# What famous bridges have you been across? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2025, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448 "2025-04-01T09:36:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/1 "2025-04-01T09:36:52Z")
I was tempted to ask, “What famous bridges have you _driven_ across,” but “been across” seems much more open to folks to contribute. Me, I’ve driven across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Confederation Bridge between PEI and New Brunswick in Canada, the Ivy Lea Bridge between Ontario and New York, and the Second Narrows and Lions’ Gate, both in Vancouver. I’ll add the Sunshine Skyway in Tampa, Florida. As a passenger, I’ve been across the George Washington Bridge, Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge, all in in NYC; the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia; and Tower Bridge in London. Well, I walked Tower Bridge too, so there’s that. As a pedestrian, there are almost too many to count (do the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, both in London, and the Pont Neuf in Paris count?), but I will include Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, and Rainbow Bridge across Niagara Falls. Brooklyn Bridge was particularly fascinating close up; a civil engineer friend described how it had so many fail-safes that it would never fall down as long as it had proper maintenance. On my walk across, it seemed to fit all his parameters. How about you? What famous bridges have you crossed? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/2 "2025-04-01T09:43:41Z")
Easy answer for me. The Burlington Skyway, formally called the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway. That thing terrifies me. I always imagine myself in an accident and plunging into the water below. It’s often closed when winds are especially high. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/3 "2025-04-01T09:48:45Z")
I rode over the Astoria-Megler Bridge last month. > **[Astoria–Megler Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astoria%E2%80%93Megler_Bridge)** > > The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through-truss bridge in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States that spans the lower Columbia River. It carries a section of U.S. Route 101 from Astoria, Oregon, to Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. Opened in 1966, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. > The bridge is 14 miles (23 km) from the mouth of the river at the Pacific Ocean. The bridge is four miles (6.5 km) in length, and was the final segment of U.S. R... ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/4 "2025-04-01T09:52:34Z")
There and back again > **[Millau Viaduct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct)** > > The Millau Viaduct (French: Viaduc de Millau, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}IPA: \[vja.dyk də mi.jo\]) is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the gorge valley of the Tarn near (west of) Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitanie Region, in Southern France. The design team was led by engineer Michel Virl... There is no way to turn around and go back without paying another toll but it’s worth it. The Mackinac Bridge [Mackinac Bridge - Lake Superior Circle Tour](https://lakesuperiorcircletour.info/location/mackinac-bridge/#:~:text=The%20Mackinac%20Bridge%2C%20also%20known,of%20the%20world's%20longest%20bridges)! So high and windy they finally realized that a small car had been picked up by the winds and went over the railing…on a small smudge of paint solved the mystery of the missing girl and car. Have been over it on motorcycle a number of times. The story of building this bridge is impressive and it is gorgeous. Lovely ride on a motorcycle and the info centre at the end is very good. > **[Confederation Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Bridge)** > > The Confederation Bridge (French: Pont de la Confédération) is a box girder bridge carrying the Trans-Canada Highway across the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait, linking the province of Prince Edward Island with the mainland province of New Brunswick. Opened on May 31, 1997, the 12.9-kilometre (8.0 mi) bridge is Canada's longest bridge and the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water. > Construction took place from 1 November 1993 until May 1997 and cost C$1.3 billion. Before... The Skyway bridges in Ontario are impressive and get chilly in spring riding south to get warm. > **[Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway)** > > The Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, originally called the Burlington Bay Skyway and simply known as the Burlington Skyway or The Skyway, is a pair of high-level freeway bridges (built in 1958 and 1985) spanning the Burlington Bay Canal. The Skyway, as it is locally known, is located in Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway linking Fort Erie with Toronto. The 1958 steel bridge is a suspended deck through-arch truss bridge. The approa... and the Golden Gate…story of building it very interesting. > **[Golden Gate Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge)** > > The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It also carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and is designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 95. Recognized by the American Society... Walked out to the remaining span of the Kinzua Bridge in PA > **[Kinzua Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinzua_Bridge)** > > The Kinzua Bridge or the Kinzua Viaduct (/ˈkɪnzuː/, /-zuːə/) was a railroad trestle that spanned Kinzua Creek in McKean County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was 301 feet (92 m) tall and 2,052 feet (625 m) long. Most of its structure collapsed during a tornado in July 2003. > Billed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", the wrought iron original 1882 structure held the record for the tallest railroad bridge in the world for two years. In 1900, the bridge was dismantled and simulta... Learned my lesson about getting sweaty in my riding gear from that. Good case of hypothermia on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/5 "2025-04-01T09:56:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Easy answer for me. The Burlington Skyway, formally called the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway. That thing terrifies me. I always imagine myself in an accident and plunging into the water below. It’s often closed when winds are especially high. Heh. I once drove the Confederation Bridge between PEI and NB in a thunderstorm. The toll-taker on the PEI side (I was going from PEI to NB) looked at my Chevy Blazer, and said, “Well, I guess you’ll make it. Go ahead.” He _guessed_ I’d make it. Ohh-kay. With nothing else to do, I proceeded. I made it, but I carried the salt stains back to my home in southern Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/6 "2025-04-01T10:12:31Z")
