Our state is home to a number of engineering wonders, but South Carolina’s Liberty Bridge found at Falls Park on the Reedy is quite simply a must-see. It’s the only one of its kind in the United States and is as much of a giant art installation as it is a functional river crossing.
The bridge has been open since 2004 and is but one of the focal points of Greenville’s stunning Falls Park on the Reedy.
TripAdvisor/VisitGreenvilleSC
Another is the beautiful Reedy River Falls, a spectacle that is in full panoramic view from Liberty Bridge, which curves around the falls providing a viewing platform and vantage point like no other.
Kruck20 / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images But it’s not just the curved nature of the bridge or that fantastic waterfall view that makes it so notable. The bridge itself is an engineering wonder.
So much so, in fact, that it’s the only one of its kind in America. Similar, but not identical, bridges can be found in Europe, but this is the only curved suspension bridge of this design in the country — and it’s right here in South Carolina!
Google/Kimberly
At 12 feet wide, the bridge’s deck is actually constructed out of lightweight materials. Some experts in the field like to say the bridge is practically floating over the river.
Google/Mashrur Rahman But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It took a great deal of engineering prowess to achieve this desired effect.
Essentially, Liberty Bridge is held in place by cables.There are cables attached to two poles that weight 28 tons each and are anchored in the rock below at an angle (away from the falls) and sunk 70 feet into the bedrock.
Kruck20 / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images
The deck is four feet tall and at its base are three large cables, called ring cables, that work together to keep the bridge on its perfectly horizontal plane as thousands of visitors cross the bridge each day in Falls Park.
Google/Ernesto Hernandez
As mentioned, there’s no other bridge in America quite like Liberty Bridge at Falls Park. This one-of-a-kind work of art deserves to be on every South Carolinian’s bucket list at some point. It’s truly amazing!
GoogleDave Cipriani
Have you crossed South Carolina’s Liberty Bridge at Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville yet? It’s one of our favorite things about downtown Greenville!
TripAdvisor/VisitGreenvilleSC
Kruck20 / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images
But it’s not just the curved nature of the bridge or that fantastic waterfall view that makes it so notable. The bridge itself is an engineering wonder.
Google/Kimberly
Google/Mashrur Rahman
But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It took a great deal of engineering prowess to achieve this desired effect.
Google/Ernesto Hernandez
GoogleDave Cipriani
For more reasons to love, love, LOVE Greenville, keep reading How This Small South Carolina Town Quietly Became The Coolest Place In The South.
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Address: Liberty Bridge, 206 S Main St, Greenville, SC 29601, USA
