In maps and photos: Five Iranian civilian bridges at risk of US strikes

EXPLAINER

A look at the multimillion-dollar mega structures that could be threatened by Trump’s ‘Bridge Day’ ultimatum.

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to unleash “Hell” on Iran by demolishing its critical infrastructure, including its bridges and power plants, if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz by early on Wednesday in Tehran.

Trump casually described his plans, which many experts said would amount to war crimes, as “Bridge Day” at a time when the US and Israel have already bombed multiple Iranian universities, hospitals, schools, research centres and pharmaceutical companies.

Just last week, a US double-tap strike obliterated the newly constructed B1 bridge in Karaj, a city west of Tehran, killing eight civilians who were picnicking under it as Iran celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The B1 was an unfinished project, yet it was targeted as part of what analysts called a strategy to “de-develop” the nation.

Now as another of Trump’s deadlines over the Strait of Hormuz approaches, international observers are sounding the alarm over the implications if the US president were to indeed order the bombing of Iran’s bridges.

According to Iran’s Bridge Management System (BMS), the country has roughly 300,000 bridges and technical structures. Only about 185 bridges exceed 100m (330ft) in length, and a mere 42 bridges have a main span – the longest unsupported distance between two consecutive pillars – of more than 50m (165ft).

Based on their scale and economic importance, here are five of Iran’s most prominent bridges:

Persian Gulf Bridge (Qeshm Island)

The Persian Gulf Bridge, with its massive foundations and caissons, is under construction [File: Courtesy of Creative Commons]

• Location: Hormuzgan province
• Dimensions: 3.4km (2.1 miles) long
• Status: unfinished (15 to 18 percent physical progress)
• Background: The Persian Gulf Bridge was a “dream project” for more than 50 years, and ground was broken in 2011. While the bridge remains unfinished due to funding hurdles, its massive underwater foundations and caissons are in place. Once completed, it will connect Qeshm Island – the largest of Iran’s islands in the Gulf, believed to be home to an underground missile arsenal – to Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest mainland port.
• What is at risk: Even in its current state, the bridge represents an investment of up to $700m and is the centrepiece of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which also includes India and Russia. Targeting its massive concrete foundations would erase decades of national planning and directly strike at Chinese-backed credit lines, in effect killing Iran’s hopes of a direct link to the island from the mainland.

Lake Urmia Bridge (Shahid Kalantari Bridge)

The Shahid Kalantari Bridge crosses the salt lake of Urmia in northwestern Iran [File: Atta Kenare/AFP]

• Location: between East and West Azerbaijan provinces
• Dimensions: 1.7km (1 mile) long
• Background: inaugurated in November 2008 after 29 years of highly complex construction due to the hypersaline and muddy nature of the lake bed
• What is at risk: This bridge connects Tabriz and Urmia, cutting the driving distance between the cities from 240km to 130km (150 to 80 miles). Beyond severing civilian movement between two major provinces, destroying it could trigger an ecological disaster by dumping 35km (22 miles) of steel pilings and concrete into an already shrinking lake.

Sadr Multilevel Expressway

The expressway bridge is located in Tehran [File: Marica van der Meer/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images]

• Location: Tehran
• Dimensions: 11km (7 miles) long, supported by 234 pillars
• Background: Inaugurated in November 2013, the bridge is the 11th highest in the world and the longest multilevel bridge in the Middle East.
• What is at risk: Built entirely by Iranian engineers despite sanctions, this is a daily commuter artery for millions of people in Tehran. An attack here could cause massive urban casualties, destroy a key artery for the capital’s transport system and plunge Tehran’s emergency evacuation systems into chaos.

Karun 4 Arch Bridge

The Karun 4 Arch Bridge and the Karun-4 Dam, the largest double-arch dam in the Middle East, in Lordegan, Iran [File: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images]

• Location: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province
• Dimensions: 378 metres (1,240ft) long, 3,800 tonnes
• Background: Designed and constructed entirely by Iranian experts, the bridge was inaugurated in 2015.
• What is at risk: As Iran’s longest arch bridge, it is a crucial route between Shahr-e-Kord and Izeh. Because it is suspended directly over a dam reservoir and is located close to the dam, bombing it risks causing secondary damage to the hydroelectric facility, potentially leading to fatal flooding for downstream communities.

Ghadir Cable-stayed Bridge (8th Bridge)

The A-shaped pylons of the Ghadir Bridge in Ahvaz [File: Courtesy of Creative Commons]

• Location: Ahvaz, Khuzestan province
• Dimensions: 1,014 metres (3,327ft) long, 22 metres (72ft) wide
• Background: Construction began in 2005, and the bridge was fully opened to the public in early 2012.
• What is at risk: Spanning the Karun River, this bridge is in the heart of Ahvaz. The city is the centre of Iran’s oil and steel sectors. Destroying this structure would cut the city in two, choking off the daily movement of families and emergency services in a province already battered by air strikes.