An immensely long bridge connecting two parts of the USA is so scary that people have ‘panic attacks’ driving over it and get stuck in the middle. Spanning 24 miles, it’s the longest continuous bridge over water on the planet. 

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is made up of two parallel bridges and serves as a crossing between Metairie and Mandeville in Louisiana. It was originally constructed when New Orleans began to experience growth in the 1940s and 50s, making it easier and less time-consuming to get from one side of the lake to the other. Despite being so long, the first span was built in just 14 months.

Frequently named as one of the scariest bridges in the USA and the world to drive across, the Causeway sees around 12 million drivers each year. The southbound span to Mandeville is toll-operated so you have to pay to cross it, and in general, it takes around 30 minutes to drive across if the weather and traffic conditions are good.

There are points available in the crossing for drivers to make a U-turn if they realise they’ve made a mistake, or if they get too scared to continue – but you cannot access these by yourself, and instead you need to wait for a police escort.

The Causeway Police, along with the Motorist Assistance Patrol (MAP), monitor the bridge and provide assistance in emergency situations like road accidents or thick fog.

Until 2011, the crossing held the Guinness World Record for the longest bridge over water in the world. However, when the Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge opened in China, Guinness World Records created two categories for bridges over water.

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway then became the longest continuous bridge over water, while the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge became the longest aggregate bridge over water.

Despite being a hugely impressive feat of engineering, it’s often regarded as one of the most terrifying bridges to cross. According to Islands, there are eight miles of the bridge where you can’t see land from either side, creating a very eerie atmosphere.

BBC Science Focus hailed it as “one of the scariest bridges in the world”, with previous visitors taking to Reddit to share their experiences.

One person said: “Had a time while I was on the causeway where the sky and the water happened to be the exact same colour. The lake was extremely still at the time as well. It was almost impossible to tell where the sky ended and the lake began. It was like driving on a bridge through the clouds. Very eerie.” Someone else added: “Drove on this during a storm, terrifying.”

Another recounted: “I had a panic attack the last time I attempted to drive it. I only made it to a crossover because other drivers saw me weaving with my hazards on, and they all slowed down and gave the room to get over safely. The very friendly police officer told me that I had made it halfway across the bridge, and “most of y’all don’t make it this far.” He waited while I calmed down, he called my friends to come and get me because he did not want me to try driving the rest of the way across, and he was very nice about the whole thing.”

And one commenter on a YouTube video of the drive wrote: I remember coming over this as a kid as the sun was setting, it looked like we we’re driving toward the end of the world. Now it’s just… an occasional 30 min of my day.”