A bridge to nowhere is a bridge where one or both ends are broken or incomplete and does not lead anywhere. If it is an overpass or an interchange, the term overpass to nowhere or interchange to nowhere may be used respectively. There are three main origins for these bridges:
The bridge was never completed for reasons such as cost or disputed property rights.
One end or both end has collapsed or have been destroyed – e.g., by earthquake, storm, flood, or war.
The bridge is no longer used, but was not demolished because of the cost; for example, the bridges on an abandoned railway line.
Further, the term "bridge to nowhere" may be used by political opponents to describe a bridge (or proposed bridge) that serves low-population areas at high cost, a symbol of pork barrel spending.
Rue Emile Pathé/Emile Pathéstraat in Forest/Vorst, Brussels (50.7996°N 4.3067°E / 50.7996; 4.3067), was originally intended to be part of the southern arc of the R0 Brussels motorway ring, which was never built owing to opposition from local residents. It now functions mostly as a car park.
Port Nelson Bridge, an isolated rail bridge located near Churchill, Manitoba. The connecting rail line was never finished due to labour and material shortages, a lack of financial or political support, and high cost. The envisioned port was also a poor design and was found to require excessive dredging due to significant sand bars. The project was greatly criticized by several politicians, the media (calling it a "gigantic blunder"), and even the project's chief engineer.
Old Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge in Dandong. The south span was destroyed during the Korean War.
New Yalu River Bridge in Dandong. The $330 million bridge was completed in 2015, but on the North Korean side it is not connected to the road network.
Nandu River Iron Bridge in Hainan is a partially collapsed, steel truss bridge over the Nandu River. It was built by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In October 2000, flooding caused the collapse of the western part of the bridge, leaving three trusses.
The Borovsko Bridge, an unfinished motorway bridge from 1930s near Borovsko , part of Bernartice municipality, Central Bohemian Region.
The Sedmpánský Bridge, an unfinished highway bridge near Hulice, Central Bohemian Region. The former highway bridge over the Sedmpánský stream between Hulice and Borovsko was under construction in 1939 – 42 and finally in 1945 – 50. The bridge was finished, however its fate was the same. Water resources in this area are now used for nearly the whole of Prague.
There are several bridges to nowhere, started to be built as a part of extraterritorial highway Vienna-Wroclaw (so called Hitler's highway), which remain unfinished and unconnected to road network.
Pont Saint-Bénézet in Avignon over the Rhône river. Several arches were broken by flood in the middle of the 17th century.
The viaduc du Caramel and viaduc du Carei of the former tramway line from Menton to Sospel
The colloquial name for a bridge to nowhere in Germany is "Soda-Brücke" (a pun from "so da" = "just there"). Many of the bridges were built in the 1970s as part of the Autobahn network, but the oil crisis and rising environmental consciousness slowed many highway extensions.
The Bundesautobahn 66 had a bridge near Ahl (Bad Soden-Salmünster) built in 1966 that was not connected until 1994.
The bridge near Euskirchen was planned to be part of Autobahn 56. Construction was stopped, and the existing parts of the highway were renamed Bundesautobahn 562. (50°40′39″N 6°44′54″E)
The Itztalbrücke over the Itz river was built in 2005 near Coburg as part of the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway with a projected opening in 2017. It is 868 m in length and construction costs amounted to 18 million euros. It is amongst the biggest bridges to nowhere. (50.2775°N 11.0170°E / 50.2775; 11.0170 (Soda-Brücke))
The bridge near Merklinde, a suburb of Castrop-Rauxel, was to be part of the B245 expressway and the "New Hellweg". The bridge was completed in 1978 but was never connected. (51.5374°N 7.3391°E / 51.5374; 7.3391 (Soda-Brücke))
The Schänzlebrücke in Konstanz was built 1975 but not connected until 2007. (47.6701°N 9.1630°E / 47.6701; 9.1630 (Soda-Brücke))
An unused double track railway concrete bridge over Ngaglik street in Surabaya. It was originally built for proposed railway line that connect Gubeng and Pasar Turi station on elevated line. Due to economic crisis in 1930s, which was followed by Second World War, and lastly Indonesian National Revolution war, the project never completed and the bridge stood as testimony of forgotten project. (7°14′56″S 112°45′11″E)
Pons Aemilius
New Zealand
Bridge to Nowhere, built in 1936, is an isolated 40 metre road bridge over the Mangapurua Stream in Whanganui National Park, North Island.
