Scariest bridge you've ever driven across

[Throckmorton]

   
After thinking about I recall the scariest bridge I have ever driven across.   
   
It was the Atherton-Sibley Road Bridge in East Jackson County, MO.   
   
It wasn't well known. It wasn't very long. I'm tempted to say it was built entirley of wood but I can't swear to that.   
   
It was old and creaky and has since been closed and demolished.   
   
I can't find any pics. There is very little information on it.   
   
https://bridgehunter.com/mo/jackson/bh72566/
   

[cl94]

Probably mentioned, but the EB span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Drove that thing last Friday during heavy rain, fog, and high wind and they were banning trucks due to conditions. Probably one of the most white-knuckle driving experiences I have had in a while.

[texaskdog]

Mackinac Bridge: It was much more unnerving to me crossing it as the driver than when I did as the passenger.

Agreed. I think the difference with this bridge is that it seems to be so much higher than others because of the extremely flat terrain and lack of buildings around it.

Plus the inside lanes have that slippery see-through grate.

[pdx-wanderer]

Driving across the Fremont Bridge here used to freak me out. I try to avoid it now 

As far as footbridges: the Lava Canyon Bridge in Washington http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Lava_Canyon_Suspension_Bridge

[D-Dey65]

I just found out today that a bridge I crossed in November was defective:

http://uglybridges.com/1384496

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:24-Cold_Spring_MNRR;_2017-11-13.jpg

Sure, I crossed it on foot, but the condition still leaves me a bit cautious.

[roadman]

I've never been truly scared crossing bridges, but there have times I've been uncomfortable on them.  The steel grate deck on the old Jamestown Bridge in Rhode Island was one, as my tires would start to shimmy from side to side as I crossed it.  The old elevated Central Artery in Boston was another, as I could always feel the deck moving when sitting in stopped or slow moving traffic.

[triplemultiplex]

Until I was eight years old, I lived at a dead end right by a railroad in New Lenox, IL.  Nowadays that track is used by Metra SouthWest Service but, back then in the late 1980s, it was only used by a couple of freight trains a day, and one of those was at night.  My friends and I grew up playing along those tracks.  One day, we decided to walk along the track farther than we ever had before, and we decided to cross this trestle over the Rock Island line.  There was no solid decking, just railroad ties with empty space between them.  When we were halfway across, a train down below on the Rock Island line blew its whistle.  HOLY CRAP!!!  I thought it was a train directly behind us.  I literally jumped back several feet, fortunately landing on another railroad tie and not the space between.

Stephen King owes you money.

[Max Rockatansky]

I was walking on the Pat Tillman Bridge above the Hoover Dam on US 93 the other day.  I've never found said bridge intimidating due to the lack of sway in any of spans.   A lot of people taking photos were getting some really nasty vertigo as cars passed by.  I suppose the open height doesn't really help matters but I still found it surprising. 

[Conn. Roads]

I am no fan of the Champlain Bridge into Montreal. They have all kinds of bracing, which will hopefully get us through until the replacement is done. The Gazette, which is the English paper had an article about the obscene amount that is spent to nurse it through to replacement.

[Throckmorton]

In my post of Jan 15,2018 I said I could not find a photo of the Atherton-Sibley Road Bridge.

In the interval someone added the pic below to the entry at Bridgehunter.com

https://bridgehunter.com/mo/jackson/bh72566

[MikieTimT]

I-40 over the Arkansas River at Webber's Falls.  A guy I worked and went fishing with named Jimmy Johnson ran off that bridge along with his wife and 3 year old when the barge struck and collapsed it.  Creeps me out every time I cross it.

[bugo]

I-40 over the Arkansas River at Webber's Falls.  A guy I worked and went fishing with named Jimmy Johnson ran off that bridge along with his wife and 3 year old when the barge struck and collapsed it.  Creeps me out every time I cross it.

I drive over that bridge when I go to Arkansas to visit relatives. It is a little unnerving crossing it because of what happened. If you look closely, you can see which spans were replaced. The concrete is lighter and the rails are crooked where the original spans meet the replacement spans.

