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Imagine, you’re the pilot of an ocean freighter working its way up the Mississippi River. There’s something important you should know. Regardless of your destination you should dock the big ship somewhere before you reach the “old bridge” in Baton Rouge. After that, the river gets shallower all the way up to Minnesota. At this point you’re better off being the captain of a tow boat pushing barges.

Photographer Philip Gould joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about his book, “Bridging the Mississippi: Spans Across the Father of Waters,” for which Gould, and his wife, co-author Margot Hasha, document crossings from the river’s northern origin at Lake Itasca to the twin spans in New Orleans. Oh yes, we’ll also hear about the engineer who was responsible for the steel bridge in St. Louis and the jetties near the mouth of the river.