I drove across this bridge from Illinois to Kentucky about fifteen years ago, and I still remember it. It is the creepiest bridge I have ever experienced, straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I love your video. Thank you for sharing it with everyone on TH-cam.
I have driven on a number of bridges with the same open steel deck. Your tires seem to want to wander side to side, as you cross this bridge. Tires that are of a narrower width, tend to wander side to side much more. It can be a scary experience. If you can take another route to avoid bridges like this one, I highly recommend doing so.
I grew up here and before the new bridge was open it was the only bridge you could take to Paducah, part my Driver's Ed test was going over this bridge. Thank you for sharing.
Crossed this bridge on my Harley Davidson. Man it was nerve racking!! Just have to remain calm and focused, I thought it was never going to end. Glad I did it though will admit I avoided it on the way back home. Can imagine at night it being worse or bad weather...
When I was younger, there was a bridge in Ashland, Ky just like that. Well, the story go like this, we expect my mom used the restroom at a truck stop on the Ohio side before cross the river. As soon as we cross the bridge, my mom look down and saw the river thought the steel grate on the bridge. She start saying "She need to go to the bathroom now!!"
I have a friend who’s a very skilled and experienced motorcycle rider. He crossed this bridge once not realizing what he was getting into. Said he would never ride over it again. Good enough for me, I’m never gonna try on a bike!
My parents often passed through this area as we drove from Clarksville, TN to St. Louis to visit my grandparents. Sometime in the late 70s or early 80s, they closed the I-24 bridge for about 6 months for paving and repairs. This bridge was the designated detour. Imagine having to cross this thing with that amount of traffic and all of those trucks. As a kid, I was terrified of the noise and of the car wobbling from going across the steel deck, and it’s this bridge that makes me dread driving on steel deck bridges to this day.
My cousin who was a teenager at the time had a 55 Chevy, used to race across that bridge going 75 mph, that was around 1960 when I was about 14, that was an eye-opener!
I grew up in Paducah. Dad told me back when he was a teen there was a man that lived in Brookport and worked in Paducah. He wouldn’t drive it so he kept a car at each end and hitch hiked across. He would close his eyes and hold his feet off the floor board going across. My sister does that foot thing too.
I like the bridge. I go across it every time I go to KY. I dont know why you would want to come over here. Be prepared to spend a bunch of money when you come over here.
What a nightmare towing a 35 foot travel trailer across this. I thought this was a shortcut from Paducah to Memphis. Once I was on the bridge there was no turning back. I met multiple semis and felt like I only had a few inches on either side. I would never cross this on a motorcycle.
We used to have an open-grate bridge over the Mississippi on Lowry Avenue in Minneapolis. The sight of the river through the deck below the bridge terrorized me when I was a kid but eventually I got used to it enough that I’d ride my bike across it in my teens. When driving across it the wheels on a car “hunted” and jerked so that it seemed the bridge deck would cause a head-on collision-it was a very disconcerting part of an otherwise pleasant visit to grandma and grandpa’s place on Central Avenue.
I’ve never been to the U.S.A before in my life but if I ever get the chance to go, that bridge is one of the first things I wanna see. I actually really wanna drive across it both ways. I honestly think the Brookport Bridge is actually really cool.
i dont mean to be so off topic but does any of you know of a way to get back into an instagram account? I was stupid lost the account password. I love any assistance you can give me!
@Camden Miguel thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im trying it out atm. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
My grandmother lived just outside Brookport in the 50s-70s, and is buried in the Brookport cemetery. I spent a number of summers and one school year there. A trip to Paducah over the bridge to go to the movies was a normal Saturday drive. In those days there was no lower guardrail and hence a scary gap at the edge of the roadway.
I often drove across the old Huey P Long bridge in New Orleans built in the 1930s. The lanes were just as narrow, but there were 4 traffic lanes and 2 railroad tracks in the middle. It would sway and shake when trains would pass. It was always crowded with 18-wheelers and dump trucks as well, so you'd just have to gird your loins to pass them. It's a modern bridge now with 6 traffic lanes with actual breakdown lanes. Crazy how there's bridges like this one still around in the US.
