Hooniverse Asks: Do You Have a Favorite Bridge?

Franklin Bridge
One of the primary joys of driving is experiencing the interaction of road and ride, whether it be following the curve of a mountain ridge, or man-made freeway ramp. The other joy is the vistas along the way. Bridges generally span interruptions between those engaging roads, and quite frequently they can be visual celebrations unto themselves.
There’s something special about crossing a bridge, whether it be a picturesque covered bridge in New England, or the venerated Golden Gate out west, each is an experience that is unique and to be savored. One of my favorite bridges is the Colorado Street Bridge, more colloquially known as Suicide Bridge, in Pasadena California. Opened in 1913, the gently curving concrete ribbon spans the Arroyo Seco canyon and offers expansive views of the Rose Bowl and San Gabriel mountains to its north. Despite a decorative barricade installed to prevent people from jumping off of it, the bridge still earns its scandalous nickname, the most recent occurrence taking place in October of last year.
Bridges bring us together, both physically, connecting otherwise separated geographies, and socially, as we all marvel at their engineering and appearance. Driving across them connects us not just with a destination, but the designers and builders that made it possible. With all that in mind, do you have a favorite bridge?
Image: Burberry Italy via Twitter

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

65 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Do You Have a Favorite Bridge?”

  1. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    When I was a kid living in St. Louis, I was always fascinated by Mom and Dad driving on the Chain of Rocks Bridge crossing the Mississippi into Illinois. The bridge, which still stands despite not having vehicular traffic anymore, has a kink in the middle and a nicely complex steel superstructure.

    1. dukeisduke Avatar
      dukeisduke

      Whoa, you got to ride across the Chain of Rocks Bridge, in a car? I am impressed. I walked it, back in 1999.

    2. Drives Dead Marques Avatar
      Drives Dead Marques

      I walked that in 2011. Interesting piece of history.

  2. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys – just for the pure insanity of driving that far over water.
    http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/Uploads/asset_files/000/017/476/looooooong_bridge.jpg

    1. tonyola Avatar
      tonyola

      Living in South Florida, I’ve driven the Seven Mile Bridge a fair number of times. The old bridge was a bit daunting – two narrow lanes with almost no shoulder.

      1. GTXcellent Avatar
        GTXcellent

        When we were there, I was much more fascinated with the old bridge. I couldn’t believe how narrow it was. I’d make Mrs. GTXcellent stop at every opportunity there was so I could walk out on it.

      2. IGoZoom Avatar
        IGoZoom

        I love the drive thru The Keys…..it is heaven!

  3. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    One of my favorites has to be the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Partly for the engineering marvel it is, and also because any bridge that you can’t see land from is both cool and eerie.
    https://hveng.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/11206867_860217204027854_4130759595116644880_o.jpg?w=620

    1. Tiberiuswise Avatar

      We used to take that when we’d go from northern New Jersey to Williamsburg, VA. Problem is, we have to take the Cape May – Lewes ferry also. It adds a lot of time and cost to the trip.

    2. LeaksOil Avatar
      LeaksOil

      Came here to post this.
      I remember my uncle freaked me out so bad about this bridge/tunnel when I was little, I was crazy scared of it for years as a kid.

    3. Sean McMillan Avatar
      Sean McMillan

      I haven’t made that crossing in decades. When did they add the extra span?

      1. Sean McMillan Avatar
        Sean McMillan

        nevermind I googled. 1995-99. but still 2 lane tunnels? must be a bit of a cluster.

    4. njhoon Avatar
      njhoon

      I crossed that this year in the middle of a nasty Nor’Easter. It was not fun at all the waves were crashing against the bottom of the ‘bridge’ while the high winds were blowing spray over the road. I have never seen the water so high, with what was probably eight to ten foot waves. I was white knuckle driving the whole time. Probably one of the only times I was happy to see Maryland.

  4. nanoop Avatar
    nanoop

    The one between Denmark and Sweden (Öresund bridge) is crazy: tunnel-artificial island-bridge, my first crossing was when the top of the loops disappeared in the fog/cloud – a true skyhook! It mainly allows me to avoid ferries when driving Norway-Germany. All reasons to promote it to my top three list.
    http://bilder.t-online.de/b/68/26/60/06/id_68266006/920/tid_da/und-weg-ist-sie-ploetzlich-endet-die-oeresundbruecke-im-meer-zwischen-daenemark-und-schweden-.jpg

  5. Tiberiuswise Avatar

    I’ve always been partial to the Brooklyn bridge. So much so that I’m actually in negotiations to buy it.
    http://world-visits.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Brooklyn-Bridge.jpg

    1. Tiberiuswise Avatar

      Let’s not leave out it’s lesser know cousin, the Roebling Delaware Bridge. The oldest existing wire suspension bridge in the US. I’ve actually crossed it many times.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roebling's_Delaware_Aqueduct
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/RoeblingDelawareAqueduct2_crop.jpg

