most amazing roads

You might think that the twistiest road in the world would have keen drivers flocking to thread their sports cars and hot hatches down it but Lombard Street in San Francisco is far too twisty for that. Think of it as an alpine pass in miniature with a series of 8 hairpin bends in just 400 metres as the road descends a 27 degree gradient. The speed limit is just 5mph and this is definitely one to approach with caution.

The oldest known roads were laid in Egypt around 2,700BC but the oldest road still in use today is the Via Appia that runs between Rome and Brindisi in Italy. Its a comparative spring chicken, thought to date back to 312 BC.There are sections of the Via Appia where you can still see and travel on the original Roman paving, which is remarkably free of potholes. Britains councils could definitely learn something from the Romans.

The steepest road in the world thats paved and can theoretically be driven up is Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand. The road climbs 1m for every 2.86m travelled horizontally. Its so steep that the tarmac runs off before it sets so the road had to be concreted. Special grooves are cut into it to help cars get a grip but youd still want a reasonable amount of oomph under your cars bonnet before attempting this one.

More of an alleyway than a road and certainly impassable to any vehicle that hasnt come off second best in a run in with a steamroller, Spreuerhofstra

The capital cities of the world are bisected by some majestic boulevards but for sheer scale none can live with the Avenue 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires. This is the worlds widest road with over 100 metres of span, enough for nine lanes of traffic to flow in each direction. Our hearts go out to pedestrians trying to cross it, theyd probably need to stop halfway for a nap.

If you like your bridges to be awe inspiring feats of engineering reaching out to conquer great natural obstacles, then the worlds longest road bridge may be a slight disappointment. It doesnt span a great canyon or raging body of water, it carries an elevated expressway into Bangkok, Thailand.The Burapha Withi Expressway (also known as the Bang Na Expressway) is 33.6 miles long but only crosses the Bang Pakong river for a fraction of that length. For the most part it just lifts the 6 lane highway clear of Bangkoks urban sprawl. Only a trio of railway bridges in China keep the Burapha Withi Expressway from retaining the title of worlds longest bridge.

Prepare to be amazed, bridge fans. This is the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in Chinas Shandong Province, the worlds longest road bridge over the sea. Its 25.8 miles long and connects Qingdao and Huangdao by carrying the road out across Jiaozhou Bay. Only 16.6 of its miles are over water, however, so this isnt actually the longest road bridge continuously over water in the world.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana is the longest bridge continuously over water in the world. Its comprised of two parallel bridges that take a road over Lake Pontchartrain, the longer of the two stretches for 23.87 miles (38.41 kilometres).

The Akashi Kaiky? Bridge links the city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island in Japan. It has the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world at 1,991m and its held the record since it was completed in 1998.

Its not a claim to fame that has a real ring to it but the Aizhai long span suspension bridge in Jishou, China, is the longest tunnel to tunnel suspension bridge in the world. Its the highest too in case youre interested. It has a span of 1,146m and at its highest point its 350 metres above the valley floor. Dont look down.