I have only driven on the 24....but i remember seeing this bridge off in the distance. It has been a few years since but I can see it now in my mind. And there isn't much in there anyways, so, what the eff, aye?
This bridge, besides having narrow lanes, has two lanes going in opposite directions. If someone is driving very slowly they could hold up traffic in that direction. There is also no breakdown lane and it is also a fairly length span. The bridge also seems fairly high over the Ohio River. All these factors, and the fact that its a metal mesh roadway so you can see the river below through the roadway, would make it a challenge for bridge-phobic people. On the other hand, it is basically flat and would make experience less scary than say, the steep, rollercoaster-like grade of the Rainbow Bridge in Texas.
There's a bridge just like that between DeSoto WI, and Lansing IA. over the Mississippi River. It's not as long, but looks exactly the same. Narrow with an open deck, and it was originally a private toll bridge just like this one. There are a lot of accidents because people try to drive down the middle because it's so narrow and their scared. In this area it has to be an open deck because of fish fly swarms.
I've never driven across this bridge, but Washington's winters are just as brutal as Illinois' is, and metal bridge decks (yes, we have a few bridges with metal decks here too) and wintery weather are a dangerous mix.
I crossed this this bridge before tonight, but this time I was driving a dually with a 48 foot enclosed car trailer. Sketchy is an understatement. I’m 8’ 6”wide and 9‘6“ tall, 66’ long. About two inches clearance on the passenger side and over the line on the left doesn’t leave much room for error, then you’ve got the tire squirm that is moving you aside to side. Honestly, not a fan, but it got me a across the River when a wreck had 24 closed up.
Try driving over the Walt Whitman or Commodore Barry twice a day like I do in extreme traffic jams and severe thunderstorms almost everyday around here.
@@MissRobbiOKC in the 80's we rode motorcycles A LOT usta cross that going to LBL in Kentucky, quite a trip , most people dont know the floor of it is steel grates, you can see through it
I have been across this bridge about 4 times in my life its is nerve racking to cross my only problem I had it drivers pulling trailers, campers, and boats and people with their headlight not adjusted right.
Would like to get down there and go across this bridge sometime. The Mississippi River bridge at Lansing, IA; while not nearly as long, has the same steel underframe. The old Mississippi River bridge that connected Savanna, IL with Sabula, IA was a bit higher and long and of the same design. It was replaced a few years ago.
Steel grating is used for bridge decking to mitigate the stress put on the bridge from winds,snow & ice. I suspect if the original bridge decking was concrete it was replaced with the grids for too reasons. The first was deteriorating concrete. Cheaper for dteel& upkeep reasons. The second was the Tacoma Narrows bridge in Washington state( galloping Girdy). That bridge collapsed due to twisting & flexing from winds. That bridge had a solid surface deck & no steel. My state, Michigan, has the Mackinac bridge. 5 miles long, connecting our 2 peninsulas. It has 4 lanes, 2 which are steel decking( grid). This grid was for wind factors, snow & ice. No one likes to grave it either. The humming sound, the weaving of the tires while driving on it & the ability to look through it( 250", straight down).
That bridge was state of the art when it was built. A paved surface would be too heavy for the trusses to support. Everybody would whine, and piss and moan about the tax money it would cost to replace it. so just leave well enough alone.
i drove across this once a few years ago. felt and looked like it needs to be put out of it's misery. glad I don't live in these crappy parts of the country. so depressing.
Right now, if you are going to get across to Illinois, you have to use the bridge because the I-24 bridge is shut down to one lane in each direction; or you can sit in traffic for 2 hours. I have driven my Excursion across many times with no issues. Great video!
@@JCRamZ I have family in Vienna, IL and I literally "went the back way". I drove across the Brookport Bridge, got to Metropolis Exit 37 and went down Illinois 145. I later learned the Interstate was closed from Exit 16 to Exit 37 for "Emergency Resurfacing". When I started down 145 truck traffic was backed up for 3 miles.
It wasn't always made of steel mesh. It was silver and had regular pavement. I remember when they redid it and put the mesh in. I was a kid, but I think they said it was supposed to make it less dangerous in winter, as I recall.
When we ventured through Paducah coming up from the southwest, we crossed one river then took a sharp left (?) and soon crossed another river. Where would that have happened ?
