Cooper River Bridge – Charleston, S.C. (c. 1939)

The Cooper River Bridge was a 2.71-mile span over the Cooper River in Charleston, S.C. It was built at a cost of nearly $6 million and officially opened Aug. 8, 1929. The bridge would later to be renamed the Grace Memorial Bridge.

To keep up with increasing traffic demands along U.S. Route 17, a new $15-million bridge opened in April 29, 1966, parallel to the Grace Bridge. That bridge was dedicated in honor of Chief Highway Commissioner Silas N. Pearman.

A 1998 environmental impact study determined that both the Grace and Pearman bridges should be replaced.

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge opened in 2005, replacing the two obsolete cantilever-truss bridges. Also known as the New Cooper River Bridge, the modern structure is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge designed to satisfy today's traffic needs.

The new crossing was completed at a cost of about $700 million.

For more information about the Ravenel Bridge, please go to www.ravenelbridge.net.

From the back of the postcard: "The giant Cooper River Bridge, nearly 3 miles in length, leads from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant, Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms. There is not a bridge in the world like it in size, length, height or design, and it was constructed at a cost of over 5 million dollars."

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 8:59 pm. It is filed under Postcards From The Past. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.