Scariest bridge you've ever driven across

[mrose]

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.

There's a thread in the regional forum about what a New Madrid earthquake would do to some of the infrastructure around Memphis and areas north and south. The first thing I thought of was this bridge, and the near identical one over the Mississippi just on the other side of Cairo. I'm guessing they'd both come down pretty easy.

[kurumi]

New York Times: To Gephyrophobiacs, Bridges Are a Terror (Jan. 8, 2008)

[Geography Man365]

Royal Gorge Bridge is the scariest bridge I've ever driven across.

http://highestbridges.com/wiki/images/thumb/b/b4/6RoyalGorgeBridge.jpg/750px-6RoyalGorgeBridge.jpg

[realjd]

This one:


Along the Cape Tribulation Road in the far north of Queensland.

[kkt]

Along the Cape Tribulation Road in the far north of Queensland.

You completely win.  If I had to cross that, I'd look for alternate routes.  If I really, really, had to, I'd make passengers walk across one at a time and hand carry all the heavy cargo, down to the spare tire before driving.

[agentsteel53]

the bridge looks sturdy enough.  it's just very, very narrow.

[english si]

I described a bridge like that, only narrower, less well-built and in the middle of nowhere in a third world country and got shot down as a wuss.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

The newly widened Huey P. Long bridge opened to traffic this weekend, so scratch this one off the "scariest bridge" list.

[kkt]

I described a bridge like that, only narrower, less well-built and in the middle of nowhere in a third world country and got shot down as a wuss.

Yeah, but you didn't supply pictures. 

[kphoger]

the bridge looks sturdy enough.  it's just very, very narrow.

I agree, it looks quite sturdy, and I've definitely driven on bridges with less horizontal clearance.

[realjd]

Along the Cape Tribulation Road in the far north of Queensland.

You completely win.  If I had to cross that, I'd look for alternate routes.  If I really, really, had to, I'd make passengers walk across one at a time and hand carry all the heavy cargo, down to the spare tire before driving.

If I had been someplace deserted and not on a relatively busy road, or if I had been in a country with dodgy infrastructure, I'd have been more hesitant. It felt rickety because the logs that make up the bridge deck were bumpy and loud but it didn't feel unsturdy while driving across. The bridge was actually under construction when I went across so they had workers directing traffic (one side went, then the other side, then traffic was blocked for 10 minutes so they could do some work).

Just in case y'all are curious as to the exact location, the bridge is here according to the EXIF data: 16.140000° S 145.430667° E. That area was a fantastic place to visit and there were a number of great drives around there.

[Thing 342]

The Bonner Bridge in the Outer Banks. A 2.7 mile, two-lane bridge built in 1963, with 10' wide lanes. Scares me every time I go over it.

[Pete from Boston]

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.

I vaguely remember those bridges, but Cairo itself was far scarier.

Far worse for me was the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge in nearby Paducah, alone, late at night, in very misty air.  The bridge is very narrow -- 19.7 feet, says Wikipedia -- and its two-lane metal grid deck was soaking wet in the mist.  It's a mile long, and it's very dark out there over the sea-like expanse of the Ohio, and my Honda jumped back and forth trying to choose a slot on the grid. It felt constantly like rhe car was just going to lurch far enough to the right that they were going to drag me up in Baton Rouge.

I took I-24 back, to preserve my sanity.

[DeaconG]

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.

I vaguely remember those bridges, but Cairo itself was far scarier.

Far worse for me was the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge in nearby Paducah, alone, late at night, in very misty air.  The bridge is very narrow -- 19.7 feet, says Wikipedia -- and its two-lane metal grid deck was soaking wet in the mist.  It's a mile long, and it's very dark out there over the sea-like expanse of the Ohio, and my Honda jumped back and forth trying to choose a slot on the grid. It felt constantly like rhe car was just going to lurch far enough to the right that they were going to drag me up in Baton Rouge.

I took I-24 back, to preserve my sanity.

Just looked it up in GSV.  Damn, and I thought the Burlington-Bristol was narrow.  No, I don't blame you in the least.

[realjd]

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.

I vaguely remember those bridges, but Cairo itself was far scarier.

Far worse for me was the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge in nearby Paducah, alone, late at night, in very misty air.  The bridge is very narrow -- 19.7 feet, says Wikipedia -- and its two-lane metal grid deck was soaking wet in the mist.  It's a mile long, and it's very dark out there over the sea-like expanse of the Ohio, and my Honda jumped back and forth trying to choose a slot on the grid. It felt constantly like rhe car was just going to lurch far enough to the right that they were going to drag me up in Baton Rouge.

I took I-24 back, to preserve my sanity.

Reminds me of this one I drove across in Australia:
http://goo.gl/maps/Bh7ns

It even has a similar sharp turn.

[Alex4897]

The I-95 bridge over the Susquehanna River is unnerving because of it's pitiful barriers separating 60 mph traffic and a watery death 90 ft down.  Although the view of the bluffs down the river and the two bridges to the south helps negate that.

[Alps]

The I-95 bridge over the Susquehanna River is unnerving because of it's pitiful barriers separating 60 mph traffic and a watery death 90 ft down.  Although the view of the bluffs down the river and the two bridges to the south helps negate that.

Very narrow shoulders, and the winds funnel down through the cliffs to make for a very harrowing experience when driving a lighter vehicle. I've had my share of white-knuckle rides across there just trying to keep the car away from the median or a truck.

[bugo]

Mine has almost all of yours beat.

[agentsteel53]

Mine has almost all of yours beat.

yeah, I'm gonna review 9 pages of posts to refresh my memory.  I'm sure it was scary.  good job making it across alive.  yade yada.

[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.

I guess my feelings about this one were somewhat justified.

[Indyroads]

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.

I guess my feelings about this one were somewhat justified.

you know that feeling you get when you go over a big dip and you get that feeling in your stomach...

[PColumbus73]

There is a bridge(s) on US 701 between Georgetown and Conway, SC I had crossed once that had some dips in them. They looked like they were about to fall down at any moment.

[KEVIN_224]

Just recently, I had to cross the US Route 22 bridge between Easton, PA and Phillipsburg, NJ. If the dangerous sharp curves on the Pennsylvania side weren't bad enough, the bridge was basically "cut in half" due to construction. One VERY narrow lane on each side! YIKES!

[Jardine]

I wasn't old enough to drive yet, but my dad drove me over the old suspension bridges crossing the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien.

It would have been within a couple years of it's demolition, and it seemed VERY rickety.  If my recollection is correct, the deck was either plank, or (crappy) asphalt over plank.

[Buck87]

Market Street Bridge, over the Ohio River from downtown Steubenville to WV.

Grating the whole way, 11 foot clearance, rather narrow