Crossing over...Bridges
 

I was looking at family photos on The Golden Gate and began to think about the bridges that I've crossed in my travels,
beginning with the so, so many covered and suspension bridges of my childhood in OH and PA...
The Brooklyn, NY
The Rainbow, Tokyo
Ponte Vecchio, Florence
The Rainbow across The Niagara
Mackinac, MI
7 Mile, FL
Chesapeake, VA
Bay Bridge, CA
Skyway, Tampa
Walnut St, Chattanooga
Castel Sant Angelo and The Bridges over The Tiber in Rome
...and on, and on.

Where have you "crossed over"?

Given the international (non-United States) locations named and the general topic this really is, wouldn't the "Other" forum be more appropriate for this discussion?

Capilano Bridge, Vancouver
Brooklyn, NY
Rainbow, Tokyo
Ponte Rialto, Venice
Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Castel Sant Angelo, Rome
Alexander III, Pont Neuf and all other in Paris
Wooden Covered Bridge, Sighisoara, Romania
Covered, painted Bridges, Lucerne
Chaine Bridge, Budapest....

Wow, too many bridges to count..but I loved thinking about them , thank you for this post :)
In no particular order:
The Golden Gate Bridge
Verrazano Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge NY
George Washington Bridge NJ/NY
Tappan Zee Bridge NY
A few London bridges
A few Ponts in Paris
The scariest in recent memory is the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in Hudson / Catskill NY.
About 7 bridges in Jacksonville Florida..no names to remember, but one of them was blue :)

one's I've not crossed but have seen & wondred

Ponte dei sospiri, Venice
http://tinyurl.com/9j99f

Poughkeepsie RR Bridge (1880s)
http://tinyurl.com/d32nk

I suspect most Fodorites are rolling their eyes at this thread, but I just love bridges.

Here are some I have crossed that I remember well, even many years later. Most are historic, some are just memorable to me.

Blue Wonder, Dresden
http://tinyurl.com/ccnlp

Triboro, Whitestone, Throgs Neck, Bear Mtn Brige, NY

Foot bridge in Salzburg (bounces in the middle)

Tower Brigde, London

Coronado Bridge, San Diego

Pulaski Skyway, Goethals Bridge, Kosciusko Bridge, NJ/NY


Here's a list of notable US bridges for the curious
http://tinyurl.com/cnlod

Also, haven't crossed the Millenium Bridge, London

The Golden Gate Bridge
Verrazano Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge NY
George Washington Bridge NJ/NY
Chesapeake
Seven Mile Bridge, Fl Keys
Silas Pearman, Charleston
Grace Memorial Charleston
Ravenel Charleston
Tampa Bay (what is the name? Both new and old one)
Walt Whitman


Hmmn. I know there are more. My head will blow up if I try and count all the famous bridges outside the US I've crossed.

I can't remember them all! but here's what I have...

Brooklyn B
George Washington B
Chesapeake Bay
Golden Gate
Delaware Memorial B
7 Mile Bridge, FL
The Peace Bridge (Canada / NY)
Rio Grande Gorge B, NM
Coronado Bridge, CA

And various bridges overseas... the large bridge / tunnel north of London that crosses the Thames in England and Tower Bridge as well as various bridges in Paris, Salzburg, Belgium, Amsterdam... Oh, and the bridge in the Bahamas that links Paradise Island with Nassau.

I remembered our favorite bridge experience...standing on a bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland on the last night of Tatoo watching the fireworks exploding into the sky and cascading down the side of the castle like a water fall--what an amazing night that was.

Too many to list. My favorite is the Mackinac Bridge and I have a website devoted to it mightymac.org

Keith

Another bridge lover here. I've crossed many of the more famous bridges in the US. Too many to list, but some of my favorites:

GW - It's just massive. Double decked. Huge.
Verrazano - For its length
Golden Gate - No need to state reason
Bay Bridge - combined length of all the spans
Cheasapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel - uniqueness
New River Gorge, WV (US19) & Perrine Bridge, Twin Falls, ID (US93) - beautiful steel arches
Sunshine Skyway, Tampa Bay (I275), & Fred Hartman Bridge, Baytown, TX (TX146) - both new, very large but elegant cable-stayed bridges
Ponchatrain & Atchafalaya (I-10) causeways - the length and their straigtness are mind-numbing

Internationally:
Clifton, near Bristol, England - precedes the Brooklyn Bridge and model for all modern suspensions
Firth of Forth, Scotland - massive steel truss rail bridge which I only saw but didn't cross
Tsing Ma and Rte 3 bridges, Hong Kong
... and many more...

Thanks for reminding me of a couple that I'd not recalled. I figured it'd be a fun way for some of us to stir memories. After all, for me, the lifetime meories are the greatest benefit of travel.

Sunshine Skyway
The little covered bridges in Iowa
Royal Gorge
Seven mile bridge in the Keys
Mackinac
Brooklyn
Tower Bridge, London
Chain Bridge, Budapest

Lots of little stone and wooden bridges in many places that bring back good memories, even if they didn't have names.

Valtor, Sighisoara in Romania is a favorite place of mine. Was wondering if you were remembering the wooden covered stairway up to the church or if I'd missed a covered bridge (I may well have). There's another covered stairs like that at Beirtan too that was cool.

I'm surprised nobody (incl myself) remembered

Charles Bridge, Prague

Hands down favorite, the big Mackinac - sooo many family memories of Michigan vacations. My grandfather was afraid to cross it - never would.

Yeah, I remember being so excited crossing Mackinac as a child with the family on the way to camping in the UP- and on the way home. Some years later, following a girl with stars in my eyes for a long weekend on The Island. Same place different "places". Just what I meant about travel memories.

