24 Miles Over Open Water: The Engineering of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

Comments · 553

• AL

  @alariciii4963 · 6 months ago (edited)

  Driving over this bridge while sleep deprived is not recommended. The length plus no landmarks make it very hypnotic.

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• CV

  @cvick12 · 6 months ago

  Grew up in New Orleans and commuted this bridge for years. My favorite memory though was Halloween in the 90s when the drawbridge got stuck up and we were stranded for hours just north of crossover 3. All the kids were already in costumes, parents sat on their trunks, and we went car-to-car trick-or-treating. We were trunk-or-treating long before it was a thing.

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• DA

  @DangerousDan666 · 6 months ago

  14 months to build this back then... and now it takes 2 years to rebuild a 50' long one over a small creek... what an evolution

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• RI

  @rickycole6327 · 6 months ago

  This bridge  should be known as an engineering marvel it survived Katrina and the short amount of time to construct it

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• ED

  @edgarlarios4718 · 6 months ago

  I must say, I was an interstate commercial vehicle driver for a few years a little over a decade ago. I've encountered sites like the Golden Gate and the Brooklyn Bridge. None of them compared to the beauty I saw on this 20+ mile span of man made marvel. I traveled it 1 time and still remember it to this day.

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• LA

  @larkt6693 · 6 months ago

  The fact that they build this bridge before the predicted schedule .. is beyond impressive especially at that time. Today it takes 20 years to build a over pass

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• BA

  @Basiliscx · 6 months ago

  I once woke up on a road trip half way across this bridge. Seeing nothing but water in all directions while disoriented from sleep is a different kind of panic.

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• KI

  @Kicks001 · 6 months ago

  I'm 68, been crossing that bridge my whole life. I remember in the early 60s riding with my brothers in the back of my dad's Rambler station wagon at night after visiting my grandparents in Madisonville. Good times.

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• NO

  @NOLAgenX · 6 months ago

  Commuted for 21 years across this bridge into New Orleans, ending in 2020. I do not miss it at all.

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• SI

  @siana4682 · 6 months ago

  It’s actually crazy to think that they only took one year to build a 24 mile long bridge in the 1950s. Meanwhile in my city it’s taking 3 billion dollars and 10 years to expand 3 miles on a bridge tunnel.

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• CH

  @chrisrose8887 · 6 months ago

  I&apos;ve driven over this bridge countless times, between visiting family and friends, going to restaurants, and participating in ministry functions...<br>At every crossover, there is a huge digital sign for giving drivers need-to-know info - &apos;LANE CLOSED AHEAD,&apos; HEAVY FOG ON BRIDGE,&apos; etc.<br>One Friday night in the early 90&apos;s, a dozen of us were caravanning to a church retreat across the bridge during a thunderstorm. The first digital sign cautioned, &quot;HEAVY RAINS - DRIVE CAREFULLY.&apos;<br>Moving along, the weather getting worse, the next crossover had another warning about the weather: &quot;HIGH CROSSWINDS - REDUCE SPEED.&quot;<br>But only when we came to the third crossover&apos;s sign did we all begin to panic a little... <br>The message on that digital sign? One word:<br>&quot;PRAY&quot; 😲<br>The thing was, earlier that week, the Gulf War in Kuwait had just begun, so all week the signs had all said &quot;PRAY,&quot; meaning For The Troops!<br>BUT, in the context of the weather, and the first two signs, we didn&apos;t think we were going to make it!! &nbsp;:)

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• PL

  @PlanetSkipping · 6 months ago

  When my friend was a kid, his dad would make the whole family wear those bright orange life preservers everytime they had to cross that bridge.

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