the longest bridge in the world will allow you to drive over one of America's major lakes and
according to some will demonstrate the curvature of the Earth the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway has
a deep and illustrious history featuring many technological innovations that were
created in order to resolve many obstacles in the story of adaptation and achievement
as it still stands today the causeway is an engineering Marvel breaking many
records and barriers but what exactly is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and
why do so many fear Crossing it today we discover the engineering Marvel that is
the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway I'm your host Ryan sokash and you're watching it's history
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exp booster a seven day premium account booster and much more so what is the Lake Pontchartrain
Causeway well it may seem like a simple question at first but this structure is far more than any
standard bridge that crosses a lake it is also important to understand on a deeper level what
this structure is in order to better appreciate its accomplishments from a mechanical point of
view the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which is sometimes just called The Causeway is
a massive fixed-link bridge that goes across Lake Pontchartrain a huge Lake in Southeastern
Louisiana with the northern Terminus leading into the city of Mandeville and the southern Terminus
located in Mandarin a suburb in New Orleans the total length of Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is
approximately 24 miles long making it the longest continuous bridge over water in the entire world
the causeway itself is actually composed of two parallel Bridges spanning the entirety of lake
pontatrain and it is held up by 9 500 concrete piling the causeway also contains several other
features such as a drawbridge near the North Shore end beyond the engineering perspective the
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway holds a special place in New Orleans Society both as a structure that
instills fear in many but also as an invention that serves as a convenience and even a lifesaver
in some cases factors that we will examine in depth in the upcoming chapters the causeway is
not only one of the most awe-inspiring audacious man-made structures in human architectural history
but is also one of the scariest and petrifying as we have said before for example once drivers
reach about eight miles into the bridge they go so far into the lake and away from any of the
shorelines that land itself is no longer visible this gives the chilling illusion that the bridge
simply doesn't end and the drivers are stuck in an infinite body of water that is Lake Pontchartrain
furthermore because the causeways only 15 to 16 feet above the water enormous clouds of fog
often pass through covering the bridge and adding a whole other element of Fear Factor in order to
avoid accidents or collisions the authorities outlined several procedures for cases of heavy
fog these instructions tell drivers to side over to the right lane and refrain from passing other
cars while also keeping on their headlights and staying close enough to the person in front of
them so that their tail lights are visible again because the land is no longer in sight
at a certain point the blinding heavy fog or simply the amount of time it takes to cross the
massive Bridge the police report that every year they have to rescue numerous anxious drivers who
are pushed to the point of having a panic attack some people even completely freeze up due to the
Seabourn fear in these instances police officers usually drive out to the car Causeway and guide
scared passengers through a terrifying Bridge the bridge also brings life well in a way considering
how long the causeway is it's been stated that babies have been born here and at one time a plane
had to land on the road saving aviators from what would have otherwise been a disastrous situation
so by now I think it's safe to say that we've established that to many this is a pretty scary
bridge but one thing that is far more scary to everyone else is the amount of time that
it used to take to drive around this Lake hence the construction of the world's longest bridge
over water the history of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway actually goes far back into Louisiana's
past today the City of New Orleans is the most populous city in the state and is also one of
the biggest cities in the American South it grew to this point after going through vast periods of
expansion in the 1940s and 1950s as the economy was booming Nationwide and the population overall
increased however one of the biggest obstacles that New Orleans faced was its geography more
specifically the city is situated right on top of Lake Pontchartrain which separates it from other
nearby City cities and towns will travel by boat was widely used this especially became an issue
for people attempting to travel from the suburbs on the North Shore to the metropolitan area on
the southern Shore by car since going around either side of the lake took a long time hence
the ambitious idea was conjured up to construct a bridge that simply goes across the entirety of the
lake surprisingly the concept of a bridge has been around since the early 1800s before cars were even
prevalent in society but the limits of Technology at that time stopped it from ever taking off the
man behind this idea Bernard de Marini who was also the founder of the City Mandeville
compromised and opened a ferry service instead fast forward about a hundred years and the desire
for a bridge resurfaced with plans now involving the construction of several artificial islands
that would link together a series of bridges by the 1940s this plan now under the authority of
Ernest M Loeb Jr would then evolve into just one long stretching Bridge from one Shore to
the other lobe Jr was then able to convince the Louisiana legislature to create the causeway
commission with the Louisiana bridge company also being formed shortly after James E Walters
was appointed head of the project then in 1948 construction was underway after eight years of
construction costing about 46 million dollars or about 340 million today the construction process
was extremely unusual according to study.com the construction of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
was particularly noteworthy to start with the company that was tasked with building the bridge
created a manufacturing plant at the site of the Northern end of the bridge this was notable