  6. Tanshanomi Avatar

    I always loved crossing the ASB Bridge here in KC. Unfortunately, the road deck has been removed and now it only carries trains, utility cables and pipelines.
    http://tanshanomi.com/temp/ASB-bridge-1981.jpg

  7. Tanshanomi Avatar

    The plank-deck Beaver Bridge in NW Arkansas is fun to cross. (And yes, it’s still open to vehicles.)
    http://www.johnweeks.com/miscbridges/pics/beaverbr03.jpg

    1. Tanshanomi Avatar

      Unfortunately, this is what it looks like, as of about 2-1/2 weeks ago.
      https://steelhorsejourneys.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/beaver-bridge.jpg?w=500

      1. dukeisduke Avatar
        dukeisduke

        Dang, that’s a bummer.

    1. Tiberiuswise Avatar

      I always take the ferry when I go in to the NY Auto Show. As long as you’re a small group it is way cheaper than the tolls to cross by car and park.

    2. Drives Dead Marques Avatar
      Drives Dead Marques

      Brian Ferry agrees.

    3. mdharrell Avatar

      Floating bridges combine the best features of both.
      https://giftofra.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/2004177412.jpg

  8. Jofes2 Avatar
    Jofes2

    I quite like Högakustenbron on the north coast of Sweden. It’s simple and stylish and it holds the very prestigious record of the worlds most northern suspension bridge according to something I’ve may heard at some point in time.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/High_Coast_Bridge_%28H%C3%B6ga_Kusten_Bron%29.jpg/1280px-High_Coast_Bridge_%28H%C3%B6ga_Kusten_Bron%29.jpg

  9. The Real Number_Six Avatar
    The Real Number_Six

    Park Bridge, over Kicking Horse Canyon, outside Field, British Columbia. Heading west out of Alberta there are spectacular mountain peaks to boggle at. Coming east into Alberta, it’s a fun high-speed uphill blast through a couple of triple-digit sweepers.
    http://www.kickinghorsecanyon.ca/images/homepagephotos/Park_Bridge_looking_west_DSC9499.jpg

  10. CruisinTime Avatar
    CruisinTime

    The Mackinac Bridge , between the two Michigan peninsulas.
    That is a Google trekker in the picture.

    1. CruisinTime Avatar
      CruisinTime

      Another View

    2. salguod Avatar

      Driven across it a few times, pulling a pop up trailer 4 of them. Spectacular bridge and the UP is beautiful.

  11. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2826/9219173178_a27fe9e1e9_b.jpg
    The Prince Edward Viaduct across Toronto’s Don Valley is pretty cool, although more so when you’re riding the subway, as it’s one of the few exposed portions, and a pretty great view.

    1. The Real Number_Six Avatar
      The Real Number_Six

      Sometimes I’m only half-joking when I tell friends I’m retiring to a refrigerator carton under the Bloor Viaduct.
      /broken CPP

      1. Maymar Avatar
        Maymar

        Fridge box under the Bloor Viaduct, or a house under Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge? It’s a fair, and difficult question.

  12. Frank T. Cat Avatar
    Frank T. Cat

    I’m gonna have to go with the Quechee Gorge bridge over the Ottauquechee River on Vermont Route 4 in Hartford, Vermont
    Not because it was particularly special, but because it was designed to replace an older wood truss bridge in the same location without disrupting train service. So they just built it over the top of the old bridge, and disassembled the old bridge when the new one was completed. Train service was only disrupted for less than a day.

    1. dead_elvis Avatar
      dead_elvis

      Just a bit north of where I grew up. There was, may still be, a hot air balloon festival in Quechee. Quite a sight.

  13. Drives Dead Marques Avatar
    Drives Dead Marques

    Closer to home, I always liked this bridge where I-65 crosses Indiana 46 near Columbus. It looks good, and it’s definitely different.
    But in the world, the bridges in Paris (all of them along the Seine) get my vote.

  14. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
    PotbellyJoe★★★★★

    This bridge at around mile marker 179 in Ohio.
    One it’s pretty cool looking, and two it means i’m less than an hour to Pennsylvania and out of the worst state ever (and unfortunately then into the 3rd worst state.)

    1. salguod Avatar

      Worst state? 🙁

      1. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
        PotbellyJoe★★★★★

        Yep.

  15. CruisinTime Avatar
    CruisinTime


    Seven Bridges Road….

  16. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    Tune-o-matic. There was a time when I was a Floyd Rose fan, and my Dean has a Kahler, but the rare desire for a tremolo doesn’t outweigh its disadvantages. (I have my Dean’s Kahler locked down)
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Les_paul_tune-o-matic_stopbar.jpg

    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      This looks like it should be affixed to the dashboard of a 1950s Buick. So you can play it as you’re driving along, like some sort of giant harp…

  17. peugeotdude505 Avatar
    peugeotdude505

    Any one that doesn’t have tolls to cross?

