The World's Strangest Bridges: Pythonbrug

Background: Design firm West 8 was commissioned to create a series of bridges linking Amsterdam's Sporenburg area with Borneo Island. Pythonbrug, which roughly translates from Dutch as "Python Bridge," opened in 2001 and is about 300 feet long.

Why It's Innovative: The sinuous Pythonbrug is one of the most modern bridges in Amsterdam, a city famous for its traditional canal bridges. Unlike Singapore's Henderson Waves, which relies on an outer shell to create the wave illusion, the Pythonbrug walkway actually dips and rises. While the bridge is certainly an eye-catcher, MacDonald points out that its steep incline wouldn't pass muster under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which sets a 5 percent limit on the grade of such structures.