The "Rainbow Bridge" probably doesn't sounds very scary but if you're afraid of heights... One look at this Southeast Texas bridge will make you want to ask a stranger to drive you across so you can close your eyes the whole time.

Texas News Blog provides historical background for the tallest bridge in Texas that stands 176 feet above the Neches River (230 feet high) and is 7,700 feet long. Nearby town Prairie View adopted the name "Bridge City" shortly after initial bridge construction was completed on September 8, 1938, according to bridgecitytexas.com.

The city's website explains that the original name was the Neches River Bridge, but locals had different names for it including the Orange Bridge and the Port Arthur Bridge. In 1957, a public contest was held to officially name the bridge and a young woman submitted the name "Rainbow Bridge" because it looked like a mechanical rainbow.

The extreme height of the bridge was an effort to allow ships to pass - including the tallest US Navy ship at the time, the USS Patoka. In 1996, the bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Check out the other historic and beautiful bridges in Bridge City through their website www.bridgecitytex.com. They include Veteran's Memorial Bridge, Cow Bayou bridge and East Roundbunch Bridge.

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