Great question! Here are a few I like

Ironbridge, Shropshire, UK - the first iron bridge.

Armstrong Bridge, Jesmond Dene, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

The bridges on the Backs in Cambridge.

My kids enjoyed trying to name all of the bridges we've been over. I apologize for any misspellings. Here goes...

Henry Hudson
George Washington Bridge
Throgs Neck Bridge
Whitestone Bridge
Triboro Bridge
Verazzonno Narrows Bridge
Bear Mountain Bridge
Walt Whitman Bridge
Delaware Memorial
Rainbow Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
58th Street Bridge
Betsy Ross Bridge
Cheasapeake Bay Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
Bay Bridge
The bridges on the Backs in Cambridge
Tower Bridge
The "singing" bridge in New Hampshire

Plus there are other bridge that I cannot remember the names of - mostly in Florida.

By the way, I hate driving or walking on bridges ever since I was a little girl. :D

I'll use this thread to plug my photography website, PortlandBridges.com. Although my site focuses on Portland (Oregon) Bridges, I have photos of several other terrific bridges on my site, including the London Tower Bridge and the Chain Bridge in Budapest, as well as the Golden Gate and the Brooklyn Bridge. I've walked across all of those bridges, too, by the way. (walking across them is very different than driving over them!) Some of you mention great American bridges that I've yet to photograph.

In Portland, the bridge to see is the St. Johns Bridge, even though many Portland visitors never see it. It's a fabulous, dramatic suspension bridge about 10 minutes northwest of downtown Portland; unless you happen out Highway 30 toward Astoria or something you'd never see it.

Andrew

Andrew - I'm a lazy person, so I've walked across very few bridges. But one of them is in your 'hood. I walked from Vancouver, WA back to the Oregon side across the I-5 Columbia River bridge. It was pretty amazing to walk across a large river like that. [But the bridge is not too special, IMHO.]

So true Andrew. We walked across the Golden Gate and Rio Grand Gorge bridges--they have a life all their own.

BTW Andrew, your pictures are incredibly beautiful.

Okay, I'm kind of surprised that no one has mentioned the old Charleston, SC bridge. Not necessarily world famous bridges, but legendary in the area. And I know we've had alot of Charleston visitors on this board.

AnnMarie: thank you!

rkkwan, I've also walked across the Interstate Bridge (between Oregon and Washington). Although the bridge isn't conventionally appealing like the St. Johns is, I do like the Interstate Bridge for its engineering elegance. It has an interesting history. Originally only that single span was built across the river in the 1910's. Forty years later, an identical twin was built right next to it! Can you tell which span is older?

Whenever I get a window seat on a flight out of PDX, I try to photograph the Glenn Jackson Bridge (I-205 bridge), which isn't much to look at from the ground and is hard to photograph from there, but from the sky it looks very cool - curvy and long. I got another shot of it last week - only half of it. Next time I'll sit on the other side of the plane to try to get the other half!

Portland sure has a wide variety of bridges! Oregon itself has a variety, even on the coast. One of my favorite bridges is the Yaquina Bay Bridge at Newport, Oregon, part of highway 101. You can walk across that too but it is a very windy walk.

Andrew

Anybody been across the London Bridge - in Arizona?

Yes, I walked it in Arizona.

I don't remember the names for many of the bridges crossed. But every work day of my life I drive to work/ and return on a large bridge over the I&M canal between Lockport and Romeoville IL towns.

Can't say I don't enjoy some of the views, but I have had such dicey experiences with emergency vehicles and other situations on the mile long bridge over the years, that the pluses have become less and less, IMHO.

Andrew - Thanks for the story about the I-5 Interstate bridge. Looking at the pictures, the two spans do look identical, so I can't say which is older. I did walk on the western span, i.e. south bound.

Without a doubt the incredible bridge in Millau, France. Wish it were longer

http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoVie...vfolderid=2005

cigalechanta, received an "album not found" message though could be user error on my part.

AnnMarie, I just cut and pasted it to test and it works I can give you my email @hotmail.com to go to the photo site if it doesn't work

We were amazed to find the Golden Gate Bridge, Red!

I have to say, that last year, planning our trip to Portland,when we saw Andrews photos of Portland and the bridges, we were even more excited to live here.

Hi Cigalechanta--clearly, I am doing something wrong...I thought a glass of red wine might help but it didn't...at least not ONE glass ;-) I'm getting the Kodak sign in page and once I sign in the statement Album Not Available is still there. If you don't mind you can send it to me at [email protected]. Curiosity killed the cat... but for awhile I was a suspect ;-) Thank you!

Now that is an awesome bridge!!! Did I see it in an episode of The Amazing Race?!? Seems I've seen a picture of it before but can't remember where--to see it in person must have been magnificent! Thank you!! :-)

Seto Ohashi Bridge, by rail, crossing the Inland Sea between Okayama and Takamatsu, Japan, at sunset.

Spectacles Bridge, Nagasaki, Japan

Fort Duguesne Bridge, Pittsburgh (the locals are happy here in Steelerland)

Soosally, I mentioned all three Charleston Bridges: The Ravanel Bridge, The Silas Pearman, and the John Grace Memorial Bridge.

Bridge over troubled waters .............

One of my favorite bridges is one that I remember from my childhood... the 'swing bridge' from Davenport, Iowa onto Arsenal Island. This bridge, which is part of the Lock & Dam #15 complex along the Mississippi River, was built in the early 1900's. It is a double decker bridge with a set of railroad tracks on the top level and two auto lanes on the lower level. The center section of the bridge is able to rotate 180 degrees in either direction to allow tall ships navigating the locks to pass by. Quite an engineering feat in its day.