[jakeroot]

I-40 over the Arkansas River at Webber's Falls.  A guy I worked and went fishing with named Jimmy Johnson ran off that bridge along with his wife and 3 year old when the barge struck and collapsed it.  Creeps me out every time I cross it.

I drive over that bridge when I go to Arkansas to visit relatives. It is a little unnerving crossing it because of what happened. If you look closely, you can see which spans were replaced. The concrete is lighter and the rails are crooked where the original spans meet the replacement spans.

I would be a bit more nervous had the bridge collapsed on its own accord. I-35W, for example. I would be nervous if I saw any barges on the river though!

[Flint1979]

I think what makes the Mackinac Bridge scary are three things. The length of the bridge, the height of the bridge and the depth of the water in the middle of the span. The bridge is 5 miles long, is 200 feet from the water to the deck in the middle and the water is 250 feet deep in the middle as well.

[webny99]

I think what makes the Mackinac Bridge scary are three things. The length of the bridge, the height of the bridge and the depth of the water in the middle of the span.

Other than the above, and potential for structural instability, there really isn't anything else that would make a bridge feel unsafe. Bases covered.

[Flint1979]

I think what makes the Mackinac Bridge scary are three things. The length of the bridge, the height of the bridge and the depth of the water in the middle of the span.

Other than the above, and potential for structural instability, there really isn't anything else that would make a bridge feel unsafe. Bases covered.

Actually the Mackinac Bridge is a very safe bridge. It might be difficult for some people to cross it due to it swaying and the three things I mentioned before. But that bridge is structurally sound.

I don't really care for the long leadups to the anchorages but they would have probably had to built it like the Bay Bridge with a center anchorage if they had built it suspension bridge all the way across the straits. I would love to stand on top of the south tower 552 feet above the water and see what that view is like.

[Flint1979]

Just to show what change light bulbs on the Mackinac Bridge is like watch these guys walk up the suspension cables changing light bulbs and then ending at the top of the south tower 552 feet above the Straits of Mackinac.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQgQr9t3kQ

[Max Rockatansky]

Just to show what change light bulbs on the Mackinac Bridge is like watch these guys walk up the suspension cables changing light bulbs and then ending at the top of the south tower 552 feet above the Straits of Mackinac.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQgQr9t3kQ

I'll have to show that video to some of my friends out here on the West Coast, they don't believe my description of a Mid-West accent. 

[Flint1979]

Just to show what change light bulbs on the Mackinac Bridge is like watch these guys walk up the suspension cables changing light bulbs and then ending at the top of the south tower 552 feet above the Straits of Mackinac.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQgQr9t3kQ

I'll have to show that video to some of my friends out here on the West Coast, they don't believe my description of a Mid-West accent. 

Lol, about 6 years ago I was sitting in Schaller's Pump on the Southside of Chicago about a mile or so west of Comiskey Park and was up at the bar having a beer and a guy from Milwaukee was sitting next to me and then a White Sox fan was sitting on the other side of him and they were talking I believe they were together, the guy from Milwaukee was a Tigers fan. So I overheard them say something about accents and I said what's a Chicago accent? I've never heard of one. He said, you've got one. At that time I said that's crazy I've never heard that before.

I guess when you're use to hearing everyone speak the same way for the most part you get so use to it that you don't notice that you have an accent. I can talk with a Boston accent for hours and can fool people into thinking that I'm really from Boston. It must sound like some Midwest/Boston accent combined lol.

[SSR_317]

Lol, about 6 years ago I was sitting in Schaller's Pump on the Southside of Chicago about a mile or so west of Comiskey Park and was up at the bar having a beer and a guy from Milwaukee was sitting next to me and then a White Sox fan was sitting on the other side of him and they were talking I believe they were together, the guy from Milwaukee was a Tigers fan. So I overheard them say something about accents and I said what's a Chicago accent? I've never heard of one. He said, you've got one. At that time I said that's crazy I've never heard that before.

I guess when you're use to hearing everyone speak the same way for the most part you get so use to it that you don't notice that you have an accent. I can talk with a Boston accent for hours and can fool people into thinking that I'm really from Boston. It must sound like some Midwest/Boston accent combined lol.

