An amusing xkcd cartoon about types of bridges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Randal Munroe’s xkcd cartoon for June 2, 2025 is titled Bridge Types. As shown above, it has sixteen of them, which are discussed over at Explain xkcd. Some make good sense: truss, arch, suspended arch, and suspension. The fifteenth is labeled as fun and it has a loop in the center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the idea of a double loop as part of a scenic railway (roller coaster) was used almost twelve decades ago in a Puck cartoon titled Pity the Poor Brooklynite, as is shown above. It came from page 5 of the October 24, 1906 issue of that magazine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is another Puck cartoon (shown above) from page 3 of March 7, 1906 with a bridge alternative titled The Brooklyn Strapid Transit System.