This is a list of the highest bridges in the United States by height over land or water. Height in this list refers to the distance from the bridge deck to the lowest point on the land, or the water surface, directly below. A bridge's deck height is greater than its clearance below, which is measured from the bottom of the deck structure, with the difference being equal to the thickness of the deck structure at the point with the greatest clearance below. Official figures for a bridge's height are often provided only for the clearance below, so those figures may be used instead of actual deck height measurements. For bridges that span tidal water, the clearance below is measured at the average high water level.
The minimum height for inclusion in this list is 130feet, which may be either the deck height or the clearance below depending on available references. Note that the following types of bridges are not included in this list: demolished high bridges; historic high bridges such as those over reservoirsregardless of current reservoir levelsthat were filled after the bridge was complete, unless the dam has since been removed; and vertical-lift bridges, even those with raised span heights greater than this list's minimum height.
The clearance below required under bridges for the largest shipscontainer ships, ocean liners and cruise shipsis around 220feet so there are often bridges with approximately that height located in coastal cities with bays or inlets, such as New York City's Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.[1]
| Height | Name | Spans | Completed | State(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Colorado | ||||
| 2010 | Arizona / Nevada | ||||
| 1977 | West Virginia | ||||
| 1973 | California | ||||
| 1959 | Arizona | ||||
| Phil G. McDonald Bridge (Glade Creek Bridge) | 1988 | West Virginia | |||
| 1965 | New Mexico | ||||
| 1976 | Idaho | ||||
| Navajo Bridge (dual spans; the 1929 span is 467 ft high) | 1929 / 1995 | Arizona | |||
| 1965 | Idaho | ||||
| Pine Valley Creek | 1974 | California | |||
| Cold Spring Canyon | 1964 | California | |||
| Burro Creek Bridge (dual spans)[2] [3] [4] | Burro Creek | 1966 / 2005 | Arizona | ||
| 1929 | Washington | ||||
| Hoffstadt Creek Bridge[5] [6] | Hoffstadt Creek | 1994 | Washington | ||
| 1962 | New York / Ontario (Canada) | ||||
| 1966 | Idaho | ||||
| Vance Creek | 1929 | Washington | |||
| Thomas Creek | 1961 | Oregon | |||
| Selah Creek | 1971 | Washington | |||
| 1911 | Oregon | ||||
| 2000 | Oregon | ||||
| Bennett Bay | 1991 | Idaho | |||
| Hurricane Gulch | 1921 | Alaska | |||
| 1926 | Oregon | ||||
| Galena Creek | 2012 | Nevada | |||
| Sunlight Creek Bridge[7] | Sunlight Creek | 1985 | Wyoming | ||
| 1889 | Kentucky | ||||
| 1877 | Kentucky | ||||
| 1944 | Texas | ||||
| Pecos River Highway Bridge[8] | 1957 | Texas | |||
| 1968 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| U.S. Route 460 Connector Bridge[9] [10] | Grassy Creek | 2016 | Kentucky / Virginia | ||
| Bixby Creek | 1932 | California | |||
| Wind River | 1957 | Washington | |||
| Confusion Hill Bridges (south span) | 2009 | California | |||
| 1921 | Washington | ||||
| Mingo Creek | 2002 | Pennsylvania | |||
| Clays Ferry Bridge[11] | 1946 / 1963 / 1998 | Kentucky | |||
| 2017 | New York | ||||
| 1932 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| 2016 | Ohio | ||||
| Kuskulana River Bridge[12] | 1910 | Alaska | |||
| 1964 | New York | ||||
| 1972 | North Carolina | ||||
| 1897 | New York / Ontario (Canada) | ||||
| 1937 | California | ||||
| Laurel Creek | 2002 | North Carolina | |||
| San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (western span) | 1936 | California | |||
| 1931 | New York / New Jersey | ||||
| 1931 | New York / New Jersey | ||||
| 1977 | Ohio | ||||
| 1889 | New York | ||||
| 1930 | Oregon / Washington | ||||
| 1969 | Rhode Island | ||||
| 2020 | California | ||||
| 1931 | Oregon | ||||
| Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge[13] [14] [15] | 2017 | Minnesota | |||
| 1981 | Wisconsin | ||||
| 1941 | New York / Ontario (Canada) | ||||
| 1966 | Utah | ||||
| 1957 | Michigan | ||||
| 2013 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| 1940 | Colorado | ||||
| 1969 | California | ||||
| Tacoma Narrows Bridge (dual spans) | 1950 / 2007 | Washington | |||
| 1966 | Oregon / Washington | ||||
| 1974 | Pennsylvania / New Jersey | ||||
| 2013 | California | ||||
| Hawk Falls Bridge[16] | Mud Run | 1957 | Pennsylvania | ||