Short definition of a Chicago accent: Using "da" instead of "the". 

[Max Rockatansky]

Lol, about 6 years ago I was sitting in Schaller's Pump on the Southside of Chicago about a mile or so west of Comiskey Park and was up at the bar having a beer and a guy from Milwaukee was sitting next to me and then a White Sox fan was sitting on the other side of him and they were talking I believe they were together, the guy from Milwaukee was a Tigers fan. So I overheard them say something about accents and I said what's a Chicago accent? I've never heard of one. He said, you've got one. At that time I said that's crazy I've never heard that before.

I guess when you're use to hearing everyone speak the same way for the most part you get so use to it that you don't notice that you have an accent. I can talk with a Boston accent for hours and can fool people into thinking that I'm really from Boston. It must sound like some Midwest/Boston accent combined lol.

Short definition of a Chicago accent: Using "da" instead of "the". 

Nobody remembers "da Bears" skit on Saturday Night Live anymore much to my dismay.  What I find odd is all my Grand Parents and Cousins have a Minnesota Accent but for whatever reason I talk like someone from the Southeast despite being raised in Detroit.  I guess most variations of the Midwest accent are dying out, I hear it less and less with each passing generation.

[Roadster]

The bridge that I have come to dread crossing ( well really just feel uneasy about it that is, the times that I do have to cross it) when visiting South Padre Island is the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway.

Due to the fact that back in September 15, 2001 the bridge had been damaged by large a barge's that collided smack right into the giant pillars of the center of the bridge and caused sections of the bridges highest point to fall off! This had happened in the early hours of the morning (2:00-4:00 am). This caused the loss of a few lives, when cars that were crossing it at full speed really were not aware of what had happened and well some just plunged right off down into the water.

Though back to crossing it.

Every time I approach and cross over it, especially the highest point I can't help but think about that tragic event and a bad feeling is felt.

The links below are articles remembering that tragic day.

https://worldhistoryproject.org/2001/9/15/queen-isabella-causeway-collapse

http://doccbradford.com/remembering-the-bridge-collapse/

[paulthemapguy]

Short definition of a Chicago accent: Using "da" instead of "the". 

D's, T's, and TH's all sound like a hybrid of the three.  The long "O" sound comes out of the back of the throat rather than the front.  Short "A's" sound more annoying than usual.  Short "O" sounds are extra nasal.

For some reason, every car dealer here has the accent.  You hear car commercials on the radio and the accents are THICK.  But everyone else sounds normal?? Lol it's so weird.

Oh--and "boat" is a two-syllable word.

[roadman65]

I-4 West crossing Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland.  As I maintain 80 mph on the freeway as far away as Orlando to about Tampa, when I get to that particular crossing I cannot get my foot to maintain that speed.  I always slow down to 65 for some reason. 

If I did not know better I swear that crossing is haunted by a fatality victim from a previous crash there.  I did hear from many the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is that way and even I have trouble maintaining the posted 65 there as spirits from the Summit Lauren Crash and a USCGC ship that sank nearby haunt that and was  even once featured on a cable TV program.

Anything is possible

[roadman]

I-4 West crossing Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland.  As I maintain 80 mph on the freeway as far away as Orlando to about Tampa, when I get to that particular crossing I cannot get my foot to maintain that speed.  I always slow down to 65 for some reason. 

If I did not know better I swear that crossing is haunted by a fatality victim from a previous crash there.  I did hear from many the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is that way and even I have trouble maintaining the posted 65 there as spirits from the Summit Lauren Crash and a USCGC ship that sank nearby haunt that and was  even once featured on a cable TV program.

Anything is possible

The freighter that hit the old southbound Skyway span was the Summit Venture.  The Coast Guard vessel that capsized as the result of a collision with another ship near the old Skyway (but did not hit either span), which occurred a few months before the Summit Venture collision with the bridge, was the Blackthorn.

For those who are interested in both accidents, the book Skyway - The Story of Tampa Bay's Signature Bridge and The Man Who Brought It Down is well worth reading.

However, this is the first I've heard that the current Sunshine Skyway span may be haunted by ghosts from either of those past events.