The Ohio River is soooo much wider and deeper than the Mississippi where they converge that it's surprising they didn't call the river the Ohio all the way from Cairo to New Orleans. I suppose " Mighty Mississippi" just sounded better rolling off the tounge, LOL.
It's been many years since I've been over this bridge. It doesn't make me nervous because I love bridges. However, with the current water level due to the flooding; I'd rather not cross it. I do wonder if at some point the age of the bridge might retire it. I don't know how that works; do they keep them until...
Thanks for sharing. Some of the videos of this bridge make it look like the car of the person recording is being jerked all over the place. It appears that your car crossed it a lot smoother or you have done a better job of securing your camera.
No different. I have done that as well. I also drove across it just hours before a barge tow struck it for the umpteenth time. That old dog just keeps standing.
The old bridge that was built in 1940, that formerly carried U.S. 231 at the riverfront in Owensboro is known as the Glover Carey Bridge. The new cable stayed bridge located near Maceo, KY is known as the William H. Natcher bridge and currently carries U.S. 231. In 2015, this bridge was connected directly to the Wendall Ford bypass. I have friends that live in Maceo and they just told me to go home, "Just go until you see the exit for Fredrica Street." That is U.S. 431 and takes me to Central City. I live in Paducah.
This video also goes to show how bad of drivers here are in the area. You captured 2 driving infractions the first was the car that ran the stop sign on the Illinois side in Brookport(@2:29) and the second was the car passing in a no passing zone coming from Illinois into kentucky. (@4:58) the way people drive in this area is terrible.
716 feet long? Just by watching this video Its obvious that the bridge is FAR longer than that. I looked it up. It's 5,385.8 feet long! That's over one mile! Even the span over the river is many times longer than 716 feet. In fact, each section of the bridge is over 700 feet and there are many sections. What were you thinking? You would cross a 716 ft. bridge in a matter of seconds. How could you look at the bridge, let alone drive over it and say it's only 716 feet long? Where did you get such a goofy number?
I couldn't imagine driving over that in snowy or especially icy conditions.
I drove across this bridge from Illinois to Kentucky about fifteen years ago, and I still remember it. It is the creepiest bridge I have ever experienced, straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I love your video. Thank you for sharing it with everyone on TH-cam.
That is one scary lookin bridge, the high steel frame scares me
I have driven on a number of bridges with the same open steel deck. Your tires seem to want to wander side to side, as you cross this bridge. Tires that are of a narrower width, tend to wander side to side much more. It can be a scary experience. If you can take another route to avoid bridges like this one, I highly recommend doing so.
No way will I ever drive across that bridge again! 😅. Terrifying.
Enjoyed the video. My son and his family drove over it and sent me a video.
I grew up here and before the new bridge was open it was the only bridge you could take to Paducah, part my Driver's Ed test was going over this bridge. Thank you for sharing.
Greetings from Ireland
Crossed this bridge on my Harley Davidson. Man it was nerve racking!! Just have to remain calm and focused, I thought it was never going to end. Glad I did it though will admit I avoided it on the way back home. Can imagine at night it being worse or bad weather...
When I was younger, there was a bridge in Ashland, Ky just like that. Well, the story go like this, we expect my mom used the restroom at a truck stop on the Ohio side before cross the river. As soon as we cross the bridge, my mom look down and saw the river thought the steel grate on the bridge. She start saying "She need to go to the bathroom now!!"
I have a friend who’s a very skilled and experienced motorcycle rider. He crossed this bridge once not realizing what he was getting into. Said he would never ride over it again. Good enough for me, I’m never gonna try on a bike!
My parents often passed through this area as we drove from Clarksville, TN to St. Louis to visit my grandparents. Sometime in the late 70s or early 80s, they closed the I-24 bridge for about 6 months for paving and repairs. This bridge was the designated detour. Imagine having to cross this thing with that amount of traffic and all of those trucks. As a kid, I was terrified of the noise and of the car wobbling from going across the steel deck, and it’s this bridge that makes me dread driving on steel deck bridges to this day.
My cousin who was a teenager at the time had a 55 Chevy, used to race across that bridge going 75 mph, that was around 1960 when I was about 14, that was an eye-opener!
