Vraelea Andesite Bridge

The Vraelea Andesite Bridge is a small bridge located in northern Vraelea. It was built by the player TylenolJunkie, who gathered all the bridge's resources from the nearby Vraelea Andesite Mine.

Geography
The bridge was built across a small gorge in the northern mountains of Vraelea, with the center point of it's walkway located at 4761, 79, 59. It is roughly 130 blocks north of the city of Vraelea, and approximately 300 blocks west of Vosokgorod. The bridge rests between a small arena-type structure built by player Damaen, and the Vraelea Andesite Mine. The mine was established in synchrony with the bridge itself, and was also constructed by TylenolJunkie. The small river that flows through the gorge underneath the bridge was completely cut off by one of the bridge's supporting struts, completely preventing water travel underneath the bridge. The terrain on the bridge's south end is slightly lower than that of the north, requiring a staircase to be implemented on the bridge's southern end. TylenolJunkie did not claim the land surrounding the bridge, as he lacked the funds to do so at the time of construction and had no desire to claim the land for himself.

Construction
The bridge was constructed over a span of approximately 4 to 5 hours throughout the night of September 14, 2021, with it being completed sometime near midnight, Atlantic Daylight Time. A factor that contributed to the bridge's long construction time was the requirement to procure all the resources needed from the bridge's contruction on-site in the nearby Vraelea Andesite Mine. Furthermore, the establishment of the Vraelea Andesite Mine in tandem with the bridge meant that TylenolJunkie's efforts were divided between the construction of the bridge, and the construction of the mine. This hindered his speed and efficiency. TylenolJunkie often alternated between construction of the bridge and collection of resources from the mine as they were needed.

The final design of the bridge was conceived during it's construction. In advance, TylenolJunkie only knew which resources he wanted to use for the bridge, leaving himself unsure of what the final design of the bridge would look like. This led to altering some areas of the bridge the he did not find appealing upon their initial construction. The supporting struts of the bridge, for example, were originally built as narrow, 1 block columns, with 3 of such columns on each side. Upon building these columns and disliking their appearance, TylenolJunkie opted to connect and widen the columns, transforming them into far beefier 3 by 5 block struts. He found these far more visually appealing, and felt they were more realistic than their predecessors.

Architecture
As it's name implies, the Vraelea Andesite Bridge was built primarily from andesite, the most prevalent material being polished andesite, specifically. Unpolished andesite was only used in the center of the bridge's walkway. The only other material found in the bridge' composition is stone, which is present on both the walkway and in the inner detailing on the side of the bridge. The east and west sides of the bridge are adorned with andesite stairs and slabs which expose stone on the bridge's inner layer, these stairs and slabs are configured symmetrically on both sides of the bridge. These stairs serve no practical purpose and simply make the bridge more visually appealing.

At each end of the bridge's walkway there are signs showing the bridge's name. On the bridge's north end, there is a second sign showing the name of the bridge's builder, TylenolJunkie. On the bridge's south end there is a second sign stating the date the bridge was built, September 14th, 2021.

Dimensions
The bridge boasts a height of 19 blocks, with it's lowest point sitting at Y=62, and it's highest being at Y=81. It's walkway is 28 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. The walkway is completely flat with the exception of a 2 block staircase at the bridge's south end, which was implemented due to the slightly lower level of the terrain on the south side of the gorge. It has guard rails that are 1 block wide and 1 and a half blocks tall to prevent any falling or jumping from the bridge. The bridge's supporting struts are 3 blocks wide and 5 blocks long, with 4 blocks of space between each of them. The height of each strut varies depending on the level of the terrain beneath them.

Usage
The Vraelea Andesite Bridge's short length of 28 blocks prevents it from making any major contributions to any form of transportation or infrastructure. The bridge was not built with the intent of being extremely useful or practical, this is proven by the decorations on it's sides which fail to serve any real purpose. The bridge is a product of TylenolJunkie's desire to leave his own, albeit miniscule mark, on the world of Rathnir. While it may allow those who pass through it's region to pass over it's gorge with considerably less effort, on a large scale, the bridge's overall utility is negligible.