The Longest Suspension Bridges in the US

/ Liz Mayers

Before Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term in office in 1940, 5 of 10 longest suspension bridges in the US were built.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Fireside Chat 1941. Public Domain Photo Wikimedia Commons

Before Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday to JFK in 1962,  9 of the 10 had been open at least 5 years and the 10th, the Verrazano, had been under construction for nearly 3 years.

Marilyn Monroe Sings Happy Birthday to JFK at Madison Square Garden. Public Domain photo Wikimedia Commons by Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

They were all built before I was born.

Throughout the years there have been retrofittings, additional spans built, and the original span of the Carquinez Bridge was replaced this century.

Here they are with their opening year:

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, NY                     1964

Golden Gate Bridge, CA                                      1937

Mackinac Bridge,  MI                                            1954

George Washington Bridge, NY-NJ            1931

Tacoma Narrows Bridge, WA                        1950

Carquinez Bridge, CA                                         1927, 1958, 2003

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, CA     1936

Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, NY                     1939

Delaware Memorial Bridge, DE-NJ          1951

Walt Whitman Bridge, PA                             1957

 Is anyone else surprised that these bridges have been standing between half and three-quarters of a century?

I’ve been over 6 of the 10 – though obviously not driving.  I’ve been over the NY-NJ- DE bridges many, many times, with the Verrazano being my least favorite.   It also happens to be the longest suspension bridge in the US.

Which have you been over?