Even experienced drivers and motorists are scared to cross this bridge.

Then in July 2011, Guinness announced that the newly completed Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China was now the world’s longest bridge over water. With a total length of 26.5 miles, it was undoubtedly longer than the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. People loyal to the causeway, however, were quick to point out that the criteria of measurement used by Guinness included aggregate structures, which would include land bridges at the ends of the main bridge and an undersea tunnel. In other words, elements that were distinctly not “over water.”

The controversy was soon put to bed when Guinness quite reasonably decided to create two new categories. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway became the “longest bridge over water (continuous),” while the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge became the “longest bridge over water (aggregate).” And while the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge has since lost its title to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which opened in October 2018, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway remains the world’s longest bridge continuously over water, more than 60 years after the completion of its original span.

Photo: Giovanni Gagliardi

Know Before You Go

The causeway crosses Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana, with its southern terminus in the Metairie suburb of New Orleans and the northern terminus in Mandeville on the northern shores of the lake. Tolls are collected on the north shore for southbound traffic only. The standard toll for cars is $5 in cash and $3 for tags (used with the electronic toll collection system). A bascule drawbridge is located at the 16.0-mile marker on the causeway, allowing water traffic to pass under the bridge.