Collecting Crossings

[Brandon]

No idea exactly where to put this, but the bridge section looked like the best.

You've heard of collecting states, counties, or clinching roads, but how many others of you collect crossings?

I am, admittedly, a bridge-geek, and I collect major river crossings such as the Mississippi, Ohio, and other "working" rivers.

Here's a partial listing of mine:

Mississippi River:
Minnesota
I-94, I-494

Minnesota-Wisconsin
I-90

Iowa-Wisconsin
US-61/151

Iowa-Illinois
US-20
US-52/IA-64/IL-64
I-80
I-74/US-6
Government Bridge
US-67 Centennial Bridge
I-280
IA-92/IL-92
US-34
Fort Madison Bridge

Missouri-Illinois
US-24 (both bridges in Quincy)
I-72/US-36
US-67 Clark Bridge
I-270 Chain of Rocks Bridge
Old Chain of Rocks Bridge
McKinley Bridge
MLK Bridge
Eads Bridge
I-55/64/US-40 Poplar Street Bridge
I-255/US-50 Jefferson Barracks Bridge
I-57
I-40
I-55
I-20
I-10
Huey P. Long Bridge
Crescent City Connection

Illinois River:
IL-47
IL-170
Marseilles Bridge
IL-23/71
IL-178
I-39/US-51 Abraham Lincoln Bridge
IL-351
IL-251
IL-89
I-180
IL-18
IL-17
US-150
I-74
IL-40
IL-8/116 Cedar Street Bridge
I-474/US-24
IL-9
US-136/IL-78/97
US-67/IL-100
I-72/US-36 Eagle City Bridges
IL-108 Kampsville Ferry
IL-16/100 Hardin Lift Bridge

I have others along other working rivers as well: Des Plaines, Ohio, Missouri, etc, as well as many of the bridges of the Great Lakes.

[agentsteel53]

I'm quite sure I've taken every paved road out of California with the exception of the Andrade/Algodones crossing into Baja California.  I've done a bunch of the dirt ones as well.

[agentsteel53]

that said, California's only bridgeable water boundary with another state is the Colorado River.  I've done I-8, I-10, I-40, S24, Wilson Rd., CA-62, and implied AZ-95 through Needles... as well as several levee roads which cross the state line due to the river being channeled.

it turns out I'm missing what appears to be a major bridge at Cibola.  never noticed it before!  it's just south of Blythe.  gonna have to go find that.

[hotdogPi]

Merrimack River:

I-93 (all 3 times)
I-495 (all 3 times)
MA 38
Bridge Street (Lowell)
MA 125

[bassoon1986]

I know I've got all the Red River crossings in Louisiana:

LA 107/ LA 115
US 167/LA 28
Bus. 165 (Jackson St.)
US 71/US 165
LA 8
LA 6
US 84/US 371
LA 511 (Jimmie Davis Hwy)
LA 3032 (Shreveport-Barksdale)
I-20
US 79/US 80 (Texas St.)
I-220
LA 2

The only other Red River crossings I have are:
I-30
US 71/ US 59
AR 41/ TX 8
US 75/ US 69
US 377
I-35
US 287

Mississippi River: (S to N)
Crescent City Connection (US 90 Bus)
Huey P. Long (US 90)
I-310
LA 3213
Sunshine Bridge (LA 70)
I-10
US 190
US 84/ US 425
I-20
I-55
I-40
I-155
MO 34/IL 146
I-255

So I'm missing the new Audubon (LA 10) crossing in LA, and US 82 and US 49 bridges in MS/AR for those states.

[Alps]

I believe I have the Delaware River done south of Delhi. I know I have the Hudson River done up to the last significant crossing, but it meanders so many miles as a minor stream that I know I'm not done with those.

[vdeane]

I have a goal of clinching all the bridges maintained by the New York State Bridge Authority; currently I have Bear Mountain, Newburgh-Beacon, and Mid-Hudson.

I also have all the Niagara crossings except the Whirlpool and all the international St. Lawrence bridges*.

*Except the current north channel Seaway Bridge, which is boring and probably wouldn't be included if I started keeping track today.  I do have the old one, though.

[Duke87]

I know I have the Hudson River done up to the last significant crossing, but it meanders so many miles as a minor stream that I know I'm not done with those.

