Lake Pontchartrain Causeway  

                                    Lake Pontchartrain Causeway 

The longest bridge of the world over water is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway with a length of approximately 24 miles. It is one of the oldest concrete bridges in the United States. The Causeway is actually two separate bridges of different lengths but running parallel to each other, each going to one way.

Quick Facts: –

• The total cost to construct the entire causeway was $84 million.
• Lake Pontchartrain is 40 miles in length and covers an area around 610 square miles. It was named for the Count de Pontchartrain.
• These bridges are supported by more than 9,500 hollow concrete pillars. Each pillar has a diameter of 55 inches.
• The toll was $2 for a round trip when the causeway opened. Motorists with toll tags pay the same price today but motorists paying cash have to pay $3.
• Construction of the first part of Lake Pontchartrain Causeway completed in 1956 and the second part completed in 1969.
• The annual revenue generated by toll is more than $16 million.
• Bridge police write about 1,100 citations per month on the causeway.
• Current annual traffic of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is around 12 million vehicles.
• Its title of the longest bridge in the world was once challenged by the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, China in 2011. But later it reclaimed the title as the longest bridge of the world over water.