When is a bridge not a bridge but still a bridge?..when it is a transporter bridge. This example in linking Middlesbrough in the south with Stockon in the north crosses the River Tees in a record-breaking fashion. Built in the early 1900's it was the world's largest transporter bridge in the world.
You go onto a platform and then you are ferried accross the river. It costs 50p each way on foot but you can take cars and lorries. Run by Middlesbrough Borough Council it even has a visitor centre. It occisionally shuts for people mad enough to bungee off its very very tall arms accross the river. If you have not been on one it feels weird and worth a visit, even if just to come back a moment later. However if you commute using it then the bridge is vital it is a 10+ mile round journey to the next bridge crossing upstream.
Finally, the Transporter bridge is famed as a symbal for the town tyo the extent that the bridge has its own BBC webcam which you can view here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/webcams/transporter.shtml )
and even featured in the flim Billy Elliot and the titles of Auf Wiershien Pet, a UK TV show about people from the area going to live in Germany in its construction boom of the time. read more