# My bridge-driving nightmare come to life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574 "2005-02-23T18:54:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/41 "2005-02-24T19:23:58Z")
Boy, am I glad to see that I’m not the only one who has these fears of going off bridges. Whenever I drive south from New York to Baltimore along I-95, there is a bridge that is high above the Susquehanna River. I can’t find a pic of it, but being that high above the water tends to freak me out a bit. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/42 "2005-02-24T19:34:59Z")
> [@Bambi Hassenpfeffer](#): > > It is in fact much better than the old one, but it’s still just shy of terrifying. > {snip} > Sure is pretty to look at, though. Just shy of terrifying? How about _completely_ terrifying (to me, anyway.) I agree it’s beautiful to look at, though. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/43 "2005-02-24T20:22:15Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > I guess it _could_, but you’re talking about something like if a large meteor hit the bay nearby. Even something like the recent Tsunami would be lucky to make 2-inches deep of water accumulate in there. The tunnels are BIG - they’re very long, are a very, VERY gradual slope, and have drains and things in them. There are several more tunnels in the Hampton Roads area, and during Hurricane Isabel, the Midtown tunnel under the Elizabth River did flood. The problem was the incompetence of VDOT not maintaining the flood doors, and the tunnel was overwhelmed by the storm surge. I think a a power failure contributed to the situation, because the flood pumps couldn’t run. VDOT made a big deal out of a flodgate test on all of the tunnels just before the '04 hurricane season began, and all of tunnel gates got a clean bill of health. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/44 "2005-02-24T20:33:58Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > I remember hearing about the Oklahoma bridge collapse. Did they ever determine what happened with the barge captain/pilot/whatever? > > The guy who was responsible for the Summit Venture hitting the Skyway had a miserable tortured life after that. His life was ruined, he developed MS and eventually died. According to the NTSB report, the captain was current WRT the most recent required Coast Guard physical, but after the accident some cardiac issues were identifed which may have caused a syncopal episode (fainting). You may [read the entire report in .pdf here](http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2004/HAR0405.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/45 "2005-02-24T21:00:31Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I’m **terrified** of bridges. > > I seem to recall a similar accident, like 20 or 30 years ago (??), on a Louisiana bridge, and I want to say [Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=49848) (the longest bridge in the world!), but that could be wrong, and I can’t seem to find any online stories about it with such vague memories at work here. But that story always scared the shit out of me – cars just driving off the broken edge of the bridge at 70mph, plunging to their deaths. Shudder. That accident took place on 1 August 1974, and is not available online. [This link](http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/1974/h74%5F40%5F42.pdf) indicating recommendations from the NTSB to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission identifies several towboat/barge allisions with bridge structures over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/46 "2005-02-24T21:24:45Z")
> [@Lsura](#): > > I had no idea that I had problems with tunnels until I drove from NE Ohio to Knoxville TN, through WV and part of VA last August. > > I hit those tunnels at the VA border - there are 2 or three of them on the route I took, and it was all I could do to keep myself from panicking with the first one. The second one, I was able to prepare myself for the stress, but I still wasn’t happy about it. > > Next time I drive that down towards TN, I’m taking the ok route - across Ohio, through KY and down into TN. Avoiding all the tunnels. I knew a guy who had been a truck driver in the army. He said that when driving a load that included explosives or ordnance, he was not allowed to use the tunnels and had to do the old, back routes. The rule forbidding explosives is to keep an accidental explosion from bringing down the tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/47 "2005-02-25T04:21:41Z")
[The Great Belt Bridge](http://www.copenhagenpictures.dk/grt_blt.html) is in Denmark. It used to take me an hour to travel from one island to the other by ferry. Now people can take this bridge instead. It is the 2nd longest suspension bridge in the world. The longest is in Japan. Take a look at the third picture. It just seems to go forever. The thickest fog that I have ever seen in my life was on the island at one end of this bridge. I can’t imagine what it must be like driving on that bridge in that kind of fog. My most recent nightmare about driving off a bridge into deep water was earlier this week. I thought I was over that fear. The first time I drove over the bridge that **Wile E** described was at night. I had no idea it was coming. My husband was driving. We rounded a curve and these headlights from other cars were descending from the sky. Creepy. I started shaking and tearing up. It is so bad to be in the grip on an irrational fear. When we drove it in daytime, I was much better. But seeing where the old bridge ended was sickening. I have heard that on the Merrimac Bridge in Michigan there are people who will drive your car across for you. Is that true? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/48 "2005-03-05T14:12:25Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > The local bridge I simply will not drive over is the [Vincent Thomas bridge](http://www.fotosearch.com/BDX209/bxp36995/) into San Pedro. I had a panic attack the last time I even drove _near_ it, thinking I _might_ have to get on it to get to my destination, and there might not have been an exit I could’ve taken to avoid it (thank Og I didn’t end up having to). OMG. I had to drive over that bridge a few times, years ago. I’m not sure I even knew there was going to be a bridge; I was just following written directions. The sun is just coming up, and all of a sudden, there it is, **looming** up in front of me, like in [this](http://www.sanpedrochamber.com/champint/vtbrdg.htm) photo. On my own, I’d probably have turned back, but I was carpooling. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/49 "2005-03-05T15:01:10Z")