I grew up in Paducah.
Dad told me back when he was a teen there was a man that lived in Brookport and worked in Paducah.
He wouldn’t drive it so he kept a car at each end and hitch hiked across.
He would close his eyes and hold his feet off the floor board going across.
My sister does that foot thing too.
Yikes! I can't imagine the scare during a rainy day. Thanks for sharing! 😊
Spookiest Bridge I ever drove.
I like the bridge. I go across it every time I go to KY. I dont know why you would want to come over here. Be prepared to spend a bunch of money when you come over here.
What a nightmare towing a 35 foot travel trailer across this. I thought this was a shortcut from Paducah to Memphis. Once I was on the bridge there was no turning back. I met multiple semis and felt like I only had a few inches on either side. I would never cross this on a motorcycle.
ONE THING MISSING
IN THIS VIDEO
THE BUZZING BEE LIKE
SOUND OF THE BRIDGE
AS VEHICLE RIDES ON IT
We used to have an open-grate bridge over the Mississippi on Lowry Avenue in Minneapolis. The sight of the river through the deck below the bridge terrorized me when I was a kid but eventually I got used to it enough that I’d ride my bike across it in my teens. When driving across it the wheels on a car “hunted” and jerked so that it seemed the bridge deck would cause a head-on collision-it was a very disconcerting part of an otherwise pleasant visit to grandma and grandpa’s place on Central Avenue.
That's a long effin' bridge. Never had the pleasure
I’ve never been to the U.S.A before in my life but if I ever get the chance to go, that bridge is one of the first things I wanna see. I actually really wanna drive across it both ways. I honestly think the Brookport Bridge is actually really cool.
i dont mean to be so off topic but does any of you know of a way to get back into an instagram account?
I was stupid lost the account password. I love any assistance you can give me!
@Rhys Tatum Instablaster :)
@Camden Miguel thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im trying it out atm.
I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Camden Miguel it worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thank you so much you saved my account :D
@Rhys Tatum you are welcome :)
Portland have a bridge with a steel grate and that’s scary. I can imagine this bridge. It’s much longer.
I cross it every week...on my way to thrive...
id love to drive on this anytime
I drove a semi truck over that bridge every week for years even smacked mirrors with another truck once
My grandmother lived just outside Brookport in the 50s-70s, and is buried in the Brookport cemetery. I spent a number of summers and one school year there. A trip to Paducah over the bridge to go to the movies was a normal Saturday drive. In those days there was no lower guardrail and hence a scary gap at the edge of the roadway.
I often drove across the old Huey P Long bridge in New Orleans built in the 1930s. The lanes were just as narrow, but there were 4 traffic lanes and 2 railroad tracks in the middle. It would sway and shake when trains would pass. It was always crowded with 18-wheelers and dump trucks as well, so you'd just have to gird your loins to pass them. It's a modern bridge now with 6 traffic lanes with actual breakdown lanes. Crazy how there's bridges like this one still around in the US.
I hear ya. I live 45 minutes from New Orleans.
Very informative, thank you!
Drove over it today.... Yes it unsuspectingly makes car wobble. Half way across Google Map blurts out from the cell app “Welcome to Kentucky’”
I have only driven on the 24....but i remember seeing this bridge off in the distance. It has been a few years since but I can see it now in my mind. And there isn't much in there anyways, so, what the eff, aye?
This bridge, besides having narrow lanes, has two lanes going in opposite directions. If someone is driving very slowly they could hold up traffic in that direction. There is also no breakdown lane and it is also a fairly length span. The bridge also seems fairly high over the Ohio River. All these factors, and the fact that its a metal mesh roadway so you can see the river below through the roadway, would make it a challenge for bridge-phobic people. On the other hand, it is basically flat and would make experience less scary than say, the steep, rollercoaster-like grade of the Rainbow Bridge in Texas.
There's a bridge just like that between DeSoto WI, and Lansing IA. over the Mississippi River. It's not as long, but looks exactly the same. Narrow with an open deck, and it was originally a private toll bridge just like this one. There are a lot of accidents because people try to drive down the middle because it's so narrow and their scared. In this area it has to be an open deck because of fish fly swarms.
