Queen Emma Bridge - Willemstad, Curaçao

The Queen Emma Bridge floats across St. Anna Bay in Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao, and this camera watches people stroll across it between the colorful waterfront houses of Punda and the Otrobanda side of the city.

Built in 1888, it's a pontoon bridge 548 feet (167 m) long. When a ship needs to pass, two engines with propellers swing the whole bridge sideways against the shore, and free ferries carry people across the bay instead until it swings back.

Locals call it the "Swinging Old Lady" (in Papiamentu, Brùg di Ponton). Cars were banned in 1974 when the high Queen Juliana Bridge opened, and the waterfront is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Did You Know? From 1901 to 1934 the bridge charged a toll, but people without shoes could cross for free.

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