Eintveit Bridge, a 25 metre long two-lane road bridge in Etne municipality in Hordaland county, was completed in 1962 and was intended to be part of a road on the northwestern side of Åkrafjorden. But the road was never built, and the bridge has remained unused except occasionally by hikers. In 2014 broadcaster NRK organized the "opening" of the bridge. Two cars were flown in by helicopter and then drove across the bridge.
A two-lane vehicle bridge in Pavlovsky Posad, completed in 2011, continues the minor Vachevskaya Street in the west across the Vokhna River. In the east, there is a dead end, as no vehicle road has been built there, with only a footpath branching off to another street. The bridge may become integrated into traffic once a new road tunnel under railway is completed nearby, and together they would replace a problematic level crossing. The bridge was open for vehicle traffic in July 2015.
A two-lane vehicle bridge in Porozovo, completed at the end of the 20th century. (57.5042°N 42.0859°E / 57.5042; 42.0859)
Viaduct in Kopráš, never-used railway viaduct in the village of Kopráš near the town of Jelšava in south Slovakia. The viaduct is 120 m long and 40 m high. It was finished in 1945 but was never used, because the railway to the viaduct was never completed due to the events of World War II. Next to the viaduct are two finished tunnels without any connection to railways. The tunnel near the village of Slavošovce is 2800 m long, and the tunnel near Kopráš is 350 m long. These tunnels to nowhere were also never used, because railway construction ended in 1948 before its completion.
Bridge to Nowhere in San Martín de la Vega (built 1933), originally projected in 1926. It was severely damaged in March 1947 after severe flooding, and it was never repaired. Nowadays only a few sections of it stay in place, and the surroundings are now a recreational site.
England
Bewley Street Footbridge, in Colliers Wood, London, constructed in 2007 was blocked off at one end due to a dispute over the cost of building an access ramp. The ramp was finally completed in June 2015 and renamed Gam Gurung Bridge after a local councillor.
Duddeston Viaduct, a railway viaduct in Birmingham commonly known as the "Viaduct to Nowhere", built as a through route in 1846 but never used as such due to inter-company politics.
The Lichfield Canal Aqueduct built in 2003 in anticipation of the eventual restoration of the Lichfield Canal over the M6 Toll in Staffordshire.
The Mancunian Way – the A57(M) – in Manchester has a length of unused slip road 53.4720°N 2.2362°W / 53.4720; -2.2362) blocked off by a traffic sign, after modifications to local streets to accept traffic from the road were not carried out.
Unknown bridge with un-used slip road over A120 near Colchester, Essex 51.8916°N 1.0117°E / 51.8916; 1.0117
Barracks Road and Calvalry Street bridges north of Westway in Burnley, Lancashire cross the East Lancashire railway line and were stopped up at both ends to enable construction of the M65 in 1981.
Scotland
M8 Bridge to Nowhere, two separate bridges over the M8 motorway in Glasgow: one eventually had an office block constructed on it; the other, originally built in the 1970s, remained unfinished until July 2013.
Arboretum "ghost ramps" (built 1960s), a set of ramps and bridges over Portage Bay in Seattle that were intended to be an interchange from Washington State Route 520 and the proposed R. H. Thomson Expressway. When plans for the expressway were scrapped following a citizens' freeway revolt, the interchange ramps and bridges remained in place and are mostly unused. On January 31, 2013, Washington state announced that the ghost ramps would be removed sometime between 2014 and 2016.
Big Four Bridge (built 1895), a 770 m single-track railroad bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, which was abandoned in 1968 and had both its approach spans removed and sold for scrap the following year. In February 2013, the bridge was reopened on one end for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. In May 2014, the Jeffersonville, IN ramp opened allowing pedestrians and cyclists to travel between downtown Jeffersonville, IN and Waterfront Park in Louisville.
Bridge to Nowhere (San Gabriel Mountains) (built 1936), an isolated road bridge over the San Gabriel River in southern California. The connecting road was never built. The bridge is a popular destination for hikers.
Fort Duquesne Bridge (built 1963), a road bridge over the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which ended mid-air until the ramps were completed in 1969.
Miles Glacier Bridge (built 1910), also known as the "Million Dollar Bridge", was converted from railroad use to motor vehicle use and located at the northern end of the unfinished Copper River Highway near Cordova, Alaska. Construction stopped in 1964 when an earthquake damaged the 472 m bridge. Although since repaired and reopened the bridge is nonetheless currently of limited utility due to damage along other points of the route.
