Bob gave me an idea. What are the hinkiest bridges you have crossed. A good one is the Mackinac Bridge, connecting upper and lower Michigan. The center lanes are steel grates darting around on that is bad 'nuff without the wind gusts from below to provide a little loft. Whoever's idea it was to make the curbs out of pipe, needs to be slapped. Hit that and you'll probably get vaulted up and over instead of deflected back into your lane.

 

The Tallahatche Bridge in Mississippi (remember the song?) in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.

John (DH)

 

Royal Gorge bridge before they upgraded it.

Look here for some pics.

 

What the heck is hinkey?

 

Extremely skerry!!

 

You look like this before you cross it...


http://www.mightymac.org/bridge.htm

 

I think my only bridge experience was this summer , i was roading a combine down a back road in oklahoma, was coming up to a small bridge ( i was just on a grid road, nothing fancy) and saw the sign , MAX 4 TONS... thought hmm, i pulled back on the hydro lever some , and radioed the boss to ask how much a combine weighs ( i knew it was ALOT more than 4 tons , the header alone is 9000 lbs), the answer i got back "more than 4 tons, keep going... but lower the header , incase you fall through" I sat there sorta stunned for a minute , put on my seat belt , and had atter got across no problem , but the tires were hanging over both sides.

Only other bridge experience i had was also this summer , also in a combine , and also in oklahoma , just outside of Enid , again , roading a combine , except i was on pavement , and in a hurry, because i really did NOT want to meet any traffic coming at me , i had a 36' header hanging off of the front, came up to a concrete bridge , with low sides , i thought great , the header will go over them easily , and it did , i just forgot about the ladder that was hanging off of the side of my cab... Good thing that have a spring loaded breakaway on them .

The only other thing i hit (besides the odd sign that was in the way at intersections and stuff) was a mailbox , it was standing on the side of the road , bolted to an old semi truck brake drum (lucky for me) i THOUGHT the header would go over it i even tilted it to the opposite side , so i didn't slow down , i was WRONG, happened to see something white go flying out of the corner of my eye , it was the mailbox tumbling up the road beside me. I stopped and stood it back up , and stuffed the mail back in it (in my sock feet) while the guy in the grain cart behind me was falling out of his seat laughing

 

The old Cooper river bridge in Charleston, S.C. They just built a new one and put it in service about 1 year ago. I am talking about the original bridge from Downtown Charleston to Mt. Pleseant.

 

Royal Gorge here too. Pretty freaky looking down from that thing!

 

If I thought I could find it, I'd post a pic of the river through a knothole in the old bridge. The picture is real clear, but no on ever guessed what it was.

I ain't much on high places and made sure there was nothing between me and the ends the whole time I was out there. Driving across it wasn't too bad, because it was so narrow you really couldn't anything but the sides.

 

Port Renfrew swinging bridge. It was on a logging road on Vancouver Island. Between Port Renfrew and Shawnigan lake.It was made of cable and it would swing side to side as you drove on it. They took it down about 10-15 years ago. I don't miss it.

 

Pretty much any bridge in Oklahoma... Nahh they aren't all that bad, but I have been over a few on the county roads that I wasn't sure I was going to make it over...

 

I have to go over a wooden bridge in my work truck (55k GVW tandem axle) to get to a customer. That's the spookiest one I deal with regulalrly.

The Burlington-Bristol bridge across the Delaware river is not one I like either. Very narrow, no center divider, and an open grate deck.

 

I remember once when I was younger me and dad were hauling a feller buncher across a max 15 ton bridgs, and this was on a woods road so the bridege was narrow, when we crossed Dad made me get out and walk across while he crossed, it was that bad, we only had 2''-3'' clearance on each side. When I ran across the bridege it shook, not a fun experience.

The machine we were hauling

 

chesapeak bay bridge tunnel. i hit it heading south at 4AM in the morning. they had the bridge closed to all traffic except big truck. i was on a 900 ninja, they told me i could not cross. but i explained that i was in the military and they would not except me being late. the told me to wait and when the last ruck got to the other side, they let me pass. the wind was so bad that i was being blown from one side to the other. i finally said the heck with it and sped up to 120 or so. at that speed the bike never went more than a foot or two with the wind gust. when i got to the other side the toll booth operator said that he never had seen anyone make it that quick.
but the royal gorge is a killer view.