As a child, I remember when this bridge had two-way traffic. By the time I started driving, they had built another bridge with traffic heading in the opposite direction. When I was young, I used to drive over this bridge so nonchalantly, but after looking at this video, I can see just how intimidating this bridge really was.
She probably meant the old Grace Memorial Bridge, which this is. But it was the only one and had two way traffic!!! Those lanes were very narrow, video doesn’t do it justice!
Wow. I remember this bridge well. I was in middle school in the late 80s when my grandparents and I went to see family in Beaufort from Johnsonville. I moved 5 years before the demolition. This bridge is why I love bridges today. You knew you were in Charleston when you crossed that bridge.
Now try to imagine when this was the only river crossing and traffic was two-way. Clutching that steering wheel for dear life, bouncing over those old expansion joints while oncoming traffic whizzes past you just inches away. Driving over it at night must have been even more terrifying, blinded by headlights coming at you and in your rearview mirror.
What really shows that this thing was doomed form the start is that it was bluit in roughly 2 years, which is an abysmally short amount of time. Wonder why it became obsolete after only 50 years, hmmmmm?
I've never forgotten that bridge and wish it was still around to take my daughter on it. I was in Charleston in 2003 and commuted daily from Mt Pleasant to Charleston Air Force Base. I'll never forget that bridge and how white-knuckled I was every time I went across it. You didn't get to look out the window at any views. You kept your eyes straight ahead. LOL Thanks for sharing the video. Brings back some great memories of crossing that scary crazy bridge.
I did not see anything scary about it. On the other hand, you should have crossed the Huey P Long Bridge in New Orleans before they widened it. It shook badly when a train was crossing it. 2 lanes each way for traffic and they were 9 feet wide, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C7QLQklbLOE.htmlsi=PVX7N-UhDy3vUOG7
The first and only time I drove over that was at night, during a rain storm at the end of a very long day of driving from Maryland via Long Island. Got to a restaurant and handed my wife (girlfriend at the time) the keys and drank a few beers with dinner before she drove us to our motel for the night. Never forget it. White knuckled the whole way across that thing.
Wow, so many memories- including stalling out before the peak of the second span. I would have forever forgotten the road just before the bridge if not for this video.
I was watching one of those "world's scariest bridges" videos and I was like what was that old bridge in Charleston that scared the crap out of me as a kid? And here it is, so thank you!
girl bye: When you're afraid of heights and traveling over water like I am it can be very scary, I only went across the bridge once during my 11 years living in Charleston, I live in Miami Florida now. 😌
I remember this bridge in the early 2000s cause I went to kindergarten in Mount pleasant. Even though the bridge was very old and had alot of negatives behind it, im glad I was able to experience it before it was demolished
THE ORIGINAL COOPER RIVER BRIDGE BOTTOMED OUT ON THE STREET CALLED LEE STREET - STILL THERE - AND LEE STREET ENDED AT MEETING STREET... IF YOU TURNED LEFT ON MEETING, YOU HEADED INTO THE CITY OF CHARLESTON... IF YOU TURNED RIGHT - YOU HEADED AWAY FROM CHARLESTON... IF YOU CONTINUED STRAIGHT, THE NEXT STREET DOWN WAS WALNUT STREET AND MY MOM AND HER TWO SISTERS AND BROTHER, GREW UP IN A HOUSE ON WALNUT STREET... THAT HOUSE WAS EVENTUALLY REMOVED TO MAKE WAY FOR THE 1-26 ON-RAMP... THE ORIGINAL COOPER RIVER BRIDGE CREATED QUITE A THRILL WHEN CARS STARTED GETTING WIDER AND IT WAS STILL A TWO-WAY BRIDGE AT THAT TIME...lol
I remember living in Charleston in 1977 and I had to take driving lessons and one of my lesson was to cross the cooper river bridge in the car I was in training happens to be a gremlin
Oh my gosh...no way. I could NOT have driven on that bridge as a teenager, especially for my driving test! At least a Gremlin was smaller. I also took my test in 1977. Mom had a 1974 Monte Carlo. I think in that car it would have seemed to take up too much of the lane. I would need a valium after driving over that bridge!
I crossed this bridge once, in my uncle's motorhome in the 80s. I was terrified because up high in the RV it looked like we'd go over the side. Then I really started panicking when it sounded like we were hitting the side of the bridge. IIRC they forgot to put the step up and it was scraping against something. I was maybe 10 and the adults got a kick out of my fear and messing with me saying we're going over! I was so relieved once that was over
Not from CHS but spent my summers there from age baby. That is and will forever be “the old Cooper River Bridge,” not to be confused with the new one, which had a reversible lane and has now also been gone for at least a decade.
I lived in Summerville in the early 90’s and was a delivery driver in the Charleston area at that time. I was so afraid of going over this bridge. The white knuckles are a fact!! I’ve been over the new one a time or 2 coming back to visit. That one is quite impressive although a little scary itself!
Im from Charleston,Ive driven this bridge a few times and believe it or not it actually sways too. The video is good but I must say til your actually doing it you cant know. That old bridge was very narrow. I still have dreams about that old bridge to this day. Glad they demolished it and built something more suitable for the times.
I drove across the Ravenel Bridge twice during a road trip from Salt Lake City to Myrtle Beach and back. Amazing bridge! Then I moved to Charleston in 2019 and only then did I start hearing stories about the old Cooper River Bridge. The Don Holt Bridge is nutso to drive across, the Ravenel not so much. But now seeing this footage, I can see how crazy it was.
It was absolutely nerve-wracking! Even as a little kid riding in the back seat, i was terrified we'd either smash into another car or drive right off the bridge 😬
When I was in 3rd grade, we lived in Walterboro. We went to the beach at Isle of Palms and had to cross the original bridge to and from. It was terrifying to me. Always dreaded that part of the trip.
Thanks for the memories. The worst was when someone decided to park at the top and take that once in a lifetime leap. Driving on the bridge is awful. Being stuck on the bridge in traffic for hours is even worse.
I'm a teen and so i was born after these bridges were gone but i've had family describe how horrifying they were and damn this video really shows that, it's almost as tall as the ravanel and its like 10ft wide 💀💀
This is true, but I really did love traveling over them. Most of my family was terrified of them. My dad did, too. Probably where I got my crazy from. :)
This is the older span when it was made this was the only span here but when they made the other spin on the left in the video they made more lanes and more bigger and less narrow so there’s gonna be traffic on it the order span only has two narrow lanes and it’s very dangerous
I remember that because that was the year we had to move back to Greenville Sc from down there witch I really wish I was back down there I miss it there
Very old and narrow. Imagine this bridge with heavy traffic. That was my experience going over it. The whole time I thought my mom was going to hit the sides.
Think this bridge is bad imagine this one. It’s not here in Charleston anymore as they built a new one that’s less sketch. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CZy-BRZ7swQ.htmlsi=qMk5C7I-LOn0BnMI
@@jessecumbee6156yep. Not a well designed bridge at all. Even the people in the 1920s knew this, and the engineers of both the Pearman and Ravenval bridge fixed this.