We have formed suspended bridges of carbon nanotubes between microcantilevers using electron beam dissociation of metal-organic vapours. By electron beam exposure of a surface in the presence of gold-carbon molecules emitted inside an environmental scanning electron microscope, we are able to form tips and other freestanding nanostructures of high metallic content. Suspended bridges made entirely of this material exhibit resistances less than 50 times that of pure gold, and consist of dense metallic cores surrounded by a crust of nanoparticles. We used standard microfabrication techniques to produce silicon chips with multiple microcantilevers extending over the edge. Individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes grown catalyticcally by chemical vapour deposition, were positioned across two cantilevers using in-situ nanomanipulation tools. Drawing a cross-shaped gold-carbon bond on each end of the carbon nanotube consistently resulted in electrical contact with resistances in the range 1-90 Ω and linear current-voltage characteristics. We found that soldering bonds having a line width down to 10-15 nm form connections and last for days in ambient conditions.