Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

Twenty years of political struggle preceded the first car crossing. When officials revealed in 1995 that the existing Grace Memorial Bridge scored a 4 out of 100 for safety, retired U.S. Congressman Arthur Ravenel Jr. ran for the South Carolina Senate specifically to solve the funding problem — and did. The cable-stayed bridge that bears his name opened July 16, 2005, one year ahead of schedule and under budget, its two diamond-shaped towers rising 575 feet above the Cooper River. The pedestrian and bike path, named Wonders' Way in memory of a Navy ensign killed in a bicycle-vehicle collision, runs the full length of the span.