So how did you manage to cross the Castleton rail bridge?
That is the furthest south Hudson river crossing I am missing and with no passenger service across it I don't see that ever changing.


There are only three crossings in and out of Manhattan that I have not used:
1) High Bridge, which I can't do that legally just yet, but I certainly will when the walkway is reopened.
2) Hell Gate Bridge, which requires riding Amtrak across it - something I have never had reason to do, and which is kind of expensive for something to do just to say I've done it.
3) Empire Connection swing bridge, which would require a second Amtrak ride.

But I have entered and/or exited Manhattan via every other route currently in existence, road and rail. By my count there are 48 total - most of them are bridges and tunnels, but because of Marble Hill some are just surface routes. I'm not counting anything on Ellis Island (since that would make the question awfully complex), but I have been there. 45/48 ain't bad, I'd say.

[Zeffy]

Delaware River:

via NJ 29
via US 202
via I-95

Bridges into New York:
Outerbridge (bridge?) Crossing
Goethals Bridge

[jeffandnicole]

Delaware River:

via NJ 29

NJ 29 doesn't cross into PA.

[Zeffy]

Delaware River:

via NJ 29

NJ 29 doesn't cross into PA.

Bleh, via NJ/PA 179 / Bridge St in Lambertville.

[KEK Inc.]

I believe I've been on every Columbia River crossing downriver from Vantage Bridge (I-90) with the exception of the Vernita Bridge (WA-243/24) and the bridge by Cathlamet (WA-409).  The latter one doesn't connect to the other side, but rather an island.

So for Columbia, I got:
I-90
US-395
I-182
I-82
US-97
US-197
Bridge of the Gods (Cascade Locks - Washington side)
White Salmon Bridge (Hood River - White Salmon)
I-205
I-5
WA-433
US-101

I've been on all of the bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area.
CA-12 (Rio Vista)
CA-160 (Antioch)
I-680 (Benecia)
I-80 (Carquinez Strait)
I-80 (Bay Bridge)
I-580 (San Rafael - Richland)
US-101/CA-1 (Golden Gate)
CA-92 (Hayward - San Mateo)
CA-84 (Dumbarton Bridge)
CA-84 (Old Cable Ferry Crossing near Isleton)
CA-61 (Wilbur Tube)
CA-61 (Posey Tube)
CA-61 (Bay Farm Island Bridge)

Puget Sound:
WA-20 (Deception Pass)
WA-20 (Twin Bridges)
WA-20 (Port Townsend - Coupeville Ferry)
WA-104 (Hood Canal Bridge)
WA-104 (Kingston-Edmonds Ferry)
WA-305 (Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry)
WA-304 (Seattle-Bremerton Ferry)
WA-16 (Tacoma Narrows)

Lake Washington:
I-90 (Lacey V Murrow Bridge)
I-90 (Homer M Hadley Bridge)
I-90 (East Channel Bridge)
WA-520 (Evergreen Pt Floating Bridge)

Willamette River:
Sauvie Island (technically it's for a slough not the Wilamette, but w/e)
BUS US-30 (St. John's Bridge)
I-405 (Fremony Bridge)
Broadway Bridge
Steel Bridge
Burnside Bridge
Morrison Bridge
Hawthorne Bridge
I-5 (Marquam Bridge)
US-26 (Ross Is. Bridge)
Sellwood Bridge
I-205 (Abernathy Bridge)
OR-43 (Oregon City Arch Bridge)
I-5
Wheatland Cable Ferry
OR-569
I-105
I-5

Colorado River:
US-93 (Hoover Dam; before it was bypassed)

Sacramento River:
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-5
I-80
US-50
CA-12
CA-160
CA-160

San Joaquin River:
CA-160
CA-4
I-5

Klamath River:
US-97
US-97
I-5
US-101

Trinity River
CA-299 (times a lot)
US-101

[SteveG1988]

Someone should make a trading card for bridges, each river would have a pack of cards for it

[NE2]

Someone should make a trading card for bridges, each river would have a pack of cards for it

Maybe they could put them in packages of Steve Gum.

[SteveG1988]

Someone should make a trading card for bridges, each river would have a pack of cards for it

Maybe they could put them in packages of Steve Gum.

