- 1 hour ago
In Honduras, the massive Choluteca Bridge was engineered to withstand the most brutal category 5 hurricanes, but when Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, the extreme flooding caused the entire river to carve a completely new path, leaving the perfect bridge spanning absolute dry land. Our latest civil engineering documentary explores the fascinating and chaotic geological phenomenon of river avulsion, breaking down exactly what happens to monumental infrastructure when massive waterways suddenly change their course. We dive deep into the hydrology and structural mechanics behind these engineering disasters, examining historical examples where shifting currents have bypassed multi-million dollar suspension bridges and completely reshaped urban floodplains. Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Imagine you're driving across a bridge to visit a friend.
00:04The next day, you get in your car to go back,
00:07but there is no longer a river under the bridge you drove across yesterday.
00:11Believe it or not, this is exactly what happened to people in the south of Honduras
00:15when Category 5 Hurricane Mitch hit in October 1998.
00:21Choleteca Bridge, which the local authorities reconstructed earlier that year,
00:25was left in the dry, as the river now flowed around it, not under it.
00:30The structure soon became famous online as the Bridge to Nowhere.
00:35This waterway shifted its course overnight, but it normally happens over longer spans of time.
00:41A river will stop flowing straight when there is even the tiniest change in the landscape around it.
00:47Even something as tiny as a mouse can weaken a riverbank.
00:51Imagine a family of mice decides to start a home somewhere by the river and digs a cozy hole.
00:57Over time, water gets inside this hole and starts washing away any loose soil.
01:03Give it a couple of centuries, and the river will now have a bend in this place.
01:08And if you're worried about the mice family, don't be,
01:11because they moved out a long time before the water flooded their home.
01:15Things happen even faster for small streams, because, well, their beds are also smaller.
01:21The current breaks down stones, the ground takes them in, and voila, a riverbed or bottom is formed.
01:29The current is the strongest in the middle of the waterway, and its power directly shapes the riverbed.
01:35The water flowing through rivers is full of soil and other particles.
01:38All this stuff goes from the spring into the mouth of a river and into Earth's oceans.
01:45In some cases, these particles build up at some point.
01:48And that's how new beaches, probably including your favorite, are born from fine-grained sand.
01:54On the other side of the river, the flow of water is much faster.
01:58So this fast-moving current literally slams against the next bank.
02:02Then the process of erosion starts all over again.
02:07River erosion is what happens when the flowing water takes away soil.
02:11And I have to tell you, things go super fast there.
02:14That water is so energetic, it can even carve into rocks, creating a canyon.
02:20If the riverbanks consist of loose material, such as hummus, that's the soil you plant a flower in,
02:26then it is easier for the flowing water to erode it.
02:29Rivers in the plains are often wide and slow, because there's little resistance from the ground around them.
02:36So you don't have to worry about waves tipping over your boat on a flatland river.
02:40In the mountains, streams quickly wash away all the surface soil and gravel,
02:45revealing the bedrock beneath them.
02:47It's tightly bound, so mountain streams are literally set in stone,
02:51as they cannot wash away this bedrock.
02:54So we have erosion to blame for waterways changing their course,
02:58and also mountains and hills.
03:00When a stream reaches a mountain or simply a rock, it has two choices –
03:04to flow around it or carve its way through it.
03:07In flatlands, rivers don't have any natural competition, so they choose a more winding path.
03:13All this twisting and turning increases the river's total length from the source to the mouth.
03:20One such example is the mighty Mississippi River in the U.S.
03:23It has a lot of curves and bends, which are called meanders.
03:28In the last century and a half alone, the Mississippi changed its course several times.
03:33The last major case was in 1876, when it left the historic city of Vicksburg in the dry.
03:40Two years later, a team of American engineers came to the area to construct the Yazoo Diversion Canal,
03:46which took 25 years to complete.
03:48Thanks to it, ships could once again sail to Vicksburg, reviving the town's economy.
03:54What happened in this southern U.S. town in the 19th century
03:58is an ordinary natural consequence of river erosion.
04:01The bends in a waterway grow sharper over time, making the water flow faster.
04:07This speeds up erosion, and individual bends slowly start approaching each other,
04:12to the point they merge.
04:13When this happens, the river straightens up overnight,
04:16leaving a lake in the form of a horseshoe in the place where the bend was.
04:21This newly formed body of water is called an oxbow lake.
04:25These still-water lakes either dry up, since they're no longer fed by a spring,
04:30or they turn into swamps.
04:32In some cases, humans use them as water meadows used for agriculture.
04:37Lake Chacot in Arkansas is the largest oxbow lake in North America,
04:42formed by the Mississippi several centuries ago.
04:45The source of the Mississippi is a lake in Minnesota.
04:48But a river can also start when two other watercourses become one,
04:53or when the water simply bubbles up from under the ground.
04:56Even melting snow can feed a river, like the Amazon gets its water from the Andes.
05:02Determining the source of a waterway can be tricky,
05:05so the debate about whether Amazon or the Nile is longer is still ongoing.
05:10What scientists know for certain is that the Amazon carries more water than any other river.