Boston has a couple of bridges you bridge-ophobes would probably prefer to avoid. The newest one is the [Zakim Bridge](http://massroads.com/image.php?subject=zakim_bridge_1_20021215) over the Charles River. Not all that high, but [stunning to look at](http://www.stanstudio.com/zakim/). An oldie but a goodie is the [Tobin Bridge](http://massroads.com/image.php?subject=tobin_bridge_20010609) over the Mystic River between Boston and Chelsea. Here’s [another cool picture](http://landmanatee.ods.org/~jalex/photos/zakim/Pages/11.html) of it, taken from the Zakim Bridge. Bonus fear points: Oil tankers go under it all the time to tank farms upriver. Just imagine one of those babies hitting a bridge support and… :eek: At its top you’re way high up, and there’s not much of a guard rail between you and infinity. In the 1970s the bridge was damaged and closed for a while, not by a tanker taking out a support pier, but by an overloaded gravel truck going out of control on the lower deck and smashing into a beam holding up the upper deck. A couple of deck sections gave way. I don’t recall anyone being hurt, but the bridge had to be shut down for quite a while for repairs. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/50 "2005-03-05T19:01:20Z")
> [@](#): > > I have heard that on the Merrimac Bridge in Michigan there are people who will drive your car across for you. Is that true? It’s the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan’s upper and lower penninsulas. And yes, there are people who’ll drive your car over the brdge for you if you’re too scared. They get some pretty stiff winds on that bridge. Occasionally, you hear about someone driving off the bridge and dying. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/51 "2005-03-05T20:22:00Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I’m not afraid of bridges, but I cross a very narrow, high bridge going to work in the dark of the morning. What bothers me are the oncoming trucks who can’t seem to stay on their side of the yellow line. It’s not like I can go anywhere!! Idiots!! I always have an escape plan in mind for when I’m plummeting in to the Potomac. :o Nice bridge. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/52 "2005-03-05T20:48:21Z")
When I was a kid growing up in San Francisco, I was totally fascinated with the Embarcadero Freeway. Imagine a big freeway, overpass-style, just dead-ending. Originally it was supposed to meet up with the Golden Gate Bridge, but aesthetic-minded citizens protested that it would ruin the marina, so it just…ended. I can’t say that I ever had a real fear of it, but I did wonder if it was possible to somehow end up there and drive off the edge. (Apparently it wasn’t.) Here’s a [teeny tiny image of it.](http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:UNZ7TNVCYmcJ:http://www.roughlydrafted.com/tiexp/Tvs/waterfront.gif) After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the entire Embarcadero Freeway was demolished. It was thought to be seisimically unsound and everyone thought it was ugly anyway. The only sad thing about it is that without a freeway, you have to drive on the surface streets, and driving in San Francisco can be a nightmare. Highways 1 and 101 are totally interrupted and you have to follow sometimes obscure street signs to stay on the freeway if you’re just trying to drive through. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/53 "2005-03-05T21:22:00Z")
Sometimes nightmares are real - Yesterday morning [Salisbury Man’s Truck Goes Off the Bay Bridge-Tunnel](http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3030728) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/54 "2005-03-05T22:20:13Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Nice bridge. 😃 Eeeeeeuwww! :dubious: **R.T. Firefly** was giving me directions once, using 301 to bypass the Beltway, and said something like, “Then you cross the nice bridge…” He hastened to explain! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/55 "2005-03-06T07:50:15Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > That accident took place on 1 August 1974, and is not available online. [This link](http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/1974/h74%5F40%5F42.pdf) indicating recommendations from the NTSB to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission identifies several towboat/barge allisions with bridge structures over the years. Guess the 70s were a bad time for bridges. [This picture](http://www.dm.net/~tom-b/travel/hobart6.html) shows where a collision took place in 1975, near Hobart, Tasmania. But I wasn’t frightened when going over the bridge. In fact, I have been looking at the pictures posted here thinking there are some cool bridges I would like to drive over. 😃 Come to think of it, I have driven over some of them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/56 "2005-03-06T12:22:48Z")
You guys had better buck up! My new planned Bering Straights Bridge project is going to be VERY scarey! 58 miles over the ice-covered Bering Straights…at a height of 300 feet! Of course, that will prepare you for the fun of driving in Russia-once the expressway to Vladivostok gets built, watch out! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574/57 "2005-03-06T14:33:26Z")
You know, I’ve never in my life had nightmares, or even a general phobia, about bridges or tunnels, but after reading this thread I have a feeling that’s all gonna change. Great collection of bridge pix, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bridge-driving-nightmare-come-to-life/291574.md?page=2)