Steve Gum (TM) Gum Based Products are soon to come out with the Bridge series collector card pack. Each one will have a Gum based product that will be flavored to the local area that the pack represents, the Chesapeake Bay flavor will be Crab, whereas the Louisiana section of the Mississippi River pack will be flavored like Popeye's. New York City bridge flavor will taste like Pepperoni Pizza.

[Pete from Boston]

I know I have the Hudson River done up to the last significant crossing, but it meanders so many miles as a minor stream that I know I'm not done with those.

So how did you manage to cross the Castleton rail bridge?
That is the furthest south Hudson river crossing I am missing and with no passenger service across it I don't see that ever changing.


There are only three crossings in and out of Manhattan that I have not used:
1) High Bridge, which I can't do that legally just yet, but I certainly will when the walkway is reopened.
2) Hell Gate Bridge, which requires riding Amtrak across it - something I have never had reason to do, and which is kind of expensive for something to do just to say I've done it.
3) Empire Connection swing bridge, which would require a second Amtrak ride.

But I have entered and/or exited Manhattan via every other route currently in existence, road and rail. By my count there are 48 total - most of them are bridges and tunnels, but because of Marble Hill some are just surface routes. I'm not counting anything on Ellis Island (since that would make the question awfully complex), but I have been there. 45/48 ain't bad, I'd say.

Hell Gate Bridge does enter the borough, but not the island of Manhattan.   So depending on your definition, you can cross it off.  It uses the LIRR tunnel into Penn Station, so you can get in that way much more cheaply.

[Ian]

I know I have a lot more than these, but here are the ones I can think of at the top of my head...

Delaware River:
Everything south of New Hope-Lambertville plus the Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge

Hudson River:
Everything south of Troy, except for the Mid-Hudson Bridge

New York City Area:
All the Hudson River Crossings
Outerbridge Crossing
Goethals Bridge
Bayonne Bridge
Verrazano Narrows Bridge
Kosciuszko Bridge
Triboro Bridge
Pulaski Skyway

Housatonic River:
I-84
CT 8
CT 15

Connecticut River
I-95
CT 3
US 5/CT 15
I-84
I-91 (Windsor Locks, Chicopee)
I-90/Mass Pike
VT 9
I-89
US 4

Merrimack River:
I-95
I-495
I-93
I-293
I-393

[SteveG1988]

I know I have a lot more than these, but here are the ones I can think of at the top of my head...

Delaware River:
Everything south of New Hope-Lambertville plus the Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge

Hudson River:
Everything south of Troy, except for the Mid-Hudson Bridge

New York City Area:
All the Hudson River Crossings
Outerbridge Crossing
Goethals Bridge
Bayonne Bridge
Verrazano Narrows Bridge
Kosciuszko Bridge
Triboro Bridge
Pulaski Skyway

Housatonic River:
I-84
CT 8
CT 15

Connecticut River
I-95
CT 3
US 5/CT 15
I-84
I-91 (Windsor Locks, Chicopee)
I-90/Mass Pike
VT 9
I-89
US 4

Merrimack River:
I-95
I-495
I-93
I-293
I-393

Do you count rail bridges?

For the Delaware River I have everything from Frenchtown to the Ferry in Cape May except for the three forts ferry, and the rail bridges.

[Duke87]

I would count rail and pedestrian bridges, but not ferries. Why not ferries? Two reasons:

1) Ferries are vehicles more than they are infrastructure. A ferry has a lot more in common with other boats than it does with a bridge or tunnel.
2) Ferries do not necessarily follow a simple "from one side to the other" service pattern, and those patterns may frequently change - just look at all the ferry routes leading to and from Manhattan, it'll make your head spin.

So, ferries to me are their own animal, to be considered separately.


The difficulty then becomes that there are bridges which cannot be crossed legally, either because they are rail bridges with no passenger service across them, or because they lead somewhere which is not open to the general public.

The Rikers Island Bridge in New York City is an interesting case. It leads from Queens to the prison at Rikers Island (which is officially part of The Bronx). There is a guard booth before the bridge, so you cannot drive over it unless you have official permission to be going there. You also cannot walk or bike over it. But you can ride a bus over it - the Q100 bus will take you over that bridge and onto the island without any form of security check occurring. However, when you get to the other side, you cannot simply stay on the bus, or get off and get back on to ride it the other way. Everyone who goes to the island on that bus is whisked off of it and put through the full security check you would expect trying to walk into a prison. At this point they will, of course, ask you why you are there. Acceptable answers are that you work there, that you are there on official business, or that you are visiting an inmate. If you cannot provide an acceptable answer, you run the risk of spending the night in a cell there. So, naturally, I have not attempted to cross this bridge, despite living only a couple miles from it. In a way, it taunts me.

