Are you afraid of bridges? Maryland's Bay Bridge makes list of scariest bridges in the world....

[TZ]

Bloodcurdling Bay Bridge?

Panic" and "vertigo" aren’t usually words used to describe a trip to the beach. However, those are symptoms many may feel crossing Maryland’s Bay Bridge. According to Travel and Leisure Magazine, those feelings may be justified.

The magazine has named the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge, a.k.a. the Bay Bridge, as one of the world’s scariest bridges. The overpass apparently made the list because of the storms that frequently hit the area.

The Bay Bridge is often used by residents to get to nearby Maryland beaches such as Ocean City and towns on the Delaware coast, like Bethany Beach.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Bloodcurdling-Bay-Bridge-104937194.html

I used to be terrified crossing this bridge..but with frequent trips to the beach I've gotten better. But I will say it is VERY eerie crossing this bridge on a foggy day... What bridges scare you? :hi:

[Pendrench]

1. Hi TZ - I used to be able to drive over the Bay Bridge without giving it a second thought, but then

a few years ago I started getting panic attacks when I was driving. It got so bad that even when my wife was driving over the bridge on our way to Bethany, I would still get panic attacks.

The last couple of times, however, I noticed that although I'm still nervous, I haven't had a REAL panic attack - so I'm hoping that I'm getting better.

I don't think it's the height that bothers me, it more that I worry about getting stuck on the bridge, and I think that triggers my claustrophobia.

Oh well, maybe I'll try driving it again next summer.

Tim

[TZ]

4. I discovered last month that although I am much better at crossing it

then I used to be..I did NOT like driving accross it with two way traffic (1 East bound lane to 2 West bound lanes).....

[Pendrench]

46. Oh yes - I had to do that once, too.

Wow - I remember that being REALLY bad!

I'm hoping the next time I try to drive it there will only be one-way traffic.

Tim

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. I'm afraid of Nash Bridges

but Hunter's a GOOD cop!

[Rosie1223]

3. This one really scared me

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-scariest-bridges/3

We were going to just walk across but I was afraid I couldn't make it back across to get back to the car. We ended up riding across because some of the good attractions were on the other side.

[TZ]

7. YIKES! I would never be able to walk accross that!

Drive, maybe, its not very long....but still..:scared:

[LaurenG]

5. I do not like driving over bridges that go across rivers that are large, they are scary.

There is one in Northern Missouri into Southern Iowa that is creepy that gives me panic attacks. I don't mind short ones that are covered, and I don't mind walking across them. The ones here from Ohio to KY are fine, I'm pretty sure I could swim across the Ohio River though. :o:o

[TZ]

9. The ones in Cinci don't bother me

but I rarely drive accross them myself....I have to say, I think the northeast has more than its share of large scary suspension bridges..

[flvegan]

6. I hate the Sunshine Skyway Bridge here.

Considering it replaced one that was hit by a barge, causing a huge section to collapse sending a bunch of cars and a bus into the ocean, killing damn near everyone.

The new Skyway seems to go up forever. If you're afraid of heights (like I am), crossing this thing is 10 minutes of pure hell.

[TZ]

8. Wow- that looks like a roller coaster!

With its sharp incline up like that....I'd probably be able to drive it as long as I was in a center lane...

[GreenPartyVoter]

53. Yikes! I would hate that. Here is my scary bridge:

http://xtreme-engineering.blogspot.com/2008/10/deer-isle-sedgwick-bridge.html

When I was a kid you could sit your car at the peak of the hill on that thing and "ride" it like a bucking bronco on a windy day. They added all kinds of wind breakers to it, which makes it move differently now, but it's also way heavier so it still worries me. But just so long as it doesn't do a "Galloping Gertie" on us!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

[tigereye]

10. yeah that one used to creep me out when I was a kid and we were going to

the beaches for vacation. I was convinced we were going to end up in the bay due to how long it was and the skewed perspective. It still kind of creeps me out as an adult since it looks so, well, not well built! :rofl:


The view is cool, though. Just don't look down!

[geardaddy]

11. I was always afraid of driving over the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi here.

Turns out I was justified in being scared.

[XemaSab]

12. Team fear of heights has been across the Deception Pass Bridge, the Maryland Bay Bridge, and

the Keys causeway.

I actually didn't mind the Keys causeway at all.

I'm surprised none of the bridges in the Bay Area made the list. Golden Gate, Bay, Richmond, or anything going over the Carquinez Strait.

Bad traffic, big trucks, high winds, and the knowledge that people HAVE driven off them and sections HAVE collapsed during quakes. :o

[tigereye]

14. when we rode across the Golden Gate, I knew I would never be able to bike or

walk across it... :scared: I think a lot of people think about the SF quakes when they see those bridges.

