The Story as Told in Excerpts from M. Benkelman's Forthcoming Biography Suspended Bridges: The Engineering of a Fantasy ​ Some time ago, in the encroaching mountains of Serbia or Tennessee, two brothers shared a quixotic dream: to build a new bridge from Turkey to Europe. The bridge, lined with tapestries and populated by a thousand great white birds, would soar over the Mediterranean sea. During their traverse, commuters would be flanked by low-growing patches of colorful flora. The bridge would be a swath of color and light, a paintbrush stroke between continents, bridging cultures, binding civilizations.