I've never driven across this bridge, but Washington's winters are just as brutal as Illinois' is, and metal bridge decks (yes, we have a few bridges with metal decks here too) and wintery weather are a dangerous mix.
I crossed this this bridge before tonight, but this time I was driving a dually with a 48 foot enclosed car trailer. Sketchy is an understatement. I’m 8’ 6”wide and 9‘6“ tall, 66’ long. About two inches clearance on the passenger side and over the line on the left doesn’t leave much room for error, then you’ve got the tire squirm that is moving you aside to side. Honestly, not a fan, but it got me a across the River when a wreck had 24 closed up.
I wanna drive it!
Hello JC enjoyed the ride with you I am from mumbai, india as for me there is no way I can come to America for a practical ride by myself.
I drive this twice a day for work
Try driving over the Walt Whitman or Commodore Barry twice a day like I do in extreme traffic jams and severe thunderstorms almost everyday around here.
My wife started crying 1/3 way across begging me to go back
I might do the same if I crossed it!
@@MissRobbiOKC in the 80's we rode motorcycles A LOT usta cross that going to LBL in Kentucky, quite a trip , most people dont know the floor of it is steel grates, you can see through it
I have been across this bridge about 4 times in my life its is nerve racking to cross my only problem I had it drivers pulling trailers, campers, and boats and people with their headlight not adjusted right.
I think its awesome. I hope they never tear it down but alas...
Would like to get down there and go across this bridge sometime. The Mississippi River bridge at Lansing, IA; while not nearly as long, has the same steel underframe. The old Mississippi River bridge that connected Savanna, IL with Sabula, IA was a bit higher and long and of the same design. It was replaced a few years ago.
Imagine having to paint this bridge.
my dad used to get his lotto tickets at that little gas station that was on the right
I know exactly where you are talking about. Thanks for the comment.
Squirrely!
Steel grating is used for bridge decking to mitigate the stress put on the bridge from winds,snow & ice. I suspect if the original bridge decking was concrete it was replaced with the grids for too reasons. The first was deteriorating concrete. Cheaper for dteel& upkeep reasons. The second was the Tacoma Narrows bridge in Washington state( galloping Girdy). That bridge collapsed due to twisting & flexing from winds. That bridge had a solid surface deck & no steel. My state, Michigan, has the Mackinac bridge. 5 miles long, connecting our 2 peninsulas. It has 4 lanes, 2 which are steel decking( grid). This grid was for wind factors, snow & ice. No one likes to grave it either. The humming sound, the weaving of the tires while driving on it & the ability to look through it( 250", straight down).
Being across this bridge once been across the mackinaw bridge literally hundreds of times The Mac is a breeze driving compared to this one
Beautiful bridge! The lanes are so narrow though, that would make it extra scary!
I've been crossing that bridge since 1964 and I'm pretty sure it wasn't originally grate.
Anyone know for sure?
We call it the Blue Bridge.
That bridge was state of the art when it was built. A paved surface would be too heavy for the trusses to support. Everybody would whine, and piss and moan about the tax money it would cost to replace it. so just leave well enough alone.
So narrow like old Burlington Bridge or old McCluggage in Peoria
i drove across this once a few years ago. felt and looked like it needs to be put out of it's misery. glad I don't live in these crappy parts of the country. so depressing.
Right now, if you are going to get across to Illinois, you have to use the bridge because the I-24 bridge is shut down to one lane in each direction; or you can sit in traffic for 2 hours. I have driven my Excursion across many times with no issues. Great video!
You are right about this. Lately, there has been so much work on I-24, it is quicker just to take Brookport Bridge.
@@JCRamZ I have family in Vienna, IL and I literally "went the back way". I drove across the Brookport Bridge, got to Metropolis Exit 37 and went down Illinois 145. I later learned the Interstate was closed from Exit 16 to Exit 37 for "Emergency Resurfacing". When I started down 145 truck traffic was backed up for 3 miles.
It wasn't always made of steel mesh. It was silver and had regular pavement. I remember when they redid it and put the mesh in. I was a kid, but I think they said it was supposed to make it less dangerous in winter, as I recall.
Scary bridge!!☠️☠️👹💩
Definitely!