05:16One-fifth of all the freshwater that enters Earth's oceans comes from the South American river.
05:23When you look at the Amazon River on a map,
05:25you'll notice how it flows from Peru to Brazil, that is, from the west to the east.
05:30This direction might seem odd when you compare it to the Mississippi,
05:34which flows to the south on the map.
05:36It's so confusing because you probably know rivers flow down, affected by gravity.
05:42But down doesn't automatically mean south.
05:45Running water will try to find the easiest route down,
05:48so there are no rules in terms of cardinal directions.
05:52The Nile River is the best example of this, as it actually flows north into the Mediterranean Sea.
05:59Northern Egypt, where all those pyramids are located, is on lower ground than Sudan,
06:04where the Nile is formed when the Blue Nile and the White Nile merge.
06:10Ub in northern Asia and the Mackenzie River in Canada both flow northwest,
06:15while the Yellow River in East Asia flows in the same direction as Amazon,
06:20to the east, into the Pacific Ocean.
06:23These major rivers are some of the best examples that a stream doesn't have to flow from the north to
06:28the south.
06:29Gravity is the only important factor that determines which way a stream will flow,
06:34as running water is all the time pulled downwards.
06:37The flow of water is faster on steeper slopes.
06:40When there's a sudden drop in the flow, waterfalls form.
06:45Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfall on the planet,
06:49with water dropping from a height of 2,600 feet.
06:53Watch your step.
06:54In a waterfall, the falling water can easily reach the speed of a Thompson's gazelle.
07:00But as a river approaches the end of its journey, it slows down significantly.
07:05The stream doesn't have enough energy to cut into the nearby land.
07:08All the sediment it has picked up along the way, such as sandstone, slows it down.
07:14At the place where a river meets the ocean or a lake,
07:17it gets rid of the sediment along its banks, creating a delta, an area rich in fertile soil.
07:24The Ganges in India has the biggest delta in the world,
07:27several hundred miles wide and visible from space.
07:30The Amazon, on the other side, doesn't have a true delta,
07:34because the strong currents of the Atlantic Ocean wash away everything the torrent brings.
07:40The deepest section of the riverbed that runs along its middle is called a channel.
07:45This is where the current is the strongest.
07:47So ships travel on top of these channels.
07:49When engineers want to expand a waterway, they simply dig a deeper channel,
07:55and voila, larger ships can now pass.
07:58This is just one way humans alter watercourses.
08:01We often strengthen the banks of a river to prevent erosion
08:04or build dams that stop or divert the flow of water.
08:08The oldest operational dam on the planet dates back to the time of Egyptian pharaohs.
08:14It was, of course, the first damn thing.
08:18For eons, the Red Sea has separated the continents of Asia and Africa.
08:23They're close enough to wave at each other,
08:25but far enough that moving between them requires planning.
08:29Ferries do the job, but it's time for something better.
08:32That's why engineers have envisioned an ambitious mega-project of tunnels and bridges
08:37that will not only link the two continents, but also reshape the region forever.
08:45Millions of years ago, the Arabian landmass slowly drifted away from Africa,
08:50opening a watery scar that we now call the Red Sea.
08:53This place is famous for its crystal-clear water that looks filtered even when it isn't,
08:58as well as for coral reefs that seem to be painted by an overachieving artist.
09:03Let's zoom in on one specific location, the Strait of Tehran.
09:09Every ship headed toward the upper ports squeezed through this one busy hallway.
09:14On the one side is Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, rugged, golden, and sprinkled with resort towns.
09:20On the other side, it's Saudi Arabia, the Tabuk coast,
09:24where quiet desert hills stroll right down to neon blue water.
09:29The distance between them looks tiny on a map,
09:32almost like someone forgot to connect the lines.
09:34That's because the Strait is only about 8 miles from peninsula to peninsula,
09:39close enough that on a clear day, you can sometimes see the opposite shoreline.
09:44It's a busy gateway, and it's the exact gap designers want to turn into a direct road and rail link.
09:51So what are they actually trying to build?
09:53The idea is to create one continuous route between the Sinai Peninsula and the Tabuk coast.
09:59Engineers are still deciding whether it should be a bridge, a tunnel, or a hybrid, the combination of two.
10:05The problem is under the water.
10:08Near the shore, the bottom is shallow enough to support strong columns.
10:11But as you move farther out, the seabed drops quickly until it reaches about 900 feet.
10:17It's almost like walking off an underwater cliff.
10:21That sudden plunge is too deep for standard bridge supports.
10:25The design has to adjust to the landscape instead of forcing one shape across the whole gap.
10:30If they go with a bridge, the builders would place huge steel tubes called caissons on the seafloor.
10:36Think of them as giant metal buckets.
10:39Once they're in position, the water gets pumped out so crews can build a dry foundation inside.
10:44Concrete turns that space into a pillar rising from the seabed.
10:48The floating cranes drop long road sections between those pillars like puzzle pieces.
10:53It works well in shallow areas, but anchoring becomes difficult in deep waters due to high pressure, soft ground, and
11:01strong waves.
