Bridge Madness 2025 – Elite Eight

Rules

In the 2025 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 suspension bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features suspension bridges visited by urbantraipsing nationally and internationally.

Results of the Sweet Sixteen:

  • 6th Street Bridge vs. Roebling Suspension Bridge – 52% to 48%
  • 7th Street Bridge vs. Wheeling Suspension Bridge – 60% to 40%
  • 9th Street Bridge vs. Brooklyn Bridge – 28% to 72%
  • South 10th Street Bridge vs. Manhattan Bridge – 16% to 74%
  • Albert Bridge vs. Lions Gate Bridge – 58% to 42%
  • Chelsea Bridge vs. Golden Gate Bridge – 35% to 65%
  • Jubilee Bridges vs. Mid-Hudson Bridge – 10% to 90%
  • Tower Bridge vs. Bosphorus Bridge – 83% to 17%

Below are the brackets for the Elite Eight. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Thursday, March 13th, and then return on March 15th to vote for the Final Four.

The bridges are divided into two conferences: New York City and Great Lakes Region vs. National and International. To learn more about the bridges, revisit the introduction which has links to posts on each bridge.

New York City and Great Lakes Region

National and International

Bridge Madness 2025 Map

Bridge Madness 2025 – Sweet Sixteen

Rules

In the 2025 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 suspension bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features suspension bridges visited by urbantraipsing nationally and internationally. Below are the brackets for the Sweet Sixteen. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Thursday, March 6th, and then return on March 8th to vote for the Elite Eight.

The bridges are divided into two conferences: New York City and Great Lakes Region vs. National and International. To learn more about the bridges, revisit the introduction which has links to posts on each bridge.

New York City and Great Lakes Region

National and International

Bridge Madness 2025 Map

Bridge Madness 2025 – Introduction

Rules

In the 2025 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 suspension bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features suspension bridges visited by urbantraipsing nationally and internationally. Beginning March 1, you will be able to vote for your favorite bridge in each bracket. The champion bridge will be announced on March 29. Don’t forget to come back each week to vote your favorite bridge to #1!

Each round of voting will go live at 8 AM on the scheduled Saturday and close at noon the following Thursday. The schedule is:

  • March 1 – Sweet Sixteen
  • March 8 – Elite Eight
  • March 15 – Final Four
  • March 22 – Championship
  • March 29 – Winner announced

The bridges are divided into two conferences: New York City and Great Lakes Region vs. National and International.

New York City and Great Lakes Region

The suspension bridges in the New York City and Great Lakes Region Conference are below. Click on the links to learn more about urbantraipsing’s encounter with each bridge.

National and International

The suspension bridges in the National and International Conference are below. Click on the links to learn more about urbantraipsing’s encounter with each bridge.

Bridge Madness 2025 Map

Chelsea Bridge, London

    

The part I most enjoyed about the Chelsea Bridge was the four golden ships, two at each end of the bridge.  I only took two pictures of these ships.  I originally was only going to take one as I assumed that they were all different, but I took a second when I noticed the coat of arms below the ships were different on each side.  The first one is the coat of arms of London and the other one is the coat of arms of one or some of the boroughs.  Like the Albert Bridge, the 19th century Chelsea Bridge had structural issues.  Unlike the Albert Bridge, the Chelsea Bridge was demolished and rebuilt in the 1930s.  The red and white color scheme, while not as striking as the Albert Bridge’s pink, green, and blue scheme, does also catch the eye.  I suppose this may serve a similar purpose of making the bridge visible under challenging visual conditions.

Similar to the Albert Bridge, the view from the Chelsea Bridge encompassed mostly modern buildings among the trees lining the river embankments.  The Battersea Power Station, now vacant, was one of the oldest buildings visible from the bridge.  (Watch for an up-coming post with more on the power station and Sherlock Holmes.)

    

An interesting tidbit I discovered while looking up the Chelsea Bridge online is that Billy Strayhorn composed a song entitled Chelsea Bridge.  Apparently the piece is misnamed as Strayhorn was inspired by the image of the Battersea Bridge, which he identified at the Chelsea Bridge.  While I am not familiar with Strayhorn’s work, I am intrigued by this connection as Strayhorn went to high school in Pittsburgh and started his career here.  A local theater, the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, is named in his and Gene Kelly’s honor.  (Gene Kelly also went to high school and college in Pittsburgh.)