Just because demolition videos rock, today I'm bringing you the implosion of a 104-year-old bridge in Minneapolis.

France's first eco-motorway and biggest road infrastructure project to date has been finished following 4 million man hours put in by more than 8000 workers.

If the global financial crisis isn't enough, China has now been rocked by a suicidal construction worker and allegations of bribery in the award of highways contracts.

Germany's state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn (DB) is planning to build a 260km railroad for coal between China and Mongolia.

Doubt has been thrown on the future of the Dubai Metro as the emirate battles the economic downturn.

For what started out as simple as a fallen log across a river, bridges have come a long way.

They're the superstars of the engineering world, sometimes the biggest celebrity in a city's skyline and push forward incredible economic and social development.

Because we've all drooled over the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge and that engineering masterpiece the Millau Viaduct - this is a list of some of the world's more unusual bridges.

Check out 18 others here.

5. Erasmusbrug Bridge, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Nicknamed "the swan", this cable stayed bridge crosses the Nieuwe Maas river in Rotterdam and was designed by Ben van Berkel.

Completed in 1996, the 808m long bridge has a 139m high asymmetrical pylon.

Its southern span also has an 89m long bascule bridge for ships that cannot fit underneath the bridge - and this bascule is the largest and heaviest in western Europe.

4. Hangzhou Bay Bridge, Zhejiang, China

At more than 36km long, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world and is 'S' shaped to stop drivers from falling asleep.

The bridge has two spans - one 448m and another at 318m and will last more than 100 years thanks to the use of an orthotropic steel deck on its main spans and ramps.

Its 'S' shape and flashing lights not only keeps bored drivers alert, but is also supposed to protect the bridge from an annual tidal wave that affects the area.

3. Leonardo's Bridge, Norway

Conceived by Italian master Leonardo da Vinci, this striking bridge took almost 500 years to be realised.

The 100m long bridge is the first of the master's civil engineering designs to be built and stands in the small town of As in southern Norway.

It was considered impossible to build in da Vinci's time but was made a reality in 2001 by Norwegian painter and public art creator Vebjørn Sand who was struck by its simplicity.

2. Magdeburg Water Bridge, Magdeburg, Germany

First conceived in 1919, the construction of this navigable aqueduct water bridge was derailed by World War II and then then splitting of Germany into two.

But in 2003 the vision of connecting two important shipping canals through a bridge over the River Elbe was finally realised.

The canal spans 690m over land and 228m over water and links the Elbe-Havel Canal and the Midland Canal.

1. Henderson Waves, Singapore

While you actually cannot drive over this shapely pedestrian bridge, it is worth battling Singapore's traffic to get close enough to hike it.

The Henderson Wave bridge is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore at 36m high and links up the parks at Mount Feber and Telok Blangah Hill.

It opened in May 2008 and is already the talk of the town with its great views and stunning curves.

US president-elect Barack Obama is about to go on a construction spending spree, building new schools, bridges, roads and pipelines.

Unveiling his economic team, Obama announced he is spending his way out of the recession with a building bonaza worth up to £463bn.

The spendaholic president-elect hopes to create 2.5m jobs by 2011 with a public works programme that could rival the programme that dragged the US out of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Although details have been scant so far, insiders say work could start within months.

CNN reports that some 3,000 projects costing £11.6bn could be under contract in less than 90 days. Many of these would be addressing a backlog of projects, such as bridge strengthening and road repaving.

Experts are also calling for the construction of new transport corridors that bundle together highways, high-speed rail, pipelines and utility lines.

Last month this blog ran a post on America's crumbling infrastructure and the 10 projects the US desperately needs.

Routinely voted the world's worst airport, Los Angeles International is set for a massive make-over by airport extraordinaires Fentress Architects.

A major face-lift is earmarked for the Tom Bradley International Terminal by 2013 as well as a cross-field taxiway, midfield concourse and a passenger processing facility (more pics).