[TZ]

15. Yes. I was discussing that with a friend from SF the other day

That the bridges with two levels like the Golden Gate bridge..I'm extra scared of them because of those images from the quakes of them collapsing.....Fortunately not many bridges around here are like that..

[NV Whino]

18. The Golden Gate is a single level

You are thinking of the Oakland San Francisco Bay Bridge.

[tigereye]

20. plus the wind if you were walking - I never really thought of myself as scared

of heights until I looked over the railing! :rofl:

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. I've walked across the Deception Pass Bridge a couple of times.

I used to live on Whidbey Island. Once while walking across, we found a poem written on one of the pylons in the most haunting script I've ever seen:

And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.

I took a picture of it with my EOS Digital, framed just so. I still have the 8"x10" hanging on my wall but don't have the JPG. I wonder if the poem is still there...

[Arugula Latte]

13. We have one in Portland (the Sellwood Bridge) that has been rated a 2 or 3 out of 100 for safety

I hold my breath every time I drive over that one. :scared:

[cemaphonic]

38. The bridge that I-5 uses in Portland is kind of alarming too

The bridge itself isnt too bad, but it seems like there are a million merging and splitting lanes in a short span - and it curves, and always has heavy traffic and fairly high speeds.

[Arugula Latte]

42. Yep -- I've had a few "sweaty palm" incidents on that (Marquam Bridge)

[tigereye]

16. some of those bridges were wild and so rickety!

Yikes!

[Rosie1223]

17. Here's a famous one from history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Fi1VcbpAI

[NV Whino]

19. I don't like the Sn Mateo Bridge

You drive about 3 feet above the water. It seems like you are driving on the water. Give me a high bridge any day.

[TZ]

32. Oooh. You wouldn't like

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel - 23 miles long and when it's not under the Bay it's very low to the water..it's so long there is an island rest stop in the middle !

[musette_sf]

21. Bridges I Am Scared Of:

* Verazzano-Narrows

* Bay Bridge (Oakland)


Bridges I Am NOT Scared Of:

* Golden Gate

* San Mateo

* Dumbarton

[Hawkeye-X]

56. I laugh at Verazzno Narrows

A beautiful bridge, indeed. Crossed it many times heading to Joisey from Brooklyn.

The bridge that scares me? The ocean highway to Key West - can't remember the name of it.

Scares the hell out of me..

[taterguy]

22. Don't like the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet

I know in my head that the winds aren't capable of knocking a car off it but I still don't like it.

Not to mention the drunks in the other lane that have been drinking since Raleigh on their way to the beach.

Last time I had to pass a group of cyclists. I love biking but there's no way in hell I'd bike it: One good gust of wind away from being road kill or fish food.

[grace0418]

23. We walked to the center of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The odd thing about the bridge is

that, as you're approaching it, it doesn't look much different than the road. It doesn't have a big span, or rise up into the air. It's the ground underneath that drops away, a VERY long way down.

Anyway, I used to be really afraid of heights but I've gotten better. Still, standing at the center of this particular bridge with the wind blowing was ringing some alarm bells for me. A few minutes later a semi started crossing the bridge. The entire thing started to shake quite a bit. Then, just as he got to the center of the bridge where we were standing, he blew his air horn.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest.

[applegrove]

25. The confederation bridge to Prince Edward Island is scarry. Long too.

[mzteris]

26. Charleston, SC Cooper River bridge...

The OLD one, especially.

I had a complete panic attack the first time I drove across. I was 16 and the girl sitting next to me had to reach over and "drive" the car... getting back I had to stop, get out, let her drive, and then get back in on the other side. I went for years being unable to cross that bridge - or any other very high bridge -

About 10 years later I was in CHAS and driving at night in the fog. I was about half-way across before I realized it - and the spell was broken.

[Skip Intro]

33. That old bridge scared the hell out of me too.

There was a narrow one and one with an extra lane. They were both scary, but that narrow one...I only drove over it once or twice in all my years here.

[mzteris]

36. The narrow one used to be the ONLY one,

with traffic going both ways......

[Corgigal]

48. That was the one I was looking for

I wish I could find a old photo. You just knew that damn bridge will fail. Thankfully they build a new safe bridge in time.

[mzteris]

50. some pics

I couldn't get most of them to load - but go to the links - cool pictures.

http://www.cooperriverbridge.org/history.shtml


The 2.71-mile bridge, later to be named the Grace Memorial Bridge, was built in just 17 months, at a total cost of approximately $6 million. It was opened with a three-day celebration on Aug. 8, 1929.

