Your favorite bridge in your city. Only post one.

[Cirrus]

Every city has bridges. Even if yours lacks a river, it's got highway overpasses. So in this thread pick ONE AND ONLY ONE bridge from your city and post a nice picture of it here.

Yes, I realize your city is a very special snowflake and has far too many wonderful bridges to pick only one. PICK ONLY ONE ANYWAY. Feel free to mention and even provide links to losing contenders, but please please please only show one picture, for one bridge. Part of the exercise here is to see what people pick when they can only pick one.

[Cirrus]

The traditional answer for Washington, DC is usually Memorial Bridge, although a solid minority will cite the much more modern Yards Park Bridge. But personally I vote for the Key Bridge (pictured), over the Potomac River. Taft Bridge looks extremely similar to Key, but goes over Rock Creek gorge instead of the Potomac River, and the river gets my vote for being prettier.

[Steely Dan]

chicago isn't a city known for majestic, long-span bridges because all of our waterways are quite narrow (chicago river, calmuet river, various channels and canals) or way too large for briges (lake michigan), but chicago does have a world class collection of moving bridges of all types and fashions. my favorite are the elevator lift railroad bridges.

Pittsburgh Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Bridge over the calumet river on the south side.


source: http://bridgehunter.com/il/cook/bh50920/

yes, my aesthetic preferences tend to lean toward the industrial might end of the spectrum.

pretty is for housewives and little girls; i like strength.

[Little A]

The Centennial Bridge between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois.

[PoshSteve]

For Cleveland, my favorite is the Detroit-Superior bridge from Downtown across the Flats and Cuyahoga River to the Ohio City neighborhood. At 3112ft long, it was the was the largest steel and concrete reinforced bridge in the world when it was completed in 1918. It was built as a two level bridge, with the lower levels used exclusively for streetcars. Since the death of the city's streetcar lines, the lower level has been abandoned except for a few times a year when its open to the public. The views are great, and there are plans to open it again full time.

[10023]

Just to get it out of the way...

[mousquet]

You recently saw the best known bridges over here, Cirrus. If I have to pick one, let's go for Pont de Bir-Hakeim, built from 1903 to 1905, connecting the 15th arronissement to the 16th.



As Pont de Bercy, it carries everything (pedestrians, cars and a subway line), but that one was made of steel instead of stone and offers a nice view of the Eiffel tower. It is one of the best bridges locally, no doubt.

[brickell]

Miami is surprisingly weak in the bridge category. I nominate none of them. So there.

The Macauthur and port bridges are lit up and look nice at night, but they're heavy, brutalist looking things. The Rickenbacker is a giant with great views. But it's ugly and kills bicyclists at an alarming rate. The Venetian has a nice old timey look, but it's barely a blip of a thing.

[tdawg]

This is the Hellgate Bridge near my home in Astoria, Queens. It was the inspiration for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

[PHX31]

I'll include Tempe in Phoenix since there are few bridges in Phoenix and most overpasses aren't much to look at:

Mill Avenue Bridge. Built in 1931 to cross the Salt River. After damming upstream, the Salt River became dry in the 1940s except during wet seasons and floods. Now, it spans Tempe Town Lake. It's my favorite because of the age and the little seating nooks.


source: www.phoenixasap.com by Robert Body

[jd3189]

Ya already know.

[emathias]

I like all the bascule bridges linking Chicago's Loop to the surrounding territories, but since I can only pick one I'm going to pick the Madison Street bridge, as I just had a photo of it this week and, as a bonus, you all get to look at me as part of it.


Photo by my partner, John Noble, used by (presumed) permission

[Streamliner]

San Diego, California: Cabrillo Bridge (1915)

A 120' high, 450' long concrete arched bridge. It crosses over a canyon and freeway using seven arches. Cabrillo Bridge handles auto and pedestrian traffic and connects the city with the museums and gardens of Balboa Park.



Source

[Larry King]

That is beautiful camden, nj in the background

[Keep-SA-Lame]

For San Antonio, I nominate Rosita's bridge at the Arneson River Theater (on the left next to the stage):



The bridge was named for a local singer. I've always loved the simplicity and gracefulness of all the arched limestone River Walk bridges, but this one has always been my favorite because of how it's incorporated into performances at the theater there.

Source:https://www.flickr.com/photos/15774094@N04/5026922931/

[BnaBreaker]

Nashville has some pretty nice bridges in the city itself, but my favorite has always been the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge in Franklin, TN. So, not technically in Nashville proper, but in the metro area. In my opinion, this thing is simply a masterpiece, and not many people know it exists.

[cabasse]

paces ferry rd bridge which crosses the chattahoochee river at the city's northwest border

[JonathanGRR]

Although the city has a great stock of old and new bridges, Grand Rapids' Blue Bridge--in the heart of downtown--is the obvious choice:


flickr, music2fish2 (eric lanning)

Officially the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Bridge, it was built in 1892 as the Grand River link to the railroad's mainline running from Cincinnati to Mackinaw City/the Straits of Mackinac. In the 1980's, the line between Grand Rapids and Cadillac, Michigan was abandoned. Subsequently, the bridge was rehabbed in 1987 as a "Laker Blue" painted pedestrian bridge. Last year, the bridge underwent its first restoration and repaint since 1987. The DDA opened up the possibility of the bridge being painted in a different color, but the public overwhelming supported keeping the blue. The above picture was taken before the repaint and installation of LED lights was completed, so I definitely recommend searching for some of those.

[Derek]

My personal favorite in Portland is the Broadway Bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Bridge_(Portland)



Built originally in 1913, it was Portland's first bascule bridge. It holds the distinction of the longest span of its bascule design type in the world.

In 2010, it was retrofit with rails going in each direction to accommodate a new line for the Portland Streetcar.




Runner-Up: St. Johns Bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Johns_Bridge

[downtownpdx]

Portland has a ton of bridges and the St. Johns Bridge is tucked away, up the Willamette River from downtown: