For more than half a century, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway has proudly billed itself as the world's longest bridge. Call the office and you'll even be greeted with a "Thank you for calling the Causeway, the world's longest bridge.''
The total over-water length for Jiaozhou Bridge in China is about 16 miles, says Carlton Dufrechou, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway general manager. But, he says, the Causeway has its nearly 24 miles all over water. That's a big difference, he says.
So it should come as no surprise that Thursday's announcement that a longer bridge had opened in China wasn't warmly received by bridge officials.
"Bunch of wannabes,'' Causeway General Manager Carlton Dufrechou said.
The $2.3 billion Jiaozhou Bay bridge in the east China city of Qingdao opened to vehicles Thursday and measures 26 miles, a little more than two miles longer than the Causeway, which checks in at nearly 24 miles. An Associated Press story touts the Jiaozhou Bridge as the new world's longest bridge over open water. So does the Guinness Book of World Records (which now relegates the Causeway to No. 2) and the oft-used-but-sometimes-not-totally-accurate Wikipedia website.
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