The Amazon River flows through various countries, including Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. Millions of people depend on the river for their livelihood. But it may seem strange to some that there is no bridge across the Amazon River from one side to the other.
There are hundreds of bridges over rivers, even smaller than the Amazon. The longest river, the Nile, has multiple bridges. Nine of these are in Cairo alone. Walter Kaufmann of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology says this is because the Amazon does not need bridges.
The Amazon River flows through sparsely populated areas. Walter Kaufman says that people mainly rely on boats and ferries for freight and transportation and that there are some technical difficulties in building the bridge. In the big cities near the river there is a sustainable transportation system to get people from one side to the other without the need for a bridge.
Areas near the Amazon River are not suitable for bridge construction. Swamps and soft soils can be challenging for growers. You will have to dig deep to build a strong foundation. Another reason is environmental protection. Kaufman said the environment in the Amazon is a very complex one.
Although there are no bridges across the Amazon, there is a bridge called the Ponte Rio Negro across its primary tributary, the Negro River. The bridge was built in 2011.
The Amazon is the largest river in the world by volume. The 6,400 km long river flows mainly through South America. The Amazon joins the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. The Amazon is also known as the Sea River. The Amazon River originates in the Nevado Mismi ice sheet in Peru. One-fifth of the world’s freshwater flows into the oceans from the Amazon. More than a third of the world’s biodiversity is found in the Amazon tropical rainforest.
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