  18. Hatchtopia Avatar

    My favorite dates back to my childhood and will remain there forever. The Dewey Bridge north of Moab, Utah, crossed the Colorado River. Built in 1916 of wood and steel, it was narrow enough that folding in the mirrors on the Ford Bronco was not necessary, but certainly more comfortable.

    1. Hatchtopia Avatar

      You may have noticed that I mentioned that it will remain in my childhood memories, because this happened when a kid playing with matches destroyed the wooden structure a few years back.

      1. The Real Number_Six Avatar
        The Real Number_Six

        It looks a bit like the swinging bridge over the Big Horn river, built in 1916 in Thermopolis, WY.
        http://www.bridgemeister.com/imgpow/powythermopolis1.jpg

      2. Vairship Avatar
        Vairship

        Damn kids! At least the Goat Canyon Trestle is still standing: http://photos.wikimapia.org/p/00/01/66/33/40_big.jpg
        http://wikimapia.org/1893072/Goat-Canyon-Trestle

  19. Volvo_Nut Avatar

    The Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne bridges in Pittsburgh are fun, even though they are pretty much bog standard through-truss arches.
    Both the upper and lower decks make for…interesting…lane changes.

    1. wunno sev Avatar
      wunno sev

      came here to post Fort Pitt. as someone who has lived the rest of his life in places with straight roads, the two years i spent in Pittsburgh taught me that there are things more important than getting places efficiently.
      my favorite city. when i decide i need to spend middle age away from small-town suburbia, i’m moving back to Pittsburgh.

  20. AlexG55 Avatar
    AlexG55

    Le Viaduc de Millau
    http://www.survoldefrance.fr/photos/highdef/6/6894.jpg
    Pylon 2 is the tallest bridge pylon in the world, and the tallest structure of any kind in France.

  21. AlexG55 Avatar
    AlexG55

    Or for one that’s more in the what-the-hell category, the Hogarth Flyover in Chiswick, West London:
    http://www.cbrd.co.uk/photo/img/hogarth-flyover/06.jpg

  22. Roody Avatar

    Not a favorite but an absolute least favorite, most hated, despicable, dangerous piece of roadway-over-water I’ve ever experienced: the infamous Tappan Zee Bridge. At times there were holes in it that you could see the Hudson below through, there were construction plates that were a good 3″ elevated above the rest of the roadway (with nothing to lessen the blow between low and high sections), it gets narrow in spots, people drive like ass*****, and it takes forever to get over. Luckily it’s being replaced.
    http://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/06/27/nyregion/TAPPAN1/TAPPAN1-articleLarge.jpg

    1. Tiberiuswise Avatar

      The best thing about The Tapp is that you can take girls to the overlook on the Rockland County side at dusk.

      1. Roody Avatar

        I’ve never checked that out so I can’t agree, so I’ll stick with “the best thing about the Tapp is that they’re replacing it”

  23. dr zero Avatar
    dr zero

    I’m partial to Tom Uglys Bridge as it means that I’ve made it out of the Shire:
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Tom_ugly_bridge.jpg

    1. sporty88 Avatar
      sporty88

      I like it too, especially if I’m on my Tuesday machine – going out of Sydney, crossing it means I’m only a few minutes away from ‘the Nasho’.

  24. salguod Avatar

    Columbus has a pretty neat “tilted arch bridge” with the roadway on one side of the angled arch and the pedestrian walkway on the other. Here’s my T’bird on it jsut after it opened in 2010:
    tilted arch bridge
    Here’s a better shot of the pedestrian side:
    http://www.dispatch.com/content/graphics/2014/01/05/did-you-know-05-art-g6vqeodt-107-crew-lampson-clh-jpg.jpg

  25. Steve Scarpato Avatar
    Steve Scarpato

    Griffin Most in St Petersburg, Russia, not only beautiful, but in a most picturesque location!

  26. Sean McMillan Avatar
    Sean McMillan

    demolished 10 years ago but the John P Grace bridge in Charleston SC was a favorite of mine. Narrow, steep, rickety looking…It was like a carnival ride. It was one way traffic by my time, but it was still kinda scary in a ’67 Impala
    http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group2/building11805/media/03sc8z5.jpg

    1. Sean McMillan Avatar
      Sean McMillan

      It also was the stunt double for the Tappan Zee bridge in Die Hard with a Vengeance

  27. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    I haven’t yet driven a car over it, but taking the antique streetcar across Edmonton’s High Level Bridge is blast in and of itself.

    http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/_images/201108038.JPG

  28. IGoZoom Avatar
    IGoZoom

    The New River Gorge Bridge on US-19 near Fayetteville, West Virginia is my favorite.
    When it was built in 1977, it was the longest single arch steel span bridge in the world and held that title until 2002. It is now the third longest. At 876 feet high over the New River below, it is also the third highest bridge in the U.S.
    Prior to its construction in 1977, it took 50-60 minutes to meander down one side of the gorge on narrow twisty roads, cross the river on a traditional bridge and make the trip back up the other side of the gorge. Now it only takes about 45 seconds.