In Cairo alone, there are 9 bridges over the Nile, 52 over the Volga, and 133 over the main European river, the Danube. And zero bridge over the Amazon. Do South American countries not have the budget to build bridges? Not so!
The reason there is no bridge over the Amazon is the vast and dense forest of this river. The Amazon has more than 10,000 tributaries, more than a hundred of which are major shipping rivers. Its length is more than 7,100 kilometers.
The Amazon itself flows through the territory of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. But the Amazon is not only long; it is also the most full-flowing river in the world. The area of the Amazon basin is almost larger than the area of Australia.
In addition, the Amazon is a dense forest filled with swamps, and the winding riverbed and banks are very muddy, and it likes to change its course. Because of this change, of course, there is a flood somewhere in the Amazon every year.
Normally, you would not need a lot of money to build a bridge. But in the Amazon, the situation is different. There are very few roads or other infrastructure to the main cities. If you want to get there, you have to boat on the rivers.
The Amazon is not only long and flowing, but also wide. Even in the dry season, a width of 3-5 kilometres is normal for it. The widest place is 11 kilometers. And this is just the riverbed, without floodplains, backwaters, and channels. And in the rainy season, the width of the river increases 3-5 times, so that its width easily reaches 40 kilometers. How long the bridge should be becomes a matter of complex engineering.
The Amazon passes through several large cities, such as Macapá (520,000 people), Manaus (2.2 million people), and Santarém (300.000 people). In the first two cases, as in most others, the cities are located on one side of the Amazon and the jungle is on the other, so there is no need for bridges. Although in Manaus there is one bridge connecting Manaus itself, which was opened in 2011. Still, small tribes live here, mainly in the jungle.
Is it surprising that the Amazon River cuts the southern continent in two and there is not a single bridge over it? If you are on the Atlantic Ocean and decide to go around the Amazon, you will have to reach almost the Pacific Ocean, passing through hundreds of Amazon tributaries and climbing the mountains, the Andes. But there will be no bridge over the Amazon.
In 2019, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro promised residents to build a bridge over the Amazon, but during his entire term the “Rio Branco project” probably tried, but the matter never went beyond negotiations.
About the Author
Ankita is a German scholar and loves to write. follow Ankita on Instagram 
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