The Brookport Bridge: One of the Scariest Bridges in America

The tires going over the steel deck sounded like a lost soul moaning.

Never thought I would be watching a POV of someone driving across a bridge I've never heard of.

The fact that the height limit sign has a noticeable dent in it is just the icing on the cake 👌

This video is 100% genuine to the authenticity of how I felt the one-time I drove across this bridge. It is definitely one of the top 10 scariest I've ever been on. Aside from nostalgia and convenience, the bridge offers nothing in the way of safety or feeling secure when passing through.

i grew up visiting my family in nashville TN and we had to drive from St. louis to get there. one time, my mom got lost in the dead of night and this bridge was on the route the GPS gave us to get back on track. my mom is terrified of bridges and it was dark outside but we had to keep driving so she went over this bridge thinking it was a normal bridge and she instantly regretted it. she had to grip the steering wheel as hard as she could to keep control of the car. the creaking and groaning of the steel is even more terrifying at night when you can’t see if the bridge is falling apart or not.

The " you are not alone" suicide prevention hotline sign is definitely a good shout at the end of that bridge...

Sometime between 1987 - 1990, I was travelling from Memphis to Galesburg Illinois. I had only enough money to get to Paducah, so I started walking north from there. I was approaching this brifge by foot, when an RV pulled to the curb. The driver, an old Marine vet, was tired, & figured I could help him drive while he rested, & I would get further along. Thanks to him, I was spared having to cross this on foot, or trying to, anyway. I don't remember how much further he took me past Fort Massac, but he was a decent fellow, & we had goid conversation while he got me closer to my destination.

I grew up right next to a steel deck bridge, but it was much shorter than this one. Most people were scared to cross it on foot, but I was used to it. It only got weird when a section of the grate broke loose and fell in the creek below. It left a hole big enough to drop a tire through. We had to call the local fire department out to do an emergency welding job to put it back in place. Eventually the bridge was replaced with a concrete deck bridge. I still have a piece of the grate as a souvenir.

I went across this bridge in thick fog! Heart sat in my throat the entire time! I was SO glad when I got off!

I’ve driven over the Brookport bridge many times. I have lived near it my whole life, 61+ years. It is very unnerving to drive across it. You feel like your car is on ice skates. When it turns cold enough for ice to start building up on the steel grating I would suggest taking the I24 bridge. It’s scary enough when it’s dry. They will usually close the bridge if ice starts building up on it.

I've driven this bridge more than once and hate it intensely. It is so terrifying. Once, I got to that corner only to find a semi, going too fast, and taking up both lanes, coming right at me. He took up the entire roadway because he was going too fast for the corner. To this day, I have no idea how we got safely past it. It's all a big blur. But somehow, we made it past the semi and off the bridge. Had to have been angels

If you want scary, try crossing the Ambassador Bridge between Detroid MI and Windsor ON. During busy times, you will be sitting in a slow moving line atop the bridge. Which is full of heavy trucks. When you are still you can feel the bridge moving from all of the truck traffic, and there are holes in the concrete with the massive drop to the water you can see through. Did it in a truck almost every week for a few years.

CORRECTION: Thank you for all your kind comments regarding my family’s ties to this bridge. My grandfather and his brothers were ironworkers on many jobs in the area and my Grandfather was an ironworker for the Army Corps of Engineers during WWII. The correction is this: My Grandfather fell from this bridge (NOT his brother) and Grandpa broke his back. My Great-Uncle (Grandpa’s brother) fell while working on the Atomic plant in Paducah, Ky in 1951. I’m not a ‘spring chicken anymore myself and sometimes the oral stories get confused. But as stated previously, I grew up in this area and have crossed this bridge more times than I can count…and it sounds just like the video and is exactly as others have commented. Rest in peace, Gr-Uncle Joe and my dear sweet Grandpa.

Imagine being afraid of bridges, and not knowing that this was part of the "shortcut" to your brother's house.

I always loved the sound of steel grate bridges. We used to have several of them where I grew up. I don’t think ours was as narrow as this one.

I’m born and raised in southern WV, bordering eastern KY and southern OH.. We used to have quite a few of these steel road bridges in the area. When I was a kid, we called them “singing bridges” because of the sound they make. I also remember when I first got my drivers license how tough it was to navigate those steel roads, especially if it was raining. I never understood why anyone would think using steel grates would be ideal for vehicle use on a bridge.. 🙄

I'd imagine the narrowness and the noise from the steel grating actually cause drivers to slow down. Often the perception of danger actually makes something safer as it reduces complacency and makes drivers take more care. The final turn at the end though, I can see that causing scrapes (albeit low speed ones).

I live nearby. When I first moved to the area, I was a sales trainer for a local food distribution company. I rented a 13-passenger van and took a group of sales people north into central Illinois to tour a Kraft manufacturing plant. A local sales person said it would be quicker if we crossed the Brookport Bridge. I'd never seen the bridge, so agreed to the plan. I am afraid of heights and a bit afraid of bridges. This bridge, with that large unfamiliar van, terrified me. When we got to the end and came to the sharp curve, I couldn't budge my foot off the accelerator and onto the brakes! A couple of folks on one side of the van swore they could count the rivets in the side of the railing because we got so close to the side! I've been across the bridge several times since then, but not as a driver. You definitely get a side-to-side motion of your tires due to the grooves in the steel road bed. No way to prevent that via steering, you just have to go with it. You could not pay me to ride a motorcycle across it!

What they don't tell you is that Illinois has never looked at their portion of the bridge, neglecting it for nearly 100 years. The more you know!

Most of us old folks grew up crossing bridges like this. In the town I lived in we had 3 of them, of various types. Eventually all 3 were torn down and replaced. Thanks for the memory.