Hi Alexander -- on Aug 08 2019 at 18:00, you wrote:

AK> "it is a mirror of the original land bridge that (had) connected the
AK> island to the mainland more than 500 years ago."

AK> I can't understand the sense of "would have connected" in "the
AK> bridge that would have connected the island to the mainland more
AK> than 500 years ago."

I'd suggest that this is journalese -- a newspaper/magazine writer trying to
sound more erudite than the material deserves!

Having said that, the phrase "would have...." is possibly short for "if this
bridge still existed it would have....", but it's a horribly cumbersome way of
saying, as you suggested, "used to connected".

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/NT 1.30+