Most bridges usually just get you from one side to the other. However, every now & then, they have stories behind them that are just strange, including circus elephants or disappearing roads. Here are twelve bridges in America with weird histories. Which of these would you pick to visit & why?
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Eads Bridge’s elephant test
In 1874, St. Louis opened Eads Bridge, but local people weren’t sure that steel arches could really handle the weight. They decided to ease the worry…by having a circus elephant walk across first. Weeks later, 14 locomotives rolled over in a stress test, and it was only after the parade & fireworks on July 4 that the bridge officially started its working life.
Route 66’s bent crossing at midriver
Anyone who’s ever seen the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge has probably wondered why it swerves almost 22 degrees right in the middle. Interestingly, it’s not simply artistic flair. This twist keeps the span clear of water-intake towers that are sitting in the Mississippi. Cars started driving across it in 1929. These days, it’s usually only bikers & walkers who get the crooked crossing.
The three-way Y-bridge
With a name like Zanesville, you’d expect the town to be rather strange. And it is. Since 1814, it has had a Y-shaped crossing that splits traffic into three directions, with the latest version being made of concrete. It meets at the fork of the Muskingum & Licking rivers. Honestly, it’s just as confusing to drive along as it sounds.
London Bridge, reassembled in the desert
In the 1960s, workers carefully numbered stone blocks in London & shipped them to Arizona in the late ‘60s. They then stacked them back together in the desert. Why? Simply because they wanted to rebuild the old Thames bridge in America…so they did. It’s been sitting on Lake Havasu since October 10, 1971, completely out of place but fully functional.
The bridge to nowhere
Builders created a graceful concrete arch high above the East Fork of the San Gabriel River in 1936. Sadly, just two years later, floods ripped away the road leading to it, leaving behind a lonely span stranded in the wilderness. It’s still there now. Today, hikers trek out there & thrill-seekers pay for bungee jumps right off the deck.
Tornado-toppled viaduct turned skywalk
The Kinzua Viaduct once stretched more than 2,000 feet across a gorge & stood 301 feet tall. But in July 2003, a tornado sent 11 of its towers crashing down in minutes. Officials chose not to tear it all out & instead, they kept what was left. They even added a pedestrian skywalk in 2011, glass floor & all.
The humming “Singing Bridge”
There’s a reason why Frankfort locals nicknamed their downtown truss bridge the “Singing Bridge,” which was built in the 1890s. It quite literally hums under your tires because of the open steel-grate deck. Sure, the tune is hardly going to win awards, but it’s unforgettable. Definitely worth checking out.
Fire to footbridge
The Poughkeepsie–Highland Railroad Bridge started as a busy freight railroad bridge in 1889. It ended in flames in 1974. Following the fire, this Hudson bridge lay abandoned for decades, until in 2009, it came back to life as the Walkway Over the Hudson. It’s now a mile-plus state park path with room for joggers & sightseers alike.
A private international span
Governments run most big border bridges, but not the Ambassador Bridge. It opened in 1929 and has been owned by a private company called the Detroit International Bridge Company ever since. As such, trucks & travelers have to pay tolls to cross it. But you could also go via the public tunnel between Detroit & Windsor.
The record-length floating bridge
Seattle has plenty of floating bridges, and it also has the record holder. In 2016, the SR 520 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opened and measures 7,708.5 feet long, making it the world’s longest floating bridge. It also has giant pontoons anchoring it on Lake Washington & six lanes, as well as a bike path, right on top.
The retracting pontoon at Pearl Harbor
The Admiral Clarey Bridge is by far one of the most unusual bridges because it doesn’t lift up or swing out. Instead, the 930-foot pontoon section slides back under a fixed span when Navy ships need to pass through. Such a trick gives carriers about 650 feet of clearance & that’s quite impressive for a bridge built in the late ‘90s.
“Trenton makes” in giant letters
You’ll see a truss bridge that flashes the message “TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES” across the Delaware River. The glowing slogan first went up in 1917 on the earlier span, then returned in neon on the replacement in 1935. In 2018, they installed new LEDs to allow the letters to change colors & patterns. Essentially, this bridge is a giant billboard.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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