The main span of the bridge, 1050 feet between supports, was the fifth longest cantilever truss in the world at the time of completion, 150 feet above the river and 15 feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

. . . n ceremonies on April 29, 1966, a new $15 million bridge over the Cooper River, parallel to the Grace Bridge, was opened to traffic, . . . The Pearman Bridge had vertical clearances of 150 feet over the Cooper River and 135 feet over Town Creek,



http://www.notablephotos.com/Bridge%20single%20span57%20(Medium).jpg

http://www.billemory.com/SC/SCTXT/SC31.html



http://www.notablephotos.com/Bridge%20Vicki%20Span%20(Medium).jpg

[Burma Jones]

63. I used to drive to Charleston from Wilmington NC

and would take 526 around......just to avoid the old bridge

[Demoiselle]

27. I've driven over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge once...

Once was enough. Fortunately I was driving...so I concentrated on the "road" ahead of me. If I'd had the option of really looking at my surroundings as a car passenger, I would have definitely freaked.
Incredible experience. At one point my husband said, "Oh look at the WAVES!" Shut up, I replied.

[tigereye]

37. was really blowing the last time we went over it and there were a lot of waves

I let my husband drive since he always complains about how I leave too much room between cars and cars sneak in.... :D

[demmiblue]

28. Yes, the Mackinac Bridge... two reasons:

1) The inner lane is made of metal grating. You can actually see the water below. :scared:

2) A Yugo was blown off the bridge in 1989. I know, I know... a cheap tin can of a car. However, the fact that an actual car was blown off the bridge always went through my mind as I crossed.


On September 22, 1989, Leslie Ann Pluhar died when her 1987 Yugo plunged over the 36 inches (91 cm) high railing. A combination of high winds and excessive speed was initially blamed.<16> Later investigation showed the driver had stopped her car over the open steel grating on the bridge's span. A gust of wind through the grating blew her vehicle off the bridge.<17>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Bridge

[Scout]

51. crossed that bridge many times, always kind of hyperventilating

a little bit.

ESPECIALLY after poor Leslie went over the edge :cry:

[david13]

66. You ought to try crossing it on a motorcycle, when the outer lane

is closed. So you have no choice but to ride on the grating. Slippery.
dc

[1gobluedem]

67. I hate the grating too

I don't like the way the car slides around on it. I've driven over two bridges on this list (Mackinac and Deception Pass) and been a passenger over the Seven Mile Bridge and the Bay Bridge in MD; that one scares me the most.

[Skip Intro]

29. I don't like most bridges, those over water and crazy high to allow ships under are the worst. But

I really don't like any of them. Like having the solid ground underneath me.

[demmiblue]

30. Oh, and, the Millau Viaduct in France would be pure torture (pics):

[GoneOffShore]

45. My dream is to drive across that bridge.

And then take the boat ride under it.

And stop at Roquefort and have lunch.

[blaze]

54. OMG, That's beautiful!!!

With all due respect to folks who don't want to traverse this structure....

I would *love* to drive across this bridge!! This is beautiful!!!

[Arugula Latte]

61. Wow. That is spectacularly beautiful, though.

[tammywammy]

31. No scary all the time, but bridges into/out of Bridge City, Texas

The one on the left (Veterans Memorial Bridge), is awful sometimes. I was driving in to see my grandpa and they get awful fog and it was already dark outside. The fog was so thick I couldn't tell I was even on the bridge yet, until I saw the yellow supports, and it freaked me out.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/RainbowBridge_(Texas).jpg

The Rainbow Bridge scared the shit outta me one time. It was raining really hard, we were headed over it to visit my grandpa in the rain and my mom kept yapping away. I told her to shut it. It was coming down so hard you could barely see the car in front of you. When I was little before Veterans Memorial Bridge was built, there was only the Rainbow Bridge. That sucker was built in 1938, and it was two lanes and they were small lanes, I used to just look to the right when my grandparents were driving over it. Freaky.

[grasswire]

34. chesapeake bay bridge is the worst, imo

tunnels under deep water, bridges over deep water....horrible!

The Maryland bridge to Ocean City isn't as bad, although it only takes one swerving driver to plow head-on into oncoming traffic.

When I lived in the Bay Area and had to cross the GG, I would drive max speed to get off before the quake would hit. Many people in SF do that.

[fishwax]

35. I love bridges -- but some of the walking suspension bridges on that list would give me a fright

I've driven a few of those bridges, but driving on bridges doesn't really scare me--I feel pretty comfortable behind the wheel.

The walking bridges would be a different story. I'd give some of them a try, but it would definitely be scary.

