Pontifex bridges - Shastrix.com
These pages have been surprisingly popular with people looking for Pontifex II solutions. The bridges shown are not world record designs, they are not necessarily even my cheapest or most sensible designs. What you will find here is simply a collection of bridges I created and found interesting when I used to play Pontifex II. This site has not been updated for several years and should be considered archived.
Other sites that may be of interest are DarkWolfNine's now discontinued site, which I found inspirational when first getting in to the game, bridgebuilder-game.com which appears to be the main social hub for Pontifex and other bridge-building games, and the official forums.
Easy
Easy 1
This is a 40 m car bridge. The design is one of the simplest (if not practical in the real-world) and cheapest bridge solutions.
Easy 3
This is a simple 80 m train bridge. I have gone quite minimalistic with the design, which I think gives it a pleasing style.
Easy 4
This is an 80 m car bridge. I was going for a low profile, but unfortunately had to include a small section under the bridge.
Easy 5
This is a 120 m car bridge. I love this bridge for its absurdity. Originally, the road pointed upwards, but this caused the centre pillars to topple. Having the road dip lowered the centre of gravity and made the bridge remarkably stable. Unfortunately, it isn't the safest bridge for the car drivers (especially as they insist on accelerating wildly as they cross), so it can take a few attempts for the cars to cross successfully.
Easy 6
This is a 120 m train bridge. Nothing particularly interesting here, but the bridge does have minimal impact on the horizon. I have included it merely for completeness.
Medium
Medium 1
This is a 120 m train bridge. I'm not sure how feasible it is in the real world as the train gets ever so close to those crossbeams...
Medium 2
This is an 80 m train bridge. I liked the idea of creating a bridge that was not visible from its surroundings, especially considering the number of mounts strongly suggesting the form the bridge should take.
Medium 3
This is an 80 m car bridge, two cars cross from either direction and a ship passes under the bridge. I built this bridge as cheaply as I could and consequently it is a little wobbly. Despite this, it is still slightly more expensive than the world record, but I don't think I can trim this particular design down any more. It is supposed to be a drawbridge, but I just made a "high bridge" to save money.
Medium 4
This is a 120 m bridge for cars. It is perhaps the definition of a "dirty" bridge. The deck cuts through the land, it is rather cheap, and it doesn't always work. Due to its wobbly nature, it will take several attempts to get the cars across (note their comic positioning in the "stress" image), it may help to let it settle first.
Medium 5
This is a 160m bridge for a train. Whilst the ride is rather bumpy, this is my relatively cheap and aesthetically pleasing solution.
Medium 5
This is a 160 m train bridge. This is my latest attempt, improving upon the other example of the bridge that was already uploaded. It wouldn't be the most comfortable ride for the train passengers but the stresses are relatively low, and nothing gets broken.
Medium 6
This is a 120 m train drawbridge. I quite like this bridge actually, it is simple, with clean lines, and smooth action, leaving a large channel for the cargo ship.
Medium 7
This is a 120m bridge for a train. I'm a fan of slanty towers which support parts of the bridge, and with appropriately spaced foundations on the left-hand side I was able to put a set in here. Because the cables were not strong enough to support the entire bridge, I built a mini-supporting section underneath the right-hand side. The part is perhaps not as elegantly designed as it could be, so I'll probably have a redesign at some point.
Medium 7
This is a 120 m bridge for trains with asymmetrical mounts. My previous uploaded attempt for this bridge was truly awful - although I have refined that style somewhat since. This is a new, cheaper, approach which uses cables to contain all of the structure beneath the deck.
Medium 8
This is a 320m steel bridge for a train. Nothing much to say about this one, as it's nothing particularly special...
Hard
Hard 3
This is a 360m train drawbridge. It's quite similar in design to the Medium 8 bridge, just with quirkier main towers. Despite it being a 'drawbridge', no hydraulics were provided, so it is built high enough to allow the ship to pass underneath.
Hard 3
A 360 m train bridge with a similar design to the older Hard 3 solution but with some small savings.
Hard 4
A 120m train bridge designed to have minimal impact on the landscape, with the supporting structure all beneath the track level. Probably not feasible in the real world as a boat might come along, but fortunately one does not in the game.
Hard 5
This is a 160m train bridge. I wanted to design something that really doesn't look like it should work. It's not particularly cheap, but the stress from the train going across makes it a nice blue colour.
Hard 5
A 160m train bridge. I had to redesign this as the last attempt was so awful. Still not keen on the styling though.
Hard 6
This is a 160m train bridge, and is probably one of my favourites; only because I'm not particularly good at the game and it took me ages to solve the level. The supporting structures on the bridge on either side are a little messy with the "double-strength" bit, but I couldn't work out how else to make them strong enough.
Hard 7
An 800m car bridge, nothing too extraordinary here with a relatively standard suspension bridge design. I do quite like the hourglass columns as seen from the road though.
Hard 7: Gibraltar Bridge
This is an 800m car bridge providing an alternative solution to the Hard 7 level. It is called the 'Gibraltar Bridge' as the design was originally based on a concept design for a bridge to span the Strait of Gibraltar. Sadly it isn't that close to the original design as Pontifex was a bit limiting in what I could do.
Hard 8
This is a 160m double boat drawbridge. The only real thing I was thinking about when designing this bridge what aesthetics. I'm a fan of draw bridges which open up the full width of the span, which this one manages.
Hard 8
This is a 160m double boat drawbridge. As I said on the old Hard 8 design, I like drawbridges that open completely (can never trust those pesky sailors). This bridge costs more but opens wider.
Complex
Complex 2
This is a 720m double-lane train bridge. Again, style was perhaps more of a concern than practicality in this instance. The stress isn't uniform across the bridge and the ride across it, if it were ever built, would be rather wobbly with the single row of cables supporting part of the deck.
Complex 3
This is a 160m double train bridge. I wanted to create a bridge with as low a profile manageable, and this was the result. It is rather cheap, but amusingly wobbly as the trains cross it each balancing out the other and preventing collapse. I'd recommend waiting a few seconds before running the trains across this one!
Complex 7
This is a 160m train drawbridge. Not really anything special about this one, it opens up asymmetrically with the deck being submerged, allowing the ship to pass through.