| 2009 | |||||
| 2005 | South Carolina | ||||
| Chesapeake Bay Bridge (dual spans) | 1952 / 1973 | Maryland | |||
| 1933 | California | ||||
| 1977 | Maryland | ||||
| Kate Shelley High Bridge (Boone Viaduct) | 1901 | ||||
| 1956 | California | ||||
| 2003 | Georgia | ||||
| 1991 | Georgia | ||||
| 1963 | California | ||||
| 1911 | Minnesota / Wisconsin | ||||
| Ship Canal Bridge | Lake Washington Ship Canal | 1961 | Washington | ||
| 1987 | Florida | ||||
| 1935 | Washington | ||||
| 1995 | Texas | ||||
| 1936 | Texas | ||||
| 1989 | Florida | ||||
| 1973 | Oregon | ||||
| 1968 | Louisiana | ||||
| 1982 | Texas | ||||
| Wilson Creek | 2001 | Virginia | |||
| Delaware Memorial Bridge (dual spans) | 1951 / 1968 | Delaware / New Jersey | |||
| Willow Creek | 1909 | California | |||
| 1952 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| Crescent City Connection (dual spans) | 1958 / 1988 | Louisiana | |||
| E. H. Swindell Bridge | East Street Valley | 1930 | Pennsylvania | ||
| 1964 | Louisiana | ||||
| 1932 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| Lake Union | 1932 | Washington | |||
| Massachusetts Turnpike's Westfield River Bridge[17] | 1957 | Massachusetts | |||
| 1995 | Louisiana | ||||
| 1911 | Vermont | ||||
| 1908 | North Dakota | ||||
| 1987 | Minnesota | ||||
| 1983 | Louisiana | ||||
| 1906 | Indiana | ||||
| 1924 | New York | ||||
| Blue Water Bridge (dual spans) | 1938 / 1997 | Michigan / Ontario (Canada) | |||
| 1968 | California | ||||
| Green River Gorge Bridge[18] | Green River | 1915 | Washington | ||
| 1935 | Louisiana | ||||
| 1957 | Pennsylvania / New Jersey | ||||
| 1929 | Michigan / Ontario (Canada) | ||||
| 1957 | New York | ||||
| 1953 | Florida | ||||
| 1936 | Oregon | ||||
| John E. Fitzgerald Bridge (Clarks Summit Bridge)[19] [20] [21] | 1955 | Pennsylvania | |||
| 2004 | Alabama | ||||
| 1872 | New York | ||||
| 1937 | New York / Ontario (Canada) | ||||
| 1990 | Virginia | ||||
| Carquinez Bridge (dual spans) | 1958 / 2003 | California | |||
| 1947 | Michigan | ||||
| 1908 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| 2012 | Virginia | ||||
| 1994 | Tennessee | ||||
| 1935 | New York | ||||
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge[22] | 2002 | Virginia | |||
| 1982 | Oregon / Washington | ||||
| 1936 | New York | ||||
| 1928 | New York / New Jersey | ||||
| Triborough Bridge (Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) | 1936 | New York | |||
| 1961 | New York | ||||
| 1967 | Florida | ||||
| Bridge of the Gods | Columbia River | 1926 | Oregon / Washington | ||
| 1991 | Alabama | ||||
| Confusion Hill Bridges (north span) | 2008 | California | |||
| 1928 | New York / New Jersey | ||||
| 1977 | Maryland | ||||
| High Bridge (Aqueduct Bridge) | 1848 / 1927 | New York | |||
| 1962 | Louisiana | ||||
| West Seattle Bridge | Duwamish Waterway | 1984 | Washington | ||
| New Tappan Zee Bridge (Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge) | 2017 | New York | |||
| 1913 | Pennsylvania | ||||
| Benicia–Martinez Bridge (dual roadway spans) | 1962 / 2007 | California | |||
| 1959 | Texas | ||||
| 1955 | New York | ||||
| Cascade Creek Trestle[23] [24] | Cascade Creek | 1889 | Colorado | ||
| U.S. Route 20 Iowa River Bridge[25] [26] | 2003 | Iowa | |||
| Monroe Street Bridge | Spokane River | 1911 | Washington | ||
| 1978 | California | ||||
| Benicia–Martinez Bridge (railway span) | 1928 | California | |||
| 1926 | Pennsylvania / New Jersey | ||||
| 1976 | Pennsylvania / New Jersey | ||||
| 1935 | Massachusetts | ||||
| 1939 | New York | ||||
| 1883 | New York | ||||
| 1952 | Louisiana | ||||
| 1959 | New York | ||||
| 1965 | Massachusetts | ||||
| 1956 | Pennsylvania / New Jersey | ||||
| Girard Point Bridge[27] | 1985 | Pennsylvania | |||
| Gold Star Memorial Bridge (dual spans) | 1943 / 1973 | Connecticut | |||
| 1940 | Maryland / Virginia | ||||
| 1916 | New York | ||||
| 1992 | Rhode Island | ||||
| 1909 | New York | ||||
| 1930 | New York | ||||
| 1929 | Rhode Island | ||||
| Newburgh–Beacon Bridge (dual spans) | 1963 / 1980 | New York | |||
| 2006 | Maine | ||||
| 1972 | Maine / New Hampshire | ||||
| 1967 | California | ||||
| 1973 | Texas | ||||
| 1950 | Massachusetts | ||||
| 1903 | New York | ||||
| 1982 | Ohio | ||||
| 1888 | New York | ||||
| Henderson County Bridge[28] [29] | 1927 | North Carolina | |||
| Queensboro Bridge (59th Street Bridge) | 1909 | New York |
The ten highest bridges in the United States: