This is the Pontchartrain Causeway over Louisiana’s Lake; in 1969, Guinness World Records formally acknowledged it as the world’s longest bridge across water.

Subsequently, a competing claim from China raised the possibility of the approximately 24-mile bridge losing its top ranking in 2011. However, the causeway was not going down without a struggle.

The 1940s and 1950s saw New Orleans grow, making it more difficult to get to the north of the city. One significant barrier had to be crossed for anyone going north out of the city or south into New Orleans: Lake Pontchartrain.