Plans show the Bradley and midfield concourse will be linked by a soaring sky bridge over the taxiway, giving passengers views of the Californian ocean, mountains and city.

"We want to change LAX into L.A. wow," Curt Fentress said.

Fentress is behind one of America's best airports - the Denver International. Including Denver, here are 5 Great Airports:

5. Denver International

Not only set among visually spectacular scenery, this airport has a roof line that mimics the peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

 

 

 

 

4. Beijing Capital International

Designed by Foster + Partners, the airport features a soaring aeordynamic roof and dragon-like form representing traditional China. It is also the world's largest airport building.

 

 

 

 

3. Marrakesh Menara, Morocco
This elegant structure cleverly references Arabic patterns while promoting modernism. The openings in the exo-skeleton facade are filled with etched glass panels that feature a secondary pattern.

 

 

 

 

2. Incheon International, Seoul

Also designed by Fentress, this airport has been voted best airport three times by the Airport Council International. Rejecting the cold and cavernous, it features a warm, curved facade.

 

 

 

 

1. Madrid Barajas

Designed by Richard Rogers Partnership, this airport has almost as many design awards as it has passengers. Its' undulating roof and use of graduated colour makes it a memorable stop over in even the eyes of even the most jetlagged passengers.

And here are some more great airports.

It couldn't really get worse. The final death toll from the collapse of the subway tunnel under construction in China has hit 21, with all hope gone of rescuing 13 missing workers.

After relentless searching, rescuers have been unable to find the missing labourers in the silt-filled tunnel in Hangzhou.

The men were trapped on 15 November when a 75m long section of the tunnel under construction collapsed.

The collapse caused a huge crater that sucked in 11 vehicles. Surrounding properties have had to be demolished to prevent further accidents.

"If the workers are trapped in the middle of the mire, it may take two or three days for rescuers to reach them. If they are at the bottom, it's hard to say when they can be reached," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has no intention of letting the economic downturn affect his slice of the world - he has just approved yet another landmark project.

The Dubai Smile, an eye-catching inverted metal bridge, has been approved as the seventh river crossing in the emirate and will be completed in 2012.

The 12 lane bridge, which is 61.6m wide and has a 100m high arch, will be capable of handing 24,000 vehicles an hour and cost about £110m to build.

The bridge will replace Dubai's Floating Bridge over Dubai Creek and aim to reduce appalling traffic congestion.

This is an amazing picture of the China subway collapse that has so far killed seven and left 14 missing.

Taken by the Associated Press, it shows the massive damage caused when a 75m long section of the tunnel under construction collapsed on the weekend in Hangzhou, the capital of the Zhejiang province.

The road above the tunnel appears to have collapsed and split in two, swallowing a car in the foreground of the shot.

Hot and humid Dubai is planning the impossible - to stop its residents sweating.

As part of plans to get the Emirate's millionaires walking more, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) plans to build a network of air-conditioned road crossings.

The tube-like crossings will link buildings, roads and subways throughout the urban area - meaning a walk under the hot Middle Eastern sun will no longer require a change of clothes.

RTA chief executive of strategy Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younes said the scheme aimed to reduced the reliance on cars and help people avoid traffic jams.

It is not clear when the pilot project will commence or quite how the RTA aims to convince the super-rich to give up their cooled Bentleys and BMWs.

For those following the US election, campaign strategy and policy has been surprisingly bereft of construction news.

Sure, we've had Joe the plumber and Tito the builder; but experts claim candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have ignored one of the US' biggest woes - crumbling infrastructure.

Popular Mechanics has come up with a list of 10 pieces of US infrastructure desperately needing work, calling on the government to start rebuilding the country.

At the top of the list is the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, which is rated as structurally deficient because of rusting steel and deteriorating road decks. It isn't going to collapse but repairs won't start until 2010.

Looks like tomorrow's winner has their work cut out for them not just undoing Dubya's legacy.