Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge - Concrete & Steel American Trail - Charleston, South Carolina

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge as seen from extruded bridge viewing platform
 Not all of the trails I follow weave through deep forests or scale mountain peaks. Some of them are unexpected but very familiar parts of the urban landscape of America. Such is the case with the Arthur Ravenel Jr.Bridge. This amazing structure dominates the skyline and harbor of Charleston, South Carolina as it transports the 8 lanes of U.S. Highway 17 across the Cooper River and still allows for access of giant container ships that bring the Worlds goods to the United States through Charleston Harbor. The bridge is named for the US Congressman from South Carolina, Arthur Ravenel Jr. who was also a United States Marine, Successful Businessman, State Senator and environmentalist. Congressman Ravenel Jr. , through tireless legislative efforts, secured the major portion of the funding for this amazing structure that thousands of South Carolinian’s thank him for, even if they don’t know it, as they cross the Cooper River to Mount Pleasant and back every day. When the pedestrian walkway was added to this bridge it really took aesthetics, practicality and recreation into account. As a result, this bridge ranks right up there with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as far as enjoyment when walking or biking across it’s span. The views of the harbor, downtown Charleston, and the USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier at Patriots Point are amazing.
USS Yorktown and other historic ships at Patriots Point as seen from Bridge
If you look closely off the stern of the Yorktown, you can see the tiny island of Fort Sumter out in the Harbor with the Stars and Stripes aloft. Quite an amazing site. On the seaward side of the bridge deck is a pedestrian path that has designated walking and biking lanes with bikes required to yield to pedestrians. It is interesting to consider the amazing feats of engineering which abound in this Country as you walk past the giant white washed anchor points and trace their immense cables up to the tops of the two enormous concrete towers of the bridge. The cables and towers together hold up the bridge deck. White guardrails all along the length of the bridge help to ensure safety. The walkway and bridge are 2.5 miles long one way and they start from Mount Pleasant Memorial Water front park under the bridge on the Mount Pleasant Side. To get there, cross the bridge in your vehicle from Charleston and take the Patriots Point / Fort Moultrie exit. Hours are 5am-11pm. The trail starts up under the Mount Pleasant side of the bridge and the footpath along the bridge is referred to locally as “Wonders Way”. It is no wonder why however because the views from the bridge are incredible. The USS Yorktown, Fort Sumter, the sharp spires of the churches of downtown Charleston and the gigantic blue cranes of the Charleston Shipyard are all things that will catch your eye. Underneath the span of the bridge there is 186 feet of space from the deck bottom to the river so that massive ships can pass beneath the bridge. It is estimated that nearly 80,000 cars cross the bridge per day. There is good parking for 50 cents per hour under the bridge at the trailhead and the fishing off of the pier under the bridge is said to be excellent. There are no animals allowed on the bridge for obvious reasons. There are concrete benches at the towers so that a person could sit and contemplate the view. The bridge itself is cable stayed type bridge with diamond shaped towers. Again, serious thought was put into this structure. In other areas we have seen large ships run into bridges nearly or totally taking them out. Each of the Arthur Ravenel Jr.’s 575 foot towers are footed in one acre rock islands each so that if a large container ship lost control and headed for the towers, the ship would run aground and not touch the towers. It is also designed to withstand 300 MPH winds and an Earthquake of 7.4 on the Richter scale. If you ever find yourself in Charleston, SC consider taking an hour or two to walk across this amazing bridge.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge as seen from Charleston, South Carolina waterfront.

Charleston, South Carolina as seen from Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge


Typical Bridge walking / bike path scene - Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge






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