I’ve been over the Brookport bridge a lot and it’s kind of creepy at night 4:55
That’s more than 700 feet long.
The I-24 bridge a mile west is 5680 ft long.
A deathtrap and an insult to the taxpayers from the start.
Interesting comment.
It was built when the ford model A was prevalent
When we ventured through Paducah coming up from the southwest, we crossed one river then took a sharp left (?) and soon crossed another river. Where would that have happened ?
You may have been in Cairo, Illinois. This is where the Mississippi River and Ohio River merge. It's about an hour from Paducah.
That river is so wide I thought it was the mighty Missip at first. Lol
Unless the Mississippi is flooded it is not actually as wide as the Ohio until you get south of where they converge.
@@ramblinman4197 I bet the Ohio river is very deep to be that wide.
The Ohio River is soooo much wider and deeper than the Mississippi where they converge that it's surprising they didn't call the river the Ohio all the way from Cairo to New Orleans. I suppose " Mighty Mississippi" just sounded better rolling off the tounge, LOL.
It's been many years since I've been over this bridge. It doesn't make me nervous because I love bridges. However, with the current water level due to the flooding; I'd rather not cross it. I do wonder if at some point the age of the bridge might retire it. I don't know how that works; do they keep them until...
I haven't heard anything them retiring this bridge, however, it is definitely an old bridge.
Thanks for sharing. Some of the videos of this bridge make it look like the car of the person recording is being jerked all over the place. It appears that your car crossed it a lot smoother or you have done a better job of securing your camera.
I used a tripod.
Wonder what it's like to drive across it at night while its foggy. 😬
I wouldn't want to.
No different. I have done that as well. I also drove across it just hours before a barge tow struck it for the umpteenth time. That old dog just keeps standing.
No way !!!when its freezing i .b might than the bridge is closed 😂😊😊😊
No shoulder on neither side. Imagine if your car stalled out on that thing. That'd suck.
It would be terrible to have a breakdown on that bridge. 🌉
4:55 The guy passed illegally on a double yellow
That's paying attention to detail.
@@JCRamZ I noticed that too!
I noticed, too....speeding and illegal passing. Too bad the PD wasn't nearby.
I'm sure this sounds like a stupid question but does anyone know the name of the bridge that separates Rockport Indiana from Owensboro Kentucky. 🤔
I'm not for sure. Maybe somebody else knows.
The old bridge that was built in 1940, that formerly carried U.S. 231 at the riverfront in Owensboro is known as the Glover Carey Bridge. The new cable stayed bridge located near Maceo, KY is known as the William H. Natcher bridge and currently carries U.S. 231. In 2015, this bridge was connected directly to the Wendall Ford bypass. I have friends that live in Maceo and they just told me to go home, "Just go until you see the exit for Fredrica Street." That is U.S. 431 and takes me to Central City. I live in Paducah.
Whose idea to put steel grading on the whole bridge in the first place?
That is a good question. I have no idea.
i saw the Illinois sign, but not the Kentucky sign.
I’m just wondering how high above the water is this bridge?
I honestly don't know.
The words of the caption block the view of ascending the bridge. Is there a way to turn the words off? If not, repost without the caption.
If your are referring to the captions, then hit the cc button at the bottom of the screen. This should get rid of the captions.
@@JCRamZ Thank you!
This video also goes to show how bad of drivers here are in the area. You captured 2 driving infractions the first was the car that ran the stop sign on the Illinois side in Brookport(@2:29) and the second was the car passing in a no passing zone coming from Illinois into kentucky. (@4:58) the way people drive in this area is terrible.
Check out my latest video!! 🌉
Be sorry if you had too go to the bathroom
Fuck that.
716 feet long? Just by watching this video Its obvious that the bridge is FAR longer than that. I looked it up. It's 5,385.8 feet long! That's over one mile! Even the span over the river is many times longer than 716 feet. In fact, each section of the bridge is over 700 feet and there are many sections. What were you thinking? You would cross a 716 ft. bridge in a matter of seconds. How could you look at the bridge, let alone drive over it and say it's only 716 feet long? Where did you get such a goofy number?
716 feet is the main span length. Somehow i got mixed up. Anyway, my bad.
Drove on it one time ,never again