The Bay Area has eight toll bridges that have some interesting histories. Marvels of engineering, they have been both a blessing and a curse for their convenience, inconvenience, and cost. People died building them, and their names, styles, and uses have changed over the decades. Which of the eight bridges show up in these six questions? There are no repeats.
(1) This bridge is the shortest, opening in 1927 and only 1.63 miles long. A scene from ‘Harold and Maude’ was filmed there. Which toll bridge is this?
(2) In 1937 Franklin Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, D.C. signaling the official start of vehicle traffic. The original toll was 50 cents, and actually dropped to 25 cents in 1955. Name this bridge.
(3) Which bridge is named after California State Senator John F. McCarthy? It opened in 1956 and that year was hailed as the world’s longest continuous steel bridge.
(4) Which bridge only has a single lane for traffic each direction? It links to Sherman Island.
(5) The George Miller Bridge is better known as what? Between the two vehicle bridges is a Union Pacific Railroad bridge.
(6) Governor Merriam opened the bridge by cutting gold chains across it with an acetylene cutting torch. Name the bridge in which you can see Ben Braddock, ‘The Graduate’, driving across it.
Leave a Reply