I am crazy for bridges. It started with the Tappan Zee, when I was a kid – going across always seemed like such an adventure. Later, growing up in Cincinnati, I fell in love with Roebling’s Suspension Bridge, the predecessor to the Brooklyn Bridge. By the way, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset is one of the best free things you can do in New York City.

I am glued to the TV whenever there is a Discovery Channel program about the building of the Golden Gate Bridge or the Chesapeake Bridge/Tunnel (have you ever taken this? It’s totally insane). Someday I want to climb across the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Recently, some of the most exciting bridge projects in the world have been completed in the United States, so I thought I’d highlight a few of them. I am so glad that politicians are actually choosing to build aesthetically pleasing bridges.

The first is the Christian Menn’s Zakim Bridge in Boston. This and the Ted Williams Tunnel are the only good results of the Big Dig, in this victim’s opinion. But I digress. The cable-stay design has had the most stunning impact on the Boston skyline ever. Also, it replaced the ugliest, scariest, about-to-fall-down, inadequate bridges that I’ve ever experienced.

Second came Santiago Calatrava’s (of the Bac de Roda Bridge in Barcelona) first US project over the Sacramento River in Northern California. Incredibly, this bridge is for pedestrians only.

Finally, this Saturday, the Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina was dedicated. This gorgeous bridge is now the longest cable-stayed span in North America. Checking out the Ravenel is just one more good reason to attend the Spoleto festival!