 meters, a width of 29 m and a main light span of 142 m, to which are added two side openings on the left bank of the river. It was built with precast keystones using the "cantilever" technique (the bridge is constructed in outward projections that are added on). This suspension bridge is supported on a single pier located on the axis of the road with 35 pairs of twin cables, At the time it was built it was one of the most innovative bridges in design and materials.

A typical cable-stayed bridge is a continuous girder with one or two towers erected above piers in the middle of the span. From these piers, cables are attached diagonally to the girder to provide additional support. Engineering wise they stand in between counter steel bridges and suspension bridges. This type of bridge began ito be built n the late 19th century and its use was widespread after World War II, thanks to the technical development of the construction materials and the structural empowerment via computers. 

Over the river Carrion in the city of Palencia stands the historic Puente de Puentecillas, the oldest bridge in town. Its original layout dates back to Roman times and it has undergone many changes since the 11th century, the most important of which took place in the 16th century when the current outline of the bridge was set and the remains of the Roman bridge disappeared. It stands in the city centre close to the Cathedral and other monuments and has become a popular walking area with plenty of green spaces. At the entrance of the bridge is the famous Bolo de la Paciencia, where washerwomen leaned their baskets of clothes while chatting. For years it has been a towns meeting place

Stamp Issue: 2013.06.20