11:03Tunnels avoid this by going under the problem, literally.
11:07Crews can send tunnel boring machines called worms,
11:09or they can build submarine-sized tunnel segments on land and sink them into place.
11:14It's the same trick used in the Hong Kong Zohai-Macao Megalink,
11:18which proves it works even in busy, deep water.
11:22Now, people might look at the map and think,
11:248 miles? That doesn't sound so bad.
11:27In reality, it's nothing like tossing a giant tree trunk over a river and calling it a bridge.
11:33Cars, buses, and trains need those long, slow, friendly ramps that don't feel like a roller coaster.
11:38By the time you build those ramps on both sides, the whole thing could stretch to nearly 20 miles.
11:45That puts it in the same club as giants like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in the U.S.
11:50or the King Fahd Causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
11:54But it's not just the scale or unpredictable seabed that makes this intercontinental project challenging.
12:00There's also the climate.
12:03Temperatures regularly pass 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
12:06Concrete dries faster than planned, so crews have to cool it or work in shorter windows.
12:12Steel stretches in the heat just enough to make precise work annoying.
12:16And workers themselves cannot stand in direct sunlight for long without feeling like a baked potato.
12:22On top of that, the salty sea air chews through metal quicker than most people expect,
12:27so the whole structure needs tough protective layers and regular checkup.
12:31If this project gets the green light, you're looking at a timeline of several years.
12:36A good comparison is the Orison link between Denmark and Sweden.
12:41It's only about 10 miles long and still took around 4 years to build,
12:45in an environment that is much easier to handle than the Red Sea.
12:49Then, there's the price tag.
12:52Early numbers land around $4 billion,
12:55but that feels more like a starting guess than a final bill.
12:59If they run into problems, that figure will almost certainly climb.
13:03There's also one other problem that must be brought up.
13:06Swimming right under the surface.
13:08The Strait of Tiran is home to dolphins, rays, sea turtles, and even sharks.
13:14Including harmless reef sharks that glide around like they're protecting the beautiful, colorful corals below.
13:20These reefs aren't just decoration.
13:23They're some of the healthiest in the entire Red Sea.
13:26Scientists say that in parts of the northern Red Sea,
13:29some corals tolerate higher temperatures than many others around the world,
13:33which makes these reefs especially valuable from a climate resilience perspective.
13:39That means even a single mistake during construction could cloud the water with sediment,
13:44and that alone can smother corals like dust settling on wet paint.
13:48The same goes for noise, drilling, and ship movement.
13:52Reefs can't exactly move away if annoyed like fish can.
13:56Once they're damaged, it can take decades for them to grow back.
13:59That is, if they grow back.
14:01To avoid that, planners have to build in ways that keep the water as clear and calm as possible.
14:08Construction zones may need silt curtains to stop sediment from drifting away.
14:13Heavy equipment might have to avoid areas with dense coral clusters.
14:17Some sections could lean more toward tunnels instead of pillars to leave the seabed undisturbed.
14:23Every decision has to match the underwater map, not just the one on land.
14:28On top of that, the whole project would need constant supervision from scientists and inspectors.
14:34They would have to check how cloudy the water becomes and how marine animals behave during the work.
14:40If something looks off, the only responsible move is to slow down or change the method,
14:46instead of just rushing to finish faster and leaving the reef to pay the price.
14:51But if everything finally clicks into place, the payoff is massive.
14:56Right now, if you decide to skip the ferry and stay on land, the map punishes you.
15:01You have to loop all the way around the top of the Red Sea, through other countries, on a drive
15:06more than a thousand miles.
15:08All of that just to cross a stretch of water that is only a few miles wide at its narrowest
15:13point.
15:14It's like walking around the entire block just to knock on your neighbor's door.
15:18A permanent link would change this.
15:20Travel time drops, ports on both sides become easier to reach,
15:24and a drive from Africa to Asia suddenly feels as normal as crossing a long highway bridge.
15:30Not to mention the coolest part, which would be the view if they decided on the hybrid version.
15:36You begin your journey on the Sinai side, with the desert behind you and the Red Sea ahead.
15:41Instead of waiting in a ferry line, you roll onto a rising ramp while the water glimmers below.
15:47The road dips into a tunnel under a busy shipping lane,
15:51and before long, you're back in the sunlight on the other side, now on a different continent.
15:57The train version could feel even smoother.
15:59You find your seat, the doors close, and the train glides toward the crossing without any stop-and-go traffic.
16:06It slips into its own tunnel section, runs quietly under the sea,
16:10and pops back up on the Asian side before you have even finished scrolling your feed.
16:15For tourists, that could mean more resorts, more quick weekend trips,
16:20and a brand-new continental hop that becomes a must-try experience.
16:24For delivery trucks, every hour saved is money earned.
16:28Even local towns would feel the change.
16:30They'd get more visitors, more trade, and bigger profits.
16:33A link like this doesn't just connect land.
16:36It connects economies, ports, and everyday life.
16:39And that's a giant opportunity, as long as the underwater world stays protected.
16:46That's it for today.
16:47So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
16:52Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
16:56Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the right side.
Comments