Hoan Bridge (built 1973), a 3 km road bridge over the Milwaukee River in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was unused until access roads were completed in 1977, was lacking freeway connections at the southern end until 1998, and was "going nowhere again" for two months while closed for major repairs after a span partially collapsed in December 2000.
Luten Bridge (built 1925), also known as Mebane Bridge or Mebane's Bridge, is a road bridge over the Dan River in Rockingham County on the outskirts of the town of Eden, North Carolina, which was at the center of the landmark Luten Bridge Co. vs. Rockingham County lawsuit that made jurisprudence in 1929 when the contractor continued work on it well after the contract to build it was rescinded and subsequently sued to be reimbursed for this work.
Pier 19 (demolished 2012) of a proposed second span of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. No second span had ever been approved for this privately owned bridge, largely because the proposal would dump excessive traffic onto Windsor city surface streets, but its owners built ramps for the proposed span in an attempt to counter an internationally supported proposal for a Detroit River International Crossing to the Windsor-Essex Parkway further downriver. The unauthorized ramp was removed in 2012 by court order.
In Jasper National Park, at the outlet of Maligne Lake there is a bridge that crosses the outlet river, and proceeds about 300 meters to a parking lot and several hiking trails and a boat launch. The bridge cost millions of dollars to build and was part of a proposed route through the mountains that was never completed.
The Russky Bridge in Vladivostok was criticised as a 'bridge to nowhere', costing about one billion US dollars and serving an island where only 5,000 people live.
A four-lane vehicle overpass across the Moscow Ring Road at its 83rd kilometer (sometimes called Molokovsky Overpass) continues the Molokova Street in the Lianozovo District of Moscow outside the city. The Molokova Street is located within a gated community with only local traffic allowed; at the other end, the bridge serves only the Lianozovo Cemetery with a small parking lot next to it, coming to a dead end before a forest. As a result, the overpass only receives significant traffic on prayer for the dead days such as Saturday of Souls.
Knik Arm Bridge (never built), a proposed 3.2 km road bridge over the Knik Arm portion of Cook Inlet, north of Anchorage, Alaska, first envisioned in the 1950s
Vincent Thomas Bridge (built 1963), a 1.85 km road bridge over Los Angeles Harbor in California, originally dubbed a "bridge to nowhere" which later became a heavily used bridge
In 2005, the United States Congress passed an omnibus spending bill that contained a $442 million earmark for constructing two Alaskan bridges. Pushed forward by Alaska Representative Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens, the Gravina Island Bridge was intended to provide a link between the Ketchikan airport on Gravina Island and the city of Ketchikan at a cost of $233 million in federal grant money. It received nationwide attention as a symbol of pork-barrel spending. Since Gravina Island only had a population of 50, the bridge became known as the "Bridge to Nowhere" during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election.
In 2014, Alaska's longest bridge was completed across the Tanana River at a cost of $187 million. Bridge consists of a 12-foot gravel path that connects a gravel spur road off the Richardson Highway near Salcha, Alaska, to the roadless Tanana Flats. The bridge will be almost exclusively for military use with limited access for hunting permit holders. Due to the current lack of infrastructure in the Tanana Flats and the ongoing uncertainty in Department of Defense spending there may be limited use of the bridge
Obsolete bridges and approaches
Ontario Highway 548 in Canada has a short stub of roadway (with double-yellow line still visible) aside of a more recent bridge approach, of which was a former ferry approach which is now used as a parking lot for people to go fishing from an island connecting the longer bridge to a shorter bridge to St. Joseph Island.
The former Bay of Quinte Railway mainline in Napanee (acquired by the now-defunct Canadian Northern Railway in 1910, extended to a Smiths Falls station but abandoned by the late 1970s) still has an Ontario Highway 401 overpass. The rail overpass served a Goodyear tyre factory across the highway until the track was disconnected at Napanee station in 2012; it now goes nowhere. A bascule bridge on the same defunct line crosses the UNESCO-listed Rideau Canal at Smiths Falls, Ontario; that rail bridge sits permanently open but is protected as part of a listed historic site.
In the UAE, a suspension bridge links Abu Dhabi city and Hodariyat island. The bridge was opened in 2012, but vehicles are not allowed to use it
