Community Chat

[Oznell]

But I do love it, my next favorite after the Peace Bridge.  It's the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, and it spans FOREVER across huge Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.

But you get no idea of the eerie length of it from this.  It's 24 miles long!

Imagine what it's like to be out there in the middle, maybe 12 miles out.  You're suspended, no where to go but onward, across almost a veritable inland sea.  No detours, except murky watery ones!

I described it as eerie and unsettling and for me it was, but at the same time fun and exhilarating.

Any Louisianians out there who have experienced similar on the Causeway?

Can't get enough of bridges, although I only have one pictorial representation on my walls.  It's one of those moody, half-abstract depictions that artists love to churn out, mainly for the many bridge-fanciers, I expect.

[Sooner]

That bridge over Ponch never bothered me but OH MY GOODNESS the one coming into NOLA from the east (was it over I-10?) that was so high and steep was awful.  I hated that bridge!

I went the Bay Bridge and Tunnel in Maryland and was pretty OK with that.  It's the HIGH and STEEP ones that do me in!  

[Sooner]

Oh, and the old Cooper River bridge in Charleston.  That was horrible. 

[godi]

😲😲😲😲🤢

[Krimpette]

I simply cannot drive over the Chesapeake Bridge.  The high arcing curve terrifies me.  And I know I could never do the bridge/tunnel.  As to the one pictured.......I'd have to be asleep in the back seat until we got to the other side!!!!!!  Not a fan of many bridges.

[house_cat]

I spent most of my life in the NYC area - drove over bridges daily and they never frightened me.  I think there's something about the closed-in design of those bridges that made me feel safe.

However, most bridges freak me out.  A few years ago we stayed in an absolutely magical hotel in Astoria, Oregon. The hotel was built into the Columbia River.  It was absolutely spectacular, but it was pretty much underneath this bridge and it terrified me.  We were there for three days and thankfully, there were other bridges in the area that I could use instead, otherwise, I would have turned right around and never made it to Washington.

ETA: When we were first married we drove down the east coast and dH wanted to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which I think was pretty new at the time and it's "twin" was not there yet. I was clueless and he didn't tell me it was 17 miles long with two tunnels.  When that bridge disappeared into the first tunnel I thought I was going to die of fright.  We took it again, years later with my kids and I closed my eyes and prayed all the way across.  I think there's a gift shop of some kind along that bridge and of course my kids wanted to stop.  Not an experience I want to repeat.

[willomenia]

I'm nauseous just looking at the pictures!

[drizzellla]

Sorry I do not know about Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.  But my Grandfather and his brother worked for the American Bridge Company. They were both engineers.

My Grandfather worked on the Panama Canal. And he also worked on the George Washington Bridge (New York). My Grandfather took my Dad (he was about 10) up to the top of the bridge (before it was open).

My Great Uncle also helped design the Ben Franklin Bridge (Philadelphia). He also worked for the New York Port Authority and worked on the Lincoln Tunnel.

So many a summer Dad would take up to see suspension bridges all over the United States. We saw other things too, don't want you to think we only saw suspension bridges. 

I have taken the Chesapeake Bay Bridge many times. And I thought that bridge was long. It is 20 miles long. I can not imagine a 24 mile long bridge or driving on it.

[SilleeMee]

@Oznell 

Have you been over the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado? It's worth the trip out there just to walk over it...or drive over it...you'll get the best experience by walking over it. It kind of sways and you can see between the planks below your feet and see the gorge and river below. It's almost 1,000 feet down to the river. Spectacular!

[SoX]

@Oznell 

I absolutely love that bridge spanning Lake Ponchartrain!  But I'm not a bridge lover ... in fact, on our travels I need to know if we're going to encounter any expansion bridges because I just can't tolerate them.  

We visit New Orleans  frequently,  and two years ago we stayed at the Marriott in Metairie ... our view overlooked the Causeway  ... it seemed to go on endlessly.