Bridge Hunt

Bridge Hunt chronicles a young man’s unforgettable quest to discover the 42 revolutionary bridges designed by Robert Maillart, a pioneering Swiss engineer and architectural luminary, between 1899 to 1940. Many of these graceful structures still hide along remote back roads and alpine valleys, while a few iconic landmarks endure in Bern, Geneva, and Zurich.

Maillart’s breathtaking Salginatobel Bridge was recently designated as a Swiss heritage site for its national significance. It has also been named an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

This visually rich travelogue presents the only complete published collection of photos and descriptions of all Maillart’s extant European bridges, capturing his unique engineering artistry. It will appeal to civil engineers, architects, and students, as well as travellers, adventure-seekers and anyone fascinated by treasures that unite rather than divide our world.

More than a precious record of a unique chapter in infrastructure history, the book is at heart a human story. Through one young man’s eyes, we rediscover Maillart’s timeless bridges, which embody the soaring of imagination transformed into structures that bring people together.

John Townsend is a Franco-British writer, musician, composer, and artist who has spent most of his life in France. After graduating from Exeter University with a degree in sociology, he worked for a couple of years as a Human Resource specialist in London before co-founding a successful rock band which had a number one hit in France. After the band broke up, John decided to stay in France and went back into HR. After working in managerial positions in France, Switzerland and the USA, he founded the Master Trainer Institute on the French-Swiss border. On retirement he began a successful career as a painter of seascapes. He and his wife now live in Brittany where he recently digitised this book of his 1972 journey of discovery.