Arthur Ravenel Jr. BridgeArthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
Mount Pleasant, SC
Arthur Ravenel Jr. BridgeArthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension design with two diamond-shaped towers, each 575 feet high over the Cooper River in South Carolina, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The bridge has a main span of 1,546 feet, the third longest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western Hemisphere. It was built using the design-build method and was designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff. The total length of the structure is 13,200 feet, with the main span stretching 1,546 feet between the towers. There are 128 individual cables anchored to the inside of the diamond towers suspend the deck 186 feet above the river. The roadway consists of eight 12-foot lanes, four in each direction as well as a 12-foot bicycle and pedestrian path, which runs along the south edge of the bridge overlooking Charleston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean.
The bridge superstructure is designed to withstand shipping accidents and natural disasters that have plagued Charleston’s history. The span is designed to endure wind gusts in excess of 300 mph, far stronger than those of the worst storm in Charleston's history, Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Engineers also considered the 1886 earthquake that nearly leveled Charleston. The Ravenel Bridge is designed to withstand an earthquake of approximately 7.4 on the Richter magnitude scale without total failure. To protect the bridge from errant ships, the towers are flanked by one-acre rock islands. Ships will run a ground on the islands before colliding with the towers.
The route starts in Mount Pleasant and finishes in downtown Charleston at Marion Square.
