The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway opened for traffic on Aug. 30, 1956.

The 24-mile bridge that stretches from Metairie to Mandeville, holds the record as the world’s longest continuous bridge over water

The bridge was a pathway connecting the urban area of New Orleans to the then-rural north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

The Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, which operates the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, was formed in 1954. The commission is responsible for the operations of the bridge, including maintenance of the bridge structure and traffic management.

The American Society of Civil Engineers note that the causeway project was the first time “assembly-line mass production methods were utilized…in the construction of a bridge.”

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge took 14 months to build and cost $46 million

By 1969, the second span of the causeway was built. The twin span continues to hold the  Guinness World Record for being the world’s longest continuous span over water.

In 2013, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge was recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Engineers. Today more than 30,000 commuters travel across the causeway bridge.

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New Orleans native Nigell Moses graduated summa cum laude from Xavier University of Louisiana with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. She is a published contributing writer, with stories in The...