Bungee jumping was invented following a David Attenborough documentary in the 1950s, notorious badass that he is.
Bungee locations have sprung up across the world since then, and we've found five of the world's best.
5. Europabrucke Bridge, Austria – 630 feet (192 m)
Europabrücke, or Europe's bridge, is a 777 metres (2,550 ft) long bridge spanning the 657 metres (2,160 ft) Wipp valley just south of Innsbruck, Austria. The A13 Brenner Autobahn passes over this bridge, above the Sill River, forming part of the main route from Austria to Italy across the Alps. Built between 1959 and 1963, it was once Europe's highest bridge, standing 192 metres (630 ft) high. The Millau Viaduct has taken over this title on 14 December 2004.
4. Bloukrans Bridge, South Africa – 708 feet (216 m)
The Bloukrans Bridge (Afrikaans:Blue Ridges) is an arch bridge located near Nature's Valley, Western Cape, South Africa. The construction, which was completed in 1984, stands at height of 216m above the Bloukrans River, making it the highest single span arch bridge in the world. Its central span is 272m and the bridge is 451m in length in total.
Its primary use is that of a road bridge, carrying national route N2, but it is also the site of the world's highest commercially operated bungee jump.
The Bloukrans River below forms the border between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces and is located in the Tsitsikamma region of the Garden Route.
3. Verzasca Dam, Switzerland – 720 feet (220 m)
The Contra dam (or Verzasca dam) is a 220-metre high arch hydroelectric dam in the Val Verzasca, Switzerland. It was constructed between 1960 and 1965.
The dam forms Lago di Vogorno, an artificial reservoir. It was designed by Lombardi Engineering. Made of concrete, the structure dams the Verzasca River and retains over 100 million cubic metres of water. The builder and owner is Verzasca SA, an electricity generator which has an 80-year concession to expire in 2046. It generates 105MW of electricity. The designer, Dr. Lombardi, considers it one of his most aesthetically pleasing dams, primarily because of the slenderness of the concrete arch; the smaller volume of concrete also kept construction costs low. It is the 25th tallest dam in the world.
The dam is one of several at which the filling of the reservoir has triggered small earthquakes.
The dam leases access to a commercial bungee jump operator. The opening scene of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye was filmed here. The dam doubled as the fictional Arkhangelsk Chemical Weapons Facility located in the northern Soviet Union during the Cold War. Contestants bungee jumped off the dam as a Roadblock task in the first episode of the 14th season of The Amazing Race.
2. Macau Tower, China – 760 feet (233 m)
Macau Tower (traditional Chinese: 澳門旅遊塔; Portuguese: Torre Panorâmica), also known as Macau Sky Tower, is a tower located in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The tower measures 338 m (1,109 ft) in height from ground level to the highest point. An observation deck with panoramic views, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and the Skywalk X, a thrilling walking tour around the outer rim. It offers the best view of Macau and in recent years has been used for a variety of adventurous activities. At 233 meters, the Macau Tower's tethered "skyjump" and Bungee jump by world renowned AJ Hackett [1] from the tower's outer rim, is the highest in the world. The tower was created by the architecture firm of Craig Craig Moller.
The tower is one of the members of the World Federation of Great Towers. Besides being used for observation and entertainment, the tower is also used for telecommunications and broadcasting.
1. Royal Gorge Bridge, Colorado, USA – 1,053 feet (321 m)
The Royal Gorge Bridge is a tourist attraction near Cañon City, Colorado, within a 360 acre (1.5 km²) theme park. The bridge deck hangs 1,053 feet (321 m) above the Arkansas River, and the bridge is billed as the highest suspension bridge in the world. The Royal Gorge Route Railroad runs under the bridge along the base of Royal Gorge. The bridge is 1260 feet (384 m) long and 18 feet (5 m) wide, with a wooden walkway with 1292 planks. The bridge is suspended from towers that are 150 feet (46 m) high.
The bridge was constructed in six months, between June 5, 1929 and late November 1929, as a toll bridge, at a cost of $350,000. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The bridge was not constructed for transportation purposes; instead, it was built with the intent that it serve as a tourist attraction, and has continued to be one of the most-visited tourist attractions in Colorado since its construction.
The cable-stayed Viaduc de Millau, completed in December 2004, is the tallest bridge in the world, at 1,118 feet (341 m), but its road/vehicle deck is only 885 ft (270 m) above the River Tarn. The Royal Gorge Bridge is still the highest suspension bridge in the world, as well as the bridge with the highest deck-to-surface clearance.
The height of the bridge makes it an attractive spot for suicide by jumping; however, park and security personnel constantly patrol the bridge in order to prevent such suicides.
In 1980 the bridge hosted the television show "That's Incredible" for a different kind of jumping. On the show a group of British bungee jumpers from the Oxford Dangerous Sports Club consumed excessive amounts of Champagne before stepping off the bridge to set, at the time, world records for the highest bungee jump. The record setting jump went 800 fee into the 1,053 canyon. In 1981 the bridge was the subject in a GM Super Bowl commercial where in which GM suspended several hundred one gallon gas cans from under the bridge to demonstrate the amount of gas their new car would save you.
The bridge was closed to vehicle traffic from 1982-83 for significant renovations. During this time new cable anchors were installed. The original rusting cable ends were replaced by new multi-strand cables and then each of the 2,100 strands of of existing suspension cable were spliced together with the new anchor cables. The bridge also got new floor timbers, wind cabling, and improvements to the bridge towers. The cost of the renovations were $2.8 million or roughly eight times the original cost of the bridge.
In October 2003 while performing a proximity demonstration, wingsuiter Dwain Weston was killed attempting to fly over the bridge. Weston was wearing a wingsuit, a skydiving suit with fabric extended below the arms to the body and between the legs to catch air allowing for horizontal travel when skydiving. Weston was to go over the bridge while fellow skydiver Jeb Corliss was to go under it. Miscalculating his distance from the bridge, Weston struck a railing while traveling an estimated 160 km/h, killing him instantly and dismembering extremities. Portions of the video documenting the stunt are available on the internet, along with commentary of Corliss regarding his witnessing the accident. Weston was an experienced skydiver and BASE jumper with over 1200 jumps.
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