Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Bridge

We live across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. To get there, we go "across the bridge". The bridge is the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway. The Causeway is the longest bridge in the world that is over water and the second longest in the world overall. The Causeway consists of two parallel bridges that are approximately 23.87 miles long. We have to pay a toll if we are going southbound to New Orleans, but there is no toll for the return trip. This picture shows the toll booths for the south bound traffic.

Driving across the bridge brings some interesting sites. Sometimes you will see a pelican sitting on the railing or seagulls looking for dinner. Many boats are seen along the trip...sailboats, fishing boats, those who are crabbing, and those just out for a ride. I don't think we give much thought to how amazing the bridge is. It is just a part of life here on the Northshore.

2 comments:

Lin said...

So what happens if you break down on this long bridge?? It's really 23 miles long???

Merry said...

Yes, it really is that long. It passes pretty quickly. There are mile markers and Phillip will call on the way home from work and let me know what mile marker he is at. Dinner plans are made off of that.

There are 7 crossovers if you can make it to one. Otherwise there are call boxes galore. There are a couple of tow trucks stationed at the crossovers. Breakdowns can really clog up traffic. The worst is fog season. During severe fog, they close one lane and convoy across led by a Causeway Police car (yes they are called that) to regulate speed. You learn real quickly to listen to the traffic report in the morning.