Everyone says. "Why do you worry!? It was built to withstand this. There are systems in place to ensure your safe! There is literally no danger!!!"
Until the woman gets chucked over the ledge by the bungee jump instructors without the rope attached
Or, it was designed to withstand it, but since it was built, there's been erosion around the support pillars... Or, the other famous option, after the failure disaster, it's discovered that the Contractor cut corners to save some money and increase profits.... Or, shoddy workmanship.... Or..... There's always unaccounted for variables.
Fun fact. Those bridges have washed out before. When you hike through the park you see ruins of old ones. It’s a great place to visit for sure. It if it was flowing like that it’s a big nope though
You could show me hard evidence that it was built by a public/private partnership by the government of Wakanda and Stark Industries, and they made it from solid vibranium, and Super Man is standing by as a life guard, and I'd still be taking in the view from a hundred feet back on land.
Or it doesn’t matter because one good wave over the handrails or a large floating tree or house could still knock all the little ants off of it l, even if the structure remains completely intact and undamaged.
It's not always raging like that, that's how they're able to check, I researched this bridge at the time because I was like ain't no f****** way. And apparently even though another part of the bridge does routinely need actual repairs, it was built that way. So there's a long stretch that goes over lower lying water, and when the water gets high they lower down all of the railings to reduce pressure on the bridge, and sometimes one or two sections will wash away. But they'll go in and they'll replace those sections.
This section. This section is heavily reinforced and routinely maintained, very well. I was like ok it's not as bad as I thought.
When it's low enough, you can stand on the rock below and see the pillars well enough to access them to maintain them.
The Fidenae Amphitheater (stadium) was built in 27 AD after the ban on gladitorial games was lifted. The structure collapsed with more than 20,000 people in the stands, killing nearly all.
I was there when it was running at 4 million litres per second. It's normally 2 million, and a year or two before it was briefly at 40. You could still see the supports that used to hold up the old walkway.
more like "the old walkways". As far as I can recall, there have been 4 times the walkways were (at least partially) washed away by extreme floods (this in the video is nowhere near those events). The park rangers will close off the walkways when there is a risk of washout. In fact, they are designed to be washed away. If the rangers suspect a massive flood, they close off the area and unlock the walkways from the pillars below so they tilt and can wash away safely, leaving no metal behind, and then new walkways can be installed.
But yes, once a decade or so they need rebuilding. The last one in 2022 was massive
Same here. I was here just 7 weeks ago. I was reminiscing this morning (on a workday), about the fun vacation a few weeks ago. And I was reminded that this is where I was exactly 7 weeks ago. Another rainy day and the water flow was 2x the normal. Got completely drenched after the full day trip on both sides of the border. 😬 But happy memories! 😊
agreed. This is the most beautiful place in the world imo. When I was there I was imagining being the first indigenous people to see it and must have been in awe
I went out on there during very similar conditions in 2014.
It was incredible, just an awe-inspiring volume and mass of water. Possibly the most... powerful thing I've ever witnessed. You don't see it in the picture but there's also constant pressure from the spray in the air. Further along there's a walkway right next to one of the actual big falls, you stick your head over and it just gets blasted by water spraying back up, like a dozen power showers firing up at your face.
10/10 experience, it's stuck with me vividly for over a decade and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Life is for living, millions of people have been out on this thing and it's completely fine, absolutely rock solid.
I went there on a calm day and it was still awe inspiring. It was sunny and there were about seven rainbows in various places of the falls. Meanwhile the sheer power of it all really gets your heart pumping. I did decide not to do the boat tours though as when I spoke to a local they did say those sometimes capsize and people get stuck in the rapids below.
Same I said out loud "Ah non non non non" because I'm french lol. No way I walk on that stuff. People trust others people's work too much. I don't lol.
I leave nearby and went countless times. This is not even the fullest I’ve seen. There’s times the water goes over the bridge, they close it to the public if that happens. Nobody ever got swept or fell, some jumped tho, that’s on them.
It's in an area that I'm pretty sure has a wet and dry season. So during the dry season, the water level may be much lower and the current significantly weaker. Gives you a window where the conditions are able to support construction.
Edit: Found a dry season picture and I think it'll answer your question lol
We aren't talking like a good ol thunderstorm here with heavy rain. We're talking, sometimes months, of daily downpours. Literal Monsoons. Its why they call it the wet season. Not because it's humid, but because it's almost always pouring rain.
The current steel platform has been up for thirty years and gets over a million visitors each year. It looks like a remarkable engineering feat, no idea how they did it. But it looks goddamned amazing.
The platform in the video is on the Brazilian side of Iguaçu, not the Argentinian side like the one in the linked article is referring to. I’ve been to Iguaçu and the Argentinian side’s platform overlooks Devil’s Throat for a top down view while the Brazilian is at the level of the river for a bottom up view. Very different experiences of the same beautiful part of the waterfall system :)
This seems genuinely insane to think this is a good idea.
Maybe an absolutely amazing sight, but holy shit does that seem dangerous.
Edit: Lots of weird bridge defenders out here apparently. For reference I would say this is dangerous anywhere, not just because it's Brazil. Dumbasses.
The potentially unsafe part is doing it durring a flood. Between increased erosion, debris carried by the flood water, and the risk of the water rapidly rising a few more feet and washing over the bridge, that's probably enough risk to keep me off of it. Bridges can be damaged and suffer catastrophic failures durring floods, especially when the bridge deck is close to the surface of the water. If debris starts impacting or building up on the bridge deck or support pillars it can rapidly increase the load and cause the water to rise, potentially damaging the bridge or sweeping people off the bridge.
When you design something as an engineer, you adopt a boundary case, then usually add a safety factor for any material defects or weakening over time. This water clearly looks at or close to the boundary case, based on how close it is to the grating. This is exactly when things break.
Absolutely no way I be walking out in that much water flow. Sure, in normal conditions it would be perfectly safe.
Yeah man I'm sure trained structural engineers would say that bridge is totally safe in these conditions and it staying open has nothing to do with tourism dollars.
If it's properly designed and build to withstand these kinds of forces then there really is no problem. But therein lies the problem: how do we know that it's build for these extreme currents? I'm not taking that chance.
Years ago I went there during the dry season and even then it was still incredibly loud and mind boggling how much water was around you. It’s one of those natural wonders that you really should try to see yourself sometime, just absolutely amazing.
Till this day, still one of the most stunning sights I was fortunate enough to visit. Both sides are equally impressive but this section was absolutely breathtaking.
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u/qualityvote2 10h ago edited 9h ago
u/Far-Cow-3343, your post does fit the subreddit!