New Orleans: Mississippi River and Crescent City Connection

The Crescent City Connection, abbreviated as CCC, are twin cantilever bridges, both designed by Modjeski & Master, Inc., carrying U.S. Route 90 for a 13,428 ft stretch across the Mississippi River.

Construction began on the first span in 1954, and when it opened in April 1958 as the Greater New Orleans Bridge, it was just the second bridge to span the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge (after the Huey P. Long Bridge), and first in across the river in New Orleans. At its opening, the bridge was the longest cantilever bridge in the world, although in terms of main span length it was third after the Forth Bridge and the Quebec Bridge. Construction of the second span, originally dedicated the Greater New Orleans Bridge No. 2, began in March 1981 and, despite promises that it would be ready for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, it did not open to traffic until September 1988.

In 1989, a public contest was held to rename the bridges, and the Louisiana Legislature officially designated the bridges as the Crescent City Connection. It is maintained and policed by the Crescent City Connection Division (CCCD), a special division of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The separate police agency, commonly nicknamed the "Bridge Police," is required because of the high traffic volume and the two spans briefly cross into Jefferson Parish and the city of Gretna, therefore, it could not be policed by the New Orleans Police Department.