because it meant that sections of the bridge could be created on site the bridge was created using an
assembly line which was a first for Bridges at the time the structure was also supported using piles
which are vertical support poles driven into the ground to hold up the structure it was also made
using pre-stressed concrete which is a concrete that is poured around a very strong steel rod
that has been put under tension this makes the structure much stronger which was necessary for
a bridge that had to span such a long distance the causeway was officially opened in 1956 the
bridge itself is 23.86 miles long and initially it included two straight continuous Lanes as well
as three approach roads on the north entrance and a long entrance at the South the causeway
immediately became a widely used commodity by Louisiana drivers providing to be a great
convenience for the citizens the benefit of this bridge was felt mostly by people who lived in the
North Shore towns but worked in New Orleans with many drivers having their commute shortened by
50 minutes the the achievement of a project like this from an engineering point of view led to the
causeway being designated by the American Society of civil engineers as a National Historic civil
engineering landmark in 2013 given its popularity the causeway was unfortunately subject to several
accidents which resulted in many repairs and upgrades to the bridge the most unfortunate
of the accidents came in June of 1964 when a few barges crossing the lake collided with the
causeway given how relatively low the water is the barges hit the underside of the causeway tearing a
gap into the road causing a bus to fall through it and into the water tragically killing six people
now obviously this Gap created by the barges was repaired but the causeway itself would go under
for its first and most notable major renovation shortly after the entire Causeway was expanded
with two extra Lanes of Road built alongside the original effectively making this structure a
linked Bridge though the new lanes were slightly longer this new addition to the causeway costs
around 30 million dollars at the time or about 170 million dollars in today's terms with money
from the tolls on the bridge usually being used primarily to fund these Improvement projects as
well as the ones in the future and there would be more challenges ahead as into the 21st century
the causeway would find itself involved in one of the most prominent natural disasters in American
history The Causeway was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina a massive Category 5 hurricane which
caused a devastating amount of damage and tragic loss of life throughout Louisiana and Mississippi
in August of 2005. as a result of the tidal surge heavy rainfalls and intense winds the
causeway lost about 17 spans as well as the fiber optic cable plant however the bridge luckily did
not sustain any damage to the straw structural foundation with mostly the turnarounds taking the
brunt of the Waves Wind and Rain unfortunately for New Orleans many of the other bridges in the area
were not as lucky for example the I-10 twin span Bridge which was built in segments lost about 38
sections to storm surge with about a further 200 being pushed out of alignment making the
bridge inoperable because of the severe damage to the I-10 twin span bridge and others the causeway
actually played a key role in the rescue recovery and reconstruction mission in New Orleans with the
bridge being frequently used by emergency service traveling across the entire District furthermore
the causeway was able to be repaired comparatively quickly being reopened in late September with full
operations resuming the next month meaning the whole Bridge was backed how it was offering a
convenient path across the lake after only about two months following the hurricane and to today
the causeway Still Remains an integral part of New Orleans society and really Louisiana as a
whole with the bridge being crossed by thousands of drivers daily as was mentioned before with its
length of 23.875 Miles the causeway was officially recognized as the longest bridge over water in
the world by the Guinness Book of World Records shortly after the book was first founded and it
held that record for decades however there has been some controversy surrounding that title in
the past 11 years in 2011 the giajo Bay Bridge was built in China measuring 26.5 miles long nearly
three miles longer than the causeway in Louisiana accordingly Guinness stripped Louisiana's Bridge
of its famed record as the longest bridge over water in the world handing over that record to
the new Chinese Bridge citizens of New Orleans as well as people from across Louisiana were
deeply angered by this decision as the causeway is an essential part of their community and the
world record it held was also a point of Pride and achievement for many they were also quick
to criticize the vague criteria that Guinness outlined for the new record you see for this
record which is titled longest bridge over water Guinness included the giajo Bay Bridge and other
candidates which have sections which don't actually cross water for example the giajo Bay
Bridge itself is an aggregate structure including non-continuous features such as an underwater
tunnel and several adjacent land bridges both of which were counted in the total length by
the world record book so while the giajo Bay Bridge was of course slightly longer overall the
New Orleans and Louisiana residents point out how the causeway has a longer portion which actually
crosses water in the end the Guinness Book of World Records Was able to end the controversy
by simply creating two new separate categories satisfying both parties the first of which being
the longest continuous bridge over water that was given to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and the
longest aggregate bridge over water was given to the bridge in China while the giajo Bay Bridge was
actually passed by an even longer aggregate Bridge from Hong Kong that was built in 2018 the Lake
Pontchartrain Causeway still holds its own record to this day with the citizens of New Orleans and
Louisiana holding it dear to their hearts so for those driving on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
for the first time in their lives The Disappearing land heavy fog or long distance may be the only
thing on your minds but I'd argue that having the perspective from your car in the middle of a lake
is such an oddity that this Marvel in particular stands out as one of the American greats and with
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video to date about the rooftops of Texas until next time guys this is Ryan silkash signing off