Scariest bridge you've ever driven across

[Compulov]

As for variable speed limits, the problem those is that when they're coupled with roads that drivers feel are underposted anyway, they don't seem to do much good. We had a variable speed limit on the Capital Beltway near where I live for a few years during the Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction. The normal limit is 55 mph, but when traffic's flowing freely most people seem to do between about 65 and about 80 (with some people beyond either of those extremes). So when they posted lower numbers on the variable speed limit signs absolutely nobody paid any attention to them–which was probably wise, because when the speed limit was posted at 35 mph it would have been suicidal to go that slowly when everyone else was going close to 70 mph (VDOT began the lower speed limit well to the west of the area where the work was and so most drivers saw no reason to comply). The theory was that if people had obeyed the lower limits it would have worked like a funnel that clogs up or overflows if you dump in too much stuff at once but that works smoothly if you feed it at a slower pace. But nobody knows if it would have worked because everybody ignored it. I kind of think that if a variable speed limit were used in conjunction with setting a speed limit that most drivers think is reasonable, perhaps more people might take notice when the limit is reduced and conclude that there's something unusual up ahead.

This is why I like a variable speed + VMS setup, like the NJ Turnpike and PA Turnpike around the Sideling Hill area, is a good idea. Posting a random slower speed limit is something that will probably get easily ignored. Posting the lower limit with a flashing "Reduce Speed: Congestion/Fog/Zombies/Whatever" at least gives people less doubt as to why there's suddenly a lower limit. Assuming they're paying attention to begin with, it also puts them on guard for trouble ahead, theoretically improving safety. Of course the best way to get people to slow down is to park a cruiser with lights flashing in the shoulder...

[vdeane]

Does police enforcement work differently in PA?  In NY, if the lights are flashing, it means the trooper is too busy writing a ticket to notice the speed of anyone on the road.

[kphoger]

Does police enforcement work differently in PA?  In NY, if the lights are flashing, it means the trooper is too busy writing a ticket to notice the speed of anyone on the road.

Can't speak on a state-by-state basis, but I've certainly seen troopers parked along the shoulder clocking drivers while running their lights; I always assumed the officer was just being safe and avoiding a rear-end collision.

[SteveG1988]

In Pennslyvania only state police are allowed to use radar/lidar/laser/etc...local and county cops have to make do with Vascar.

[cpzilliacus]

This is why I like a variable speed + VMS setup, like the NJ Turnpike and PA Turnpike around the Sideling Hill area, is a good idea. Posting a random slower speed limit is something that will probably get easily ignored. Posting the lower limit with a flashing "Reduce Speed: Congestion/Fog/Zombies/Whatever" at least gives people less doubt as to why there's suddenly a lower limit.

Zombies?  +1

Variable speed limits (which really are variable) is one of the things I like best about the New Jersey Turnpike.

Only gripe is that the maximum limit ought to be 75 MPH or maybe even 80, at least south of Interchange 10 (except in construction zones).

[Compulov]

Does police enforcement work differently in PA?  In NY, if the lights are flashing, it means the trooper is too busy writing a ticket to notice the speed of anyone on the road.

That's also true in PA; however, it doesn't stop idiots doing 75 in the left lane from slamming on their brakes when they see a trooper on the right, even if they're at no risk of getting pulled over. It's nice to engineer things based on what people *should* do, but I figure it's better to engineer things on what people *will* do.

[Takumi]

I haven't driven it yet, but just looking at it from I-464 and with the incident that happened during its construction, the new Jordan Bridge looks pretty terrifying.

[Scott5114]

I experienced a new scariest bridge this summer: The one from Cairo, IL to Kentucky, just upstream of the mouth of the Ohio River. High, narrow, with very insubstantial-looking guardrails, and a 90° turn in the approach on the Kentucky side. The fact that it was nearing dusk, and we'd just driven through Cairo (which is creepy anyway), and had to do it twice (I was Froggie-ing the state of Kentucky) didn't help matters any.

[kphoger]

I experienced a new scariest bridge this summer: The one from Cairo, IL to Kentucky, just upstream of the mouth of the Ohio River. High, narrow, with very insubstantial-looking guardrails, and a 90° turn in the approach on the Kentucky side. The fact that it was nearing dusk, and we'd just driven through Cairo (which is creepy anyway), and had to do it twice (I was Froggie-ing the state of Kentucky) didn't help matters any.

The only time I've driven across that bridge, it was my first day driving a box truck for work, and there was road construction at the bridge.  Trucks had about one foot of clearance between each other.

[jp the roadgeek]

My scariest that I've driven: 1: The Cornwall Covered Bridge (CT 128).  One lane, and it reminds me of the bridge that collapsed in Beetlejuice.  2. The old Sikorsky Bridge on the Merritt Parkway when it rained.  Scariest I didn't drive on (too young):  The old 7 Mile Bridge in The Florida Keys.  Two lanes, barely wide enough for 2 box trucks to pass side by side.

[Alps]

My scariest that I've driven: 1: The Cornwall Covered Bridge (CT 128).  One lane, and it reminds me of the bridge that collapsed in Beetlejuice.  2. The old Sikorsky Bridge on the Merritt Parkway when it rained.  Scariest I didn't drive on (too young):  The old 7 Mile Bridge in The Florida Keys.  Two lanes, barely wide enough for 2 box trucks to pass side by side.

#1: Come on, man. There are dozens of unrefurbished covered bridges that look like that one.
#2: Any open steel grate bridge with no shoulders on a high-speed roadway qualifies, as well.

[english si]

Not driven across, but the old Hungerford footbridge in London was pretty awful on the fear stakes - narrow and very busy walkway with an unprotected drop into the Thames on one side. Oh, and attached to a busy railway bridge so it shook every time a train was crossing - which was often as there was a train about every 90 seconds. Since replaced with two unattached footbridges (one each side of the rail bridge) - double improvement as the original was on the side with the less great view - you can now cross the river there looking south to Parliament, rather than east to the fairly drab part of central London between the two cities.

[Road Hog]

My scariest that I've driven: 1: The Cornwall Covered Bridge (CT 128).  One lane, and it reminds me of the bridge that collapsed in Beetlejuice.  2. The old Sikorsky Bridge on the Merritt Parkway when it rained.  Scariest I didn't drive on (too young):  The old 7 Mile Bridge in The Florida Keys.  Two lanes, barely wide enough for 2 box trucks to pass side by side.

I too was a kid when I rode over the old Seven Mile Bridge. That was a white knuckle ride just for me. I can't imagine how it was for my mom, who was driving.

[texaskdog]

My scariest that I've driven: 1: The Cornwall Covered Bridge (CT 128).  One lane, and it reminds me of the bridge that collapsed in Beetlejuice.  2. The old Sikorsky Bridge on the Merritt Parkway when it rained.  Scariest I didn't drive on (too young):  The old 7 Mile Bridge in The Florida Keys.  Two lanes, barely wide enough for 2 box trucks to pass side by side.

I too was a kid when I rode over the old Seven Mile Bridge. That was a white knuckle ride just for me. I can't imagine how it was for my mom, who was driving.

I guess the name itself says it all!!!

[D-Dey65]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a little concerned about the condition of the I-95/US 15-301 Bridge over Lake Marion in South Carolina.

Two separate bridges for two lanes that look like they're getting close to exceeding capacity, and don't look like they've been inspected in over a decade.

[oscar]

Pretty much any bridge on the infamous "Road to Hana" on the island of Maui, HI.  And after several of these death traps, you get to Hana and think "Really? That's it?!"

Hey, all the bridges are short, and you just take turns crossing them so it's just you on each one-lane bridge.  But that can get old when you get to the 42nd one-lane bridge in less than 30 miles.

Hana is a nice little village, with gorgeous red and black sand beaches.  But it's really the journey rather than the destination that matters most.

[mrose]

5. The I-43 Tower Bridge in Green Bay, at night, in January, always wondering if the pavement was frozen or not. Did this on a regular basis.
4. Highway 47 over the Missouri River in eastern Missouri. Super old and narrow cantilever which I think has been rated structurally deficient for some time now.
3. The Black Hawk bridge between Wisconsin and Iowa
2. The Mackinac Bridge. On a clear day in summer with no wind, it still terrified the crap out of me.
1. A bridge in rural Queensland, Australia, on a tour bus, on which the wheels of the bus had to ride on top of the guardrails in order to fit. Many grown adults were closing their eyes and cowering.

[Brandon]

Pretty much any bridge on the infamous "Road to Hana" on the island of Maui, HI.  And after several of these death traps, you get to Hana and think "Really? That's it?!"

Hey, all the bridges are short, and you just take turns crossing them so it's just you on each one-lane bridge.  But that can get old when you get to the 42nd one-lane bridge in less than 30 miles.

Hana is a nice little village, with gorgeous red and black sand beaches.  But it's really the journey rather than the destination that matters most.

The journey was fine on the way to Hana, but the bridges were no big deal.  Now, on the way back, I got in a pocket of local traffic (easy to tell, they were all beat up pickup trucks).  The locals take the road at 40-50 mph and move!    That road is a blast at 50 mph.

Still, I took great delight in taking turns at the bridges and pissing off a lady in a drop-top Mustang who didn't want to wait her turn at the bridges. 

[agentsteel53]

local traffic (easy to tell, they were all beat up pickup trucks).  The locals take the road at 40-50 mph

it seems to be a universal that locals drive their pickup trucks at 40-50mph.

this is also the case on, say, US-36 in Kansas.

[1995hoo]

local traffic (easy to tell, they were all beat up pickup trucks).  The locals take the road at 40-50 mph

it seems to be a universal that locals drive their pickup trucks at 40-50mph.

....

Especially when the speed limit is 65—70 mph.

[ARMOURERERIC]

It had been closed to vehicles for at least 6 years already (So I'm already a bit off-topic, especially considering there's a thread about walking across bridges...), but 2 days after my last hike across the Davis Ave. bridge (connecting Riverview Park & Brighton Heights in Pittsburgh's Northside) the breaking news was that it was completely closed and emergency demolition contracts had to be issued because it was in immediate danger of collapse. (They imploded it about 2 weeks later).
I'm still a little pissed about the whole situation.

OT-But when I was a kid, there was an abandined house on Woods Run below the Davis Ave bridge, the kids would drop rocks on the slate roof, whoever could drop a rock that would go through the wood decking planks under the slate "won".

[ARMOURERERIC]

My scariest bridge:  Dad drove the family across the old Bates Street Bridge in Pittsurgh, early 1970's

[hobsini2]

The scariest bridge I ever drove on was the Mt Hope Bridge in Rhode Island connecting Bristol and Portsmouth.  It is a very narrow 2 lane bridge that is 130 feet above the water. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/MtHopeBridge.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hope_Bridge

[kphoger]

local traffic (easy to tell, they were all beat up pickup trucks).  The locals take the road at 40-50 mph

it seems to be a universal that locals drive their pickup trucks at 40-50mph.

this is also the case on, say, US-36 in Kansas.

Only over a certain age.  When I was in high school along US-36 in Kansas, my friends typically did about 85—100 mph.

[TEG24601]

The Sellwood Bridge in Portland, thankfully it is being replaced.

The Hood River Bridge between Hood River, OR and Bingen/White Salmon, WA is a close second.