During history people invented many types of bridges out ingenuity and out of necessity. Bridges always had a task to cross an obstacle and depending on obstacle they adapted and changed. Because of that, we have many beautiful bridges in the world.
The first bridges appeared as an inspiration from Nature itself. In time, we advanced our technology and built bridges out if different materials and in different shapes for different purposes. Still, some of the earliest still stand today. Read more about interesting bridge history.
Since the ancient times bridge building was improved and there are today many different types of bridges. To classify them we look how they are built, what physics holds them in one piece and what are the materials of which they are made.
Improvements in technology allow us to tame the Nature to our liking. We build larger and longer than before and with that we leave mark on the Earth. Bridges are just one of those marks and, as the time goes, we build them longer and longer.
When we build bridges we try to build them to serve the purpose and to last as long as they can. But they are not everlasting and usually when they fail they do that while in use, which makes them tragic. Read more about famous bridge failures.