National Historic Bridge Day

Today is National Historic Bridge Day

I have long held a fascination with bridges. Covered bridges, long bridges, beautiful bridges, rickety bridges. In honor of National Historic Bridge Day, I wanted to share some of my favorite bridges. These are not all listed on any historic bridge site, but they are bridges that I like or have memories of.

1. Covered bridge; Milton, WV. Probably one of the first covered bridges I ever crossed in my life. When I was younger, my Uncle Charlie lived in Milton and we crossed this bridge when we would go to visit him.

2. The Harrisburg Covered Bridge in Sevier County, TN. This is on one of the county backroads and in a very beautiful section of the Sevier County. The Harrisburg Covered Bridge was once the center of several commercial activities. The bridge is one of only twelve remaining covered bridges in East and Middle Tennessee. It is 83 feet long and sits on a limestone foundation.  

    

3.  The Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, WV. There is a sad story to this bridge. On December 15, 1967 at 5:00 p.m. the Silver Bridge collapsed taking 46 lives and injuring 9 others. I was only 11 and we were laying in the floor playing when the announcement came on TV.

     

4. The East End bridge in Huntington, WV that crosses over to Proctorville, Ohio. This is one of the first bridges of this type I ever saw. It is absolutely beautiful.

5. The New River Gorge Bridge; Fayetteville, WV.  At the time of its completion in 1977, it was the highest and longest arch bridge in the world with a height of 876 feet and a main span of 1,700 feet. It is so loved by bungee jumpers, that they have a National Bridge Day where they close it so people can come and bungee off the bridge. We took the scenic road that goes down under the bridge one time and it was totally awesome.

6.  Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Charleston, SC. This is another unique structure. On some of our trips from Myrtle Beach to Charleston, we were able to watch part of the construction of this bridge. On our last two trips there, we have been able to cross it. It is a truly fascinating experience.

7.  The Old Martha Bridge in Barboursville, WV - This is the second scariest bridge I ever had to cross. My parents didn't drive so any time we went to the doctor who's office was on the other side of this bridge, we would walk. It was awful. The flooring was metal and you could see right through it to the waters of the Mud River. I have a fear of heights anyway, and to look down and see that swift muddy water was a nightmare I never want to relive. But yet, it still brings bittersweet memories because it was one of the bridges of my youth. I can still remember when they finally closed it to build a new one.

8.  No. 7 was my second scariest bridge to cross, but the #1 scariest was when Daddy would take us to see Uncle Kenneth when we were visiting my grandmother. We would take the shortcut across the old train trestle that crossed the Coal River. It was high, it was scary. The trestle had gaps between the railroad ties so you had to watch every step to make sure your foot didn't trip or slip between the ties. There were no sides on the trestle. It was scary, but I never told anybody I was scared because everybody else walked across it like it was not big deal. I still get butterflies thinking about it. This is not the exact trestle, but it is a picture of one just like it.

9. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia. This is another scary, but unique bridge. You are on a bridge then you go under the water in Chesapeake Bay and come out on the other side on a bridge again. Talk about freaky. It wasn't scary, it was just sort of an "uh-oh" feeling. It is an experience that's for sure.

10.  Bridge at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, TN. It's not the bridge that is the attraction on this. It is very short and simply provides a passage over the Pigeon River to get to the Old Mill. It's the view from this bridge that makes it so spectacular.