When he first saw the design for the Bay Bridge reconstruction, former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said it "speaks of mediocrity, not greatness." He could just as easily have been describing most bridges designed and built in the U.S. in the past 20 years.
When it comes to innovation in major bridge projects, we in the U.S. have taken a back seat to our counterparts in Europe and Asia. One case in point is the Millau Viaduct in France. Built for $523 million, the Millau boasts the tallest piers of any bridge in the world. Perhaps most impressively, the 900-ft-high, 8,070-ft-long structure opened just 38 months from the day construction started.