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👷♂️ The Bridge That Decides When the Sea Is Allowed In
The only newsletter where stone blocks ruin friendships, the ocean gets told “no,” and bridges are judged harder than a failed site inspection.
Journals GG
January 08, 2026
In partnership with
Hello Fellow Engineers!
Welcome to Real Civil Newsletter - the only newsletter where stone blocks ruin friendships, the ocean gets told “no,” and bridges are judged harder than a failed site inspection.
This week we’re giving away Pyramidion, a co-op physics puzzler that perfectly captures the joy of teamwork, communication, and blaming the other person when gravity intervenes. We’re also heading to the Netherlands to look at a storm surge barrier so overbuilt it only wakes up once a decade - just to humble the sea.
Add in some excellent engineering links, an indie game build that absolutely should not work (but does), a vertically lifting bridge with zero interest in aesthetics, and Paddy being Paddy.
Let’s dive into it 👇
This week, we’re giving away TWO copies of Pyramidion 🏛️🔺
A 2-player co-op physics puzzler where one of you is the Worker, the other is the Foreman, and together you attempt to haul a massive stone block to the top of a pyramid without gravity ruining your friendship.
It’s teamwork, physics, shouting, and blaming the other person - basically a live simulation of a site meeting.
And now… the moment of structural significance 🥁
keiranc13
shortroundawarmpawarmp
Congrats! Check your inbox, your copy of Pyramidion is on the way. Please coordinate your lifts, mind your clearances, and do not attempt to redesign the pyramid mid-build.
Didn’t win? Don’t worry, more giveaways are coming.
And as always, submit a bridge if you want to appease the engineering gods.
👷♂️ Truss Me, I’m an Engineer…
The Bridge That Decides When the Sea Is Allowed In
Architects design buildings that frame the water.
Engineers design machines that physically prevent the water from existing where it shouldn’t.
Welcome to the Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier just outside Rotterdam that quietly protects millions of people by doing something radical: refusing to let the sea in.
This isn’t a dam.
This isn’t a wall.
This is two absolutely enormous steel arms that normally sit open, minding their own business, until the North Sea gets ambitious, at which point they close and save a country.
🧠 The Engineering
Two hollow steel gates, each 210 metres long, making them among the largest moving structures on Earth
Gates float into position, then sink onto the riverbed using ballast tanks (because engineers love stealing ideas from ships)
Fully automated decision system triggers closure before humans have time to argue, panic, or value-engineer the wrong bit
Designed to fail safe, because engineers assume everything will eventually try to break
Part of the wider Delta Works system that keeps the Netherlands from returning to its natural state: underwater
When closed, the Maeslantkering can hold back storm surges from the North Sea while still allowing one of the world’s busiest ports to function the rest of the time.
The Maeslantkering only closes about once a decade, not because it’s unnecessary, but because when it does move, it’s dealing with forces that would fold most “iconic” bridges like a badly rendered concept sketch.
⚡ Cool Links
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🐕🦺 Paddy’s Corner
Paddy made a friend (and got us lost!)
Paddy made a new friend! As one commenter said, “it’s Paddy vs antipaddy 😂”
👾 Indie Game of the Week:
This week’s Indie Game of the Week is Noobs Are Coming (1.0), basically Brotato, but with more chaos and fewer OSHA violations.
I found a character who’s insanely rich… until the game deletes all your weapons every wave (relatable budgeting).
Then I built a loadout featuring goblins, laser eyes, a lightsword, and a cactus you have to water mid-fight like some kind of hostile garden centre.
It’s time for a Bridge Review!
This week we’re reviewing Pont Gustave-Flaubert in Rouen, France, a vertical-lift bridge that saw a normal drawbridge and said, “What if we just… pick the whole road up?”
Architects would’ve added a glass ribbon and called it “a dialogue with the river.”
Engineers built two 1,300-ton decks that rise up to 55 metres so ships can get through, then calmly drop traffic back onto the Seine like nothing happened.
🔧 Engineering Highlights
Vertical-lift bridge with 86 m pylons.
2 independent moving decks, each ~120 m long and ~1,300 tonnes.
Takes about 12 minutes to fully raise/lower, which is still faster than an architect revising a concept sketch.
Lets shipping pass without needing a massive swing span footprint, pure “solve the problem” energy.
Final Score: 8.8 / 10
A bridge that literally levels up mid-game like my Noobs Are Coming build: expensive, ridiculous, and somehow still efficient.
Submit your favourite bridge for the Bridge Review! |
Peace, Love and Broken Builds,
Matt