The Megyeri Bridge, previously known as the Northern M0 Danube bridge, is a
cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...
that spans the
River Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
between
Buda and
Pest, respectively the west and east sides of
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, the capital of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
.
It is an important section of the
M0 ringroad around Budapest.
The bridge cost 63billion
forints ( 300M) to build and was officially opened on September 30, 2008;
however, the National Transport Authority of Hungary has only issued temporary permits because of disagreement among suburban cities surrounding the bridge.
An online naming poll to determine the new name of the recently built bridge caused controversy and received media attention when American comedians
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
and
Jon Stewart won.
Gallery
Image:Megyeri híd2.jpg
Image:Megyeri bridge under construction.jpg
Image:Civertanmegyeri1.jpg
Image:Civertanmegyeri2.jpg
Image:Civertanmegyeri3.jpg
Image:Civertanmegyeri4.jpg
Image:Civertanmegyeri5.jpg
Image:Civertanmegyeri6.jpg
Technical information
The total length of the bridge is 1862m.
Structurally it is composed of five parts:
#Left quayside inundation area bridge: 148m
#Main Danube-branch bridge (cable stayed): 590m with a span of 300m
#
Szentendre Island inundation area bridge: 559m
#Szentendre Danube-branch bridge: 332m
#Right quayside inundation area bridge: 218m
Naming poll
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Transport of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
organized a public vote online to solicit possible names for the new bridge. The three names with the most votes, as well as suggestions from local governments, cartographers, linguists and other experts, were to be reviewed by a government committee before a final name for the bridge was chosen. New nominations were accepted until August 21, 2006, and the voting ended on September 8, 2006.
On August 1, 2006, Reuters reported that the top candidate according to the online poll was the "Chuck Norris híd", named for American action star
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts champions ...
. (
Chuck Norris facts
Chuck Norris facts are satirical factoids about American martial artist and actor Chuck Norris that have become an Internet phenomenon widespread in popular culture. These 'facts' are absurd hyperbolic claims about Norris's toughness, attitude, ...
reached the height of their popularity around this time.) On August 9, 2006, American
satirist
This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires.
Under Contemporary, 1930-196 ...
Stephen Colbert discussed the story on his comedy program ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...
'', instructing his viewers to visit the polling website and vote for him instead of Norris. On August 15, 2006, he repeated his call to be voted top of the Hungarian poll. The next day the number of votes for him had grown 230 times, and he now asked his viewers to follow a link from his own "Colbert Nation" website, to avoid "all that illegible Hungarian". Colbert's site also indirectly offered techniques for "stuffing the ballot box", as users of their
forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
s created several automated
scripts
Script may refer to:
Writing systems
* Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire
* Script (styles of handwriting)
** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...
to cast multiple votes for Colbert. By August 22, 2006, the "Stephen Colbert híd" was in first with 17 million votes, about 14 million votes ahead of the second-placed ''Zrínyi híd'', named after the Croatian-Hungarian national hero,
Miklós Zrínyi
Miklós Zrínyi ( hr, Nikola Zrinski, hu, Zrínyi Miklós; 5 January 1620 – 18 November 1664) was a Croatian and Hungarian military leader, statesman and poet. He was a member of the House of Zrinski, a Croatian- Hungarian noble family. ...
, and about 7 million more than the entire population of Hungary. The same day, the site announced a new round of voting, which would require registration to participate, and Colbert asked his viewers to "call off the dogs", requesting on his website that fans stop using scripts to vote. Despite this, the "Stephen Colbert híd" remained in the top position on the website in the second round.
On September 14, 2006,
András Simonyi
András Simonyi (born 16 May 1952) is a former Hungarian ambassador, transportation economist, author. He is an independent consultant living in the U.S. He is a senior fellow at the Global Energy Center Atlantic Council of the United States. He ...
—the ambassador of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
to the United States—announced on ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...
'' that
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
had won the vote. Unfortunately for Colbert, Ambassador Simonyi declared that under Hungarian law, Colbert would have to be fluent in Hungarian, and would have to be deceased in order to have the bridge named for him. However, after saying the rules could most likely be bent, he invited Colbert to visit Hungary and view the construction in person and gave him a Hungarian passport and a
10,000 HUF Bill, with an approximate value of, as the ambassador put it, 'fifty dollars, fifty good US dollars'. Colbert promptly tried to bribe him with said money.
Results
Megyeri Bridge
On September 28, 2006, it was announced that the bridge will be named "Megyeri Bridge", even though that name did not make it to the second round. The Hungarian Geographical Name Committee justified the final name by explaining that the bridge connects
Káposztás''megyer'' and
Békás''megyer''.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Danube River
This is a list of crossings of the Danube river, from its source in Germany to its mouth in the Black Sea. Next to each bridge listed is information regarding the year in which it was constructed and for what use it was constructed (foot bridge ...
References
External links
Google Earth 3D model of the bridgePhotos of Budapest bridgesBloomberg articleComputer generated video of the Northern M0 Danube bridgeIndex.hu articleBridges of Budapest - Megyeri BridgeAerial photographs of the bridge
{{The Colbert Report
Cable-stayed bridges in Hungary
Bridges in Budapest
Bridges over the Danube
Bridges completed in 2008
Internet memes