[KEK Inc.]

The Puget Sound Ferries are definitely consistent crossings.

[SteveG1988]

The Puget Sound Ferries are definitely consistent crossings.

Same with the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, and the River Link ferry in Camden.

What about Partial Crossings, like the bridge ends mid-river due to being washed out years ago. For example the Walnut Street Bridge in Harrisburg PA.

[Duke87]

What about Partial Crossings, like the bridge ends mid-river due to being washed out years ago. For example the Walnut Street Bridge in Harrisburg PA.

Well, it's kind of hard to cross a bridge that's out, isn't it? If you drove it while it was still intact, then yeah, count it. But if you haven't, it isn't necessary to do so in order to say you've clinched the whole river (else the river would be unclinchable).

[Pete from Boston]

The Rikers Island Bridge in New York City is an interesting case. It leads from Queens to the prison at Rikers Island (which is officially part of The Bronx). There is a guard booth before the bridge, so you cannot drive over it unless you have official permission to be going there. You also cannot walk or bike over it. But you can ride a bus over it - the Q100 bus will take you over that bridge and onto the island without any form of security check occurring. However, when you get to the other side, you cannot simply stay on the bus, or get off and get back on to ride it the other way. Everyone who goes to the island on that bus is whisked off of it and put through the full security check you would expect trying to walk into a prison. At this point they will, of course, ask you why you are there. Acceptable answers are that you work there, that you are there on official business, or that you are visiting an inmate. If you cannot provide an acceptable answer, you run the risk of spending the night in a cell there. So, naturally, I have not attempted to cross this bridge, despite living only a couple miles from it. In a way, it taunts me.

This made me laugh.  I guess "I am trying to clinch" will only cause you more trouble that is, as they say, not worth the trouble.

There is a similar arrangement in Boston with Long Island and Moon Island, reached by a rogue city bus and a bridge most only know from a distance, with a guard booth on the mainland side.  But there's no prison, just isolated social service campuses and the disused remains of the same (and some old fortifications, perhaps).

[agentsteel53]

speaking of random bus lines in Boston, I think I have clinched every Logan Airport bus, including "employee parking lot".  oops.

[mrsman]

I don't know how many of these are major, but here's what I can remember:

Colorado River:

The old US 93 over Hoover Dam
I-40
I-10
CA-62

Carquinez Strait:

Carquinez (I-80)
Benecia (I-680)

SF Bay:

Bay Bridge (I-80)
San Mateo (CA-92)
Dumbarton (CA-84)

Golden Gate:
Golden Gate (US 101)

[I don't remember if I ever drove or rode over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge]

Sacramento River:

I-5
I-80
I Street
Tower Bridge
US 50/Biz 80
Paintersville Bridge

American River:

Watt
Howe
Fair Oaks
Biz-80
CA-160
I-5
Jiboom Street [I remember driving over this on some day when they didn't collect the fee [maybe it was Xmas??].  I was always curious about Discovery Park and wanted to at least "clinch" all of the river crossings from Watt to the west end when I lived in Northern Calif.]

Lake Washington:

WA-520
I-90

Strait of Georgia

Ferry between Vancouver and Victoria

Scioto River

I-70 (Columbus, OH)

Ohio River

I-70

Maumee River
I-80/I-90 in Toledo, OH

Penn Turnpike Bridge over the Allegheny River

I know I crossed over some of the Pittsburgh area bridges, but don't remember which ones

Potomac River:

All crossings between and including American Legion (I-495) and W Wilson (I-95/495)

Baltimore Harbor:

All three vehicular crossings: I-95, I-895, I-695



Susquehanna River:

I-81
I-83
US 30
US 1
I-95
US 40

Delaware River:

I've definitely tried clinching the crossings of this river on my many NY-DC trips, going out of my way to do some of the crossings on my northbound trips and avoiding toll on my southbound trips.  I've crossed at all of the crossings south of (and including) Washington Crossing.

I've also crossed at I-78

Hudson River:

All crossings south and including Bear Mountain

East River:

All vehicular crossings