> [@MacDoc](#): > > Walked out to the remaining span of the Kinzua Bridge in PA You want a railway trestle? Try this: > **[Lethbridge Viaduct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethbridge_Viaduct)** > > The Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, is a railway trestle bridge over the Oldman River in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Constructed between 1907 and 1909 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, it is the largest railway structure in Canada and the largest of its type in the world, and is still regularly maintained and used over a century since its construction. > In 2005, the construction of the viaduct was recognized as an event of national historic significance. > Prior to the... Never been across it, but I would have been, had not a friend on the CPR taken early retirement. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/7 "2025-04-01T11:44:14Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > (do the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, both in London, and the Pont Neuf in Paris count?) Absolutely. They’re all famous. My list includes those as well as many other bridge in Paris (e.g. Pont Alexandre III, Pont de Bir-Hakeim), the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the Ponte della Maddalena (aka the Devil’s Bridge) in Tuscany, the Charles Bridge in Prague, the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) in Lucerne, the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, the Ponte Sant’Angelo in Rome, the Pont Saint-Benezet in Avignon, the Dom Luís I Bridge in Porto, the Bonifacius Bridge in Bruges, the Triple Bridge and the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana, and the Galata Bridge in Istanbul, off the top of my head. In a week, I leave for a holiday in Albania, where we’ll cross the Bridge of Gorica, an Ottoman-era bridge in Berat, and the Tanner’s Bridge in Tirana. Then, in six weeks, I’ll be back in Rome, and will check off the **[Pons Fabricius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pons_Fabricius)** — the oldest surviving bridge in the city, built in 62 BC. What can I say, I love bridges. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/8 "2025-04-01T11:56:48Z")
The one that I have crossed in the greatest variety of ways is the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I have driven and been driven across it many times. I have been across as a passenger in a bus, taxi and train. Actually I have driven a small bus across a few times. I have walked across it several times - only on the walkway, not the paid bridge climb. And I have been across it a couple of times on a motorbike. Mind you it is many years since I last crossed it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/9 "2025-04-01T12:03:39Z")
Too late to edit: the Alte Mainbrücke in Würzburg is also worth mentioning on my list of beautiful historical bridges. Also, regarding Albania, I’m sad we won’t be able to get up to Shkodër to see the **[Mesi Bridge](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesi_Bridge).** Ah well, next time. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/10 "2025-04-01T12:12:29Z")
The Golden Gate Bridge and - this is going to strain the definition of “famous” - the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which, at the time it was built (1967), was the largest suspension bridge in the Americas. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/11 "2025-04-01T12:15:37Z")
London Bridge is pretty mundane (and leaks like hell through the roadway into the voids underneath it, in which are the remains of the 19th c. London Bridge). The medieval London Bridge was slightly further downstream than the present one. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/12 "2025-04-01T12:20:01Z")
The Chain Bridge (_Széchenyi Lánchíd_) in Budapest. Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia. Lake Pontchatrain Causeway, New Orleans. Pont Neuf in Paris. Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/13 "2025-04-01T12:41:13Z")
Another addition (sorry, I’m scrolling my holiday snaps and keep getting reminded of stuff): When I was in Izmir, Türkiye, I made a point of walking over to the **[Caravan Bridge](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-oldest-bridge-in-the-world.html)** so I could say I’ve crossed the bridge that’s the oldest still-used structure in the world (built in 850 BC and in continuous use since then). It’s old enough that the poet Homer (thought to probably have been born in the area) could have used it. (I mean, I really, really like bridges.) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/14 "2025-04-01T12:53:51Z")
Ambassador Bridge, Golden Gate, Mackinac Bridge, Chicago Skyway and I think I’ve been on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/15 "2025-04-01T12:59:06Z")
Astoria in Oregon/WA. Brooklyn. Golden Gate. Charles (Prague). Pont Neuf. Ponte Vecchio in Florence. Chain Bridge (Budapest). Mackinac (MI). Chesapeake Bay Bridge. London. Kornhausbruke (Bern). Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe). The Florida Keys. Perrine Memorial (Twin Falls, ID). There are likely others. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/16 "2025-04-01T13:04:06Z")
My two span the range of culture (from tacky to national monument!): [Category:Rialto Bridge at the Venetian - Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rialto_Bridge_at_the_Venetian) [The Iron Bridge - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Bridge) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/17 "2025-04-01T13:07:36Z")
It wasn’t constructed yet, but I saw the Zhuhai end of the massive Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge when it was under construction. > **[Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong%E2%80%93Zhuhai%E2%80%93Macau_Bridge)** > > The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest open-sea fixed link in the world. The HZMB spans the Lingding and Jiuzhou channels, connecting Hong Kong and Macau with Zhuhai—a major city on the Pearl River Delta in China. > The HZM Bridge was designed to last for 120 years and cost ¥127 billion (US$18.... ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/18 "2025-04-01T13:08:33Z")
I’ve walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, with seemingly every other tourist. Ditto the Golden Gate Bridge, where I rented a bike but walked it on the bridge itself because the foot traffic was so heavy. I’ve crossed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on a bus and in a car, the Manhattan Bridge and Queensboro Bridge on subway trains, the Eads Bridge on a light-rail train, and the Hell Gate Bridge on a train. I crossed the Mackinac Straits bridge by car, with my wife driving and my own eyes closed because it was so windy they’d closed it to trucks and were warning they could close outright. I walked across a couple of bridges in downtown Pittsburgh, but I don’t know if any particular one is famous or the bridges of Pittsburgh are famous collectively. And in the same vein, I’ve crossed the famous bascule bridges of downtown Chicago more times than I can count because I live here. Walking, biking, in cars, on buses, and on L trains. I suppose if any particular ones are famous, they’d be the Lake Shore Drive Bridge and Michigan Avenue Bridge. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/19 "2025-04-01T13:37:51Z")
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. The Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. The Sunshine Skyway in Tampa. The Holborn Viaduct and Tower Bridge in London. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448/20 "2025-04-01T13:51:42Z")
Tower Bridge is really the only one of the previously cited ones I can claim, except for a handful of U.S./Canada crossings. How 'bout the [Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrick-a-Rede_Rope_Bridge) in Northern Ireland, which I walked while doing the _Game of Thrones_ location tour out of Belfast in 2019. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-bridges-have-you-been-across/1016448.md?page=2)