[siligut]

40. I was crossing the Capilano Suspension Bridge and one girl couldn't stop crying

Her parents were on either side of her, pulling her along, and laughing. I thought it was cruel, really. She was so frightened. Mr Gut said that it was an irrational fear, so they were helping her, I just didn't see it that way.

[Gormy Cuss]

47. I loved walking that bridge but I was traveling with a severe acrophobic.

One look at it had her running in the opposite direction.

[NewJeffCT]

39. Never bothered me, but

I remember my ex-wife getting panicked if I drove in the right lane going over a bridge. I would have to get as close to the middle as possible.

[Sanity Claws]

41. I feel the same as your wife

I try to stay in the middle and not in the extreme right where I can see the edge of the bridge. If I am forced to drive in the extreme right, I keep my eyes focused on the left side of the car and just watch the lines on the road.

I don't consider it an irrational fear. It is a realization that the only thing separating me from sailing over the edge and into the water is a thin barrier. Cars don't often sail over the side but I can envision it happening.

[Chan790]

43. There's one on the NY throughway a bit north of the Tappan-Zee.

I don't know the name but it spans a fairly-narrow (like 1 or 2 miles wide peak to peak) bowl-valley ~300 ft. deep lying to either side of a river. There is no rise to the bridge, it's flat and straight and the ground drops beneath it as you span the valley.

The first time I crossed it, I missed the sign saying we were crossing a bridge and as the driver merged into the right lane closest the guardrail I looked over and couldn't see the ground or the horizon anywhere within my visual range, had a massive panic attack due to acrophobia/vertigo screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to grab the steering wheel to merge us back into the center lane.

Also the next time I go that way home, I'm stealing a Tappan-Zee stylized-"TZ" road sign for you off the bridge approach.

[LibertyLover]

64. Do you mean the Beacon Newburgh bridge?

I've driven over that one many times when I lived in northern New Jersey. It bothered me a little, but not as much as the Bay Bridge in Maryland. When I lived in New Jersey, I used to drive over the TZ every weekend to visit a friend of mine who lived in Patterson, NY. I got very used to the TZ. The one time I had any problems with it was several years ago. They were replacing sections of the decking and in places you could look right down into the river. Now that was scary.

[kwassa]

44. I am terrified of Bay Bridge TRAFFIC JAMS! They are to be feared.

An hour-and-a-half trip to the Eastern Shore suddenly takes 4 hours! One friend got stuck on the bridge itself for several hours by a traffic accident. Another friend had a 100-mile trip take 7 hours because of the bridge.

Thinking about going to the ocean beaches? Think again.

[Digit]

49. Pay my way up there and put me up for a week

And I will be more than happy to drive you over and back.

I have been across that bridge a hundred times and it does not bother me.

Otherwise I am terrified of heights, but I guess I am have gotten used to it.

[FRSmama]

52. I'm terrified of heights

I'd have to be blindfolded to get across any of those bridges.

[Stuart G]

55. Here is an article about scary bridges..one after another after another

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-scariest-bridges/1

[Hawkeye-X]

57. I got one for y'all - Royal Gorge Bridge

US's highest bridge at 1,053 feet deep. Woo. Scary.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Gorge_Bridge

Was world's until 2003, surpassed by some bridge in China. Fuckers.

[NewJeffCT]

58. the new Pat Tillman memorial bridge looks to be pretty scary

That's Hoover Dam in the background...

[deutsey]

59. I've been back and forth across the Bay Bridge so many times I don't even think about it

I'm always surprised to hear people say they find being on it scary.

I've walked it a couple times, too, when they had Bay Bridge walks (I'm not sure if they have those anymore).

I did have an opportunity to work one summer painting the bridge, but I declined. I don't think I could have handled that.

[LibertyLover]

60. I live in Annapolis and have to use the Bay Bridge to get over to Kent Island

and the Eastern Shore. I've gotten used to it now, but the first couple of times I drove it you better believe I was scared. And yes, I agree with you that crossing the bridge on a foggy day is seriously eerie; it's even more fun if there is wind and rain thrown in for good measure. It's funny though - I do better when I'm on my own than if I have someone in the car with me - especially my young daughter.

[LynneSin]

62. I had to cross the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge & Tunnel one time when one of the bridges was closed

Normally it's 2 bridges - one north-bound and one south-bound.

Just happens to be that part of the bridge was closed so it was pretty much 2 lanes - one going each direction

:scared:

I mean you're stuck on this 27 mile bridge and if you have some guy swirve into your lane - no place to go

:scared:

But in general it's a nice bridge to drive over - very scenic.

[barb162]

65. There's a wood walking bridge over a deep gorge in CO

which shakes when people walk over it. Rope "handrails" as I remember. That I don't need to do again.