Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Photo courtesy of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) In December 1991, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) at a construction site on State Highway 360 in Euless, Texas. As Bush underscored in his remarks during the ceremony, ISTEA initiated the most sweeping and... Continue Reading →
December 4, 1830 The Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company (C&A), over a year-and-a-half after being organized with Robert L. Stevens as its president, began construction on its railroad line along the Delaware River at the borough (now city) of Bordentown, New Jersey. This railroad line was the first to operate in New... Continue Reading →
December 3, 1982 The Texas-based Pennybacker Bridge was opened to traffic five days after being officially dedicated. The through arch bridge, which is located in the Lone Star State’s capital city of Austin, carries Texas State Highway Loop 360 – popularly known as the Capital of Texas Highway – across the Colorado River and its water... Continue Reading →
November 30, 1951 While not yet completed at the time, the New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) was officially dedicated with a great deal of fanfare. The New York Times reported, “A major engineering feat, the new highway is an unimpeded route, without traffic lights, no cross roads, no lefthand turns and no grades over 3 percent.”... Continue Reading →
November 28, 1889 In one of the more noteworthy operations of its kind in the Great Lakes region, the crew of the U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS) station at Evanston, Illinois, rescued all of those on board the stranded and storm-battered steamship Calumet on Lake Michigan. While traveling from Buffalo the previous day to deliver coal... Continue Reading →
November 21, 1964 In New York City, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was officially opened to traffic in a dedication ceremony attended by approximately 5,000 people. United Press International reported, “A brilliant sun shone on the 4,200-foot [1,280.7-meter] suspension span and a cold wind blew across the lower bay of the harbor as a pair of polished scissors... Continue Reading →
November 20, 1990 The final 14.5-mile (23.3-kilometer) section of Interstate 15 was opened to traffic near the city of Tremonton, Utah. The opening of this link of I-15 created a continuous interstate highway of about 1,430 miles (2,301.4 kilometers) between the community of Sweetgrass, Montana, at the U.S. boundary with Canada and San