Under the heading of learning something new every day... one of the most iconic structures on our Georgia coast, the Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, which connects Georgia to South Carolina across the Savannah River, is not a suspension bridge. Suspension bridges like the Golden Gate, Brooklyn Bridge, or famed London Bridge, have large cables connecting to massive load-bearing anchors at each end, as well as frequent piers underneath (anchored to the channel, river, or even ocean floor) or along the bridge span to assist with load bearing.

The Talmadge Bridge is a “cable-stayed” bridge, with the high-tension cables supporting the roadway by pulling the bridge up, versus via support and tension from underneath. Opened in 1991, the Talmadge Bridge is no longer quite high enough for the world’s largest container ships to always make it underneath and into the Ports of Savannah, even at low tide and following the multi-year, multi-million deepening of the Savannah shipping channel.

Recommended for you

Bill Crane is a syndicated columnist based in Decatur. He has worked in politics for Democrats and Republicans, respects the process and will try and give you some things to think about. Your thoughts and responses to his opinions are also welcome, bill.csicrane@gmail.com.

Tags

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Please log in, or sign up for a new, free account to read or post comments.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Post a comment
Stop watching this discussion.