So it would seem natural to assume that a man who has devoted his retirement to visiting and photographing many thousands of bridges across six continents would be a structural engineer. Who else would have the energy and enthusiasm to devote themselves to such a task?

Step forward Robert Cortright, a retired American banker whose love of bridges developed as a result of the extensive overseas travelling he and his wife began after he gave up his job in 1990.

Cortright has just published his third book of bridge photographs, Bridging the world, and shows no sign of tiring of his hobby.

For Cortright, his discovery of bridges came with his first opportunity to travel abroad. "Originally I was an enthusiastic tourist, thrilled with all of the sights encountered in travel. Gradually the focus of attention and the focus of the camera began to be concentrated upon bridges," he explains. "Ultimately, that concentration escalated to the level of an obsession." From the resulting accumulation of bridge pictures grew a compelling desire to share, which led in 1994 to the publication of his first book, Bridging.

Now, after more than a decade of travel in pursuit of bridges, he not only has an impressive collection of photographs to share, but also many fascinating anecdotes and tips for budding bridge seekers.

Since his trips have a specific focus, how does Cortright set about organising his visits, particularly to countries where his target sites are not on package tour itineraries, and language and cultural barriers make difficult to explain his purpose?

"I have employed various approaches to trip planning," he explains. "On occasion I have tried to work my bridging into a package tour; that works pretty well in the major cities of Europe where important bridges are commonplace, like Rome, Paris, Budapest, London and so on. But it is difficult to reach bridges which are not on the main tourist path and frustrating to zip past bridges which are not at scheduled stops. I am proud to say that every tour guide I have encountered has been much more appreciative of bridges after putting up with me for a couple of weeks!"

He advises that the best technique is to travel independently, driving a car to locations that you have managed to research beforehand. Travel guides, bridge books – Cortright has a personal library of some 300 publications – and now the internet are cited as the most reliable sources for locating interesting targets. But forward planning cannot cover all possibilities, and he admits that the unexpected discovery of other interesting bridges during the trip can be a wonderful surprise. Local advice regarding bridge locations is sometimes very helpful, he adds, but it is all too common that residents are unaware of the interesting bridges in their own neighbourhood.

"Where it might be difficult to be travel on your own, in China for instance, I have employed personal guides," he says. "I researched all of the books I could find on Chinese bridges and then negotiated a route with a travel agency that specialises in custom tours in China. It was very successful and delightful."

For the most part, however, it is not possible to find knowledgeable guides – they may be able to find the bridge but know little about it. "When I visited China I had five different professional guides at various locations and none of them had ever paid any attention to bridges before," Cortright recalls. "In some cases it was a battle to get them to take me to a bridge instead of a more traditional tourist site. But in all cases the guides shared my enthusiasm for bridges before we were done," he says.

But China was not exceptional in that regard; even in the USA, Cortright found that few people pay attention to the bridges that serve them. However sometimes he is successful; "On a recent trip to Scandinavia I was fortunate to be guided at three different locations by knowledgeable bridge-nuts who had corresponded with me as a result of prior contacts - mainly through my Bridge of the month quiz on my website."

Despite the lack of technical expertise on hand, Cortright nevertheless finds that the people he encounters are almost always obliging. "One of the interesting challenges is to find the ideal vantage point from which to photograph the subject," says Cortright. "At Sospel, near Nice in southern France, I have a fond memory of being graciously escorted upstairs to a second floor flat. Planters of geraniums were shoved aside to clear the way to a small balcony commanding a fine view of the Pont sur la Bévéra," he recalls.

"Everywhere in China I was treated warmly, especially in Changsu city. There my guide found a local elder, Mr You, who showed us to a lovely canal bridge, the Yong Ji Qiao. From atop the bridge I spotted a perfect vantage point at the back of one of the little houses crowding the bank of the canal. Mr You rapped on the door of the house but was told by the neighbours who had gathered around that the old lady inside was sick in bed. No problem, one of her relatives was summoned and soon the whole entourage traipsed through her house to the canal-side viewing area.

