The String (Harp) Bridge of Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s newest landmark is the Harp Bridge.
This is a bit of old news, as it was inaugurated in June 2008. But since I talk about it every time I drive through Jerusalem with my tourists, and it is visible from almost everywhere in the city, it deserves a mention here.

As if Jerusalem needs more landmarks, what with the Old City, Mt. Olives, Temple Mount, Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, just to mention a few.

But Jerusalem also wants modern landmarks, and the latest is the Harp Bridge, or as it is often referred to in English – the String Bridge. It is one of those things that will not leave you cold. Either you hate it or you love it. For sure, it can be seen from long way away. On entering or leaving Jerusalem by Route One, you can’t help seeing it.

The Harp Bridge has been built to serve the light rail being installed in Jerusalem to relieve congestion and to get rid of some of the busses that today make up all of public transport in the city. Though construction of the rail is way overdue, the bridge was inaugurated a couple of years ago, and expected to be taken into use within two years. The only ones so far using the bridge are pedestrians, who can now safely cross the extremely busy intersection at the entrance to the city.

However, as a landmark is can also claim to be a world landmark. It is the longest, curved single support suspension bridge in the world. The support, or the Finger, rises to a height of 183 meters. I don’t know how long it is, but it is long. The whole structure was designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrav, the world’s expert on suspension bridges. It was built to the tune of $73 million, way above what a more conventional bridge would have cost. This alone was the subject of much of the controversy over the bridge. Discussions were also over the whether it fit into the Jerusalem landscape.

It became know as the Harp Bridge or String Bridge due to the massive wires strung from various points of the finger down to the bridge itself.

So now Jerusalem has its new landmark, whether we like it or not, whether we agree to the extraordinary cost (after all its already built). The citizens of Jerusalem have become used to it by now, and may already have forgotten, what they thought about it at first. You will see it, no doubt, when you visit Jerusalem.

Here is a news item on the String Bridge that give you different perspectives from around the time of its inauguration.