At the same bridge, the ladies were setting up a tripod to string their clothesline across one end of the bridge when we arrived. They voluntarily took it down and delayed hanging up the wash until I was done with my photography!"

Occasionally the accommodation is suitably placed so that Cortright can conduct his photography without even leaving his hotel room. "At the Forth Bridge Hotel at South Queensferry Scotland, I was treated to a bridge vista of indescribable beauty," he says. "At 10pm, through a nine-foot wide picture window, I watched the waning sunset through the fascinating forms of the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Rail Bridge."

Another time, he was privileged to be the guest of another bridge fan who lived in an apartment next to the Brooklyn tower of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. "The unsurpassed vista from that site included the skyline of Manhattan from the Statue of Liberty to the Empire State Building, with up-close and personal views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

And in Paris, from the balcony of the modest Hotel du Quai Voltaire on the Left Bank, he was able to look down on six bridges over the Seine; the Pont de la Concorde, Pont Solferino, Pont Royal, Pont du Carrousel, Pont des Arts and Pont Neuf.

Similarly in Segovia, Spain, the logical place to stay was the Hotel Aqueducto. From there the beautiful Roman aqueduct dominates the city centre and provided fascinating photo opportunities, the results of which have been featured in all three of Cortright’s books.

Sometimes his pursuit of stunning photographs can be thwarted by unforeseen circumstances. "My two biggest worries are first, the threat of bad weather that prevents good photography and second, the trappings of renovation - the scaffolding and so on that bodes well for the survival of the bridge but really messes up the picture on the day I am there."

"The only injuries I have suffered in my quest have been the result of my own clumsiness," he admits. "In Morocco, while attempting to jump a narrow stream I slipped on a rock and managed to keep my camera dry but broke a finger in the process. In Italy I had a similar mishap; I slipped while climbing a steep embankment under an old Roman bridge, came down hard and ran a thorn deep into the base of my thumb. Somehow the thorn disabled my right hand, making the shifting of gears on a five-speed Fiat a team effort. I hit the clutch and my wife shifted the gears for the next four weeks."

But ironically, his most memorable bridge climbs have been the safest. At the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, the safety measures were extreme. "After you pass your breathalyser test, you don a special ‘wind suit’ and then climb the girders of the bridge while securely attached to steel safety cables," says Cortright. "I highly recommend the trip."

His other epic climb was at the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. "I arrived at the bridge on a morning so foggy that the entire span was lost in the murk. While waiting for better weather I was chatting with a local merchant who insisted that I stay until I could get a proper picture of the bridge.

"He said I must go to the top of one of the bridge towers: although he didn’t know how to arrange it, he said that he would find out. At 6:45 the next morning I was the guest of the Mackinac Bridge Authority for a private tour including an elevator ride to the top of the 168m-high tower. It was the pinnacle of my bridging career!"

Cortright has particularly fond memories of certain bridges. He saw Mostar’s 16th century Old Bridge in 1985 and 1987 before it was destroyed in the civil war. "Tourists flocked to the bridge to be entertained by daredevil divers," he recalls, and is pleased that the structure has now been rebuilt (Bd&e no 33).

Another memory he shares is that of his first visit to Ronda, in Spain. "I was concentrating all of my attention on the remarkable bridge that spans the chasm between two sections of the city. I was quite oblivious to the fact that this was Easter Sunday morning, until the blare of trumpets and the pounding of drums announced the Easter procession. I will always treasure the spectacle of that parade winding across the bridge and through the city streets of Ronda."

He still has many more bridges on his target list, which he crosses off once he has seen them. But he keeps adding bridges – the old ones that come to his attention and the new ones that are built faster than he has chance to get to them.

"Although I have managed to visit six continents, I have missed many areas that I would love to visit. Japan has some of the world's largest spans; Iran has some epic ancient bridges, and somewhere in Peru there is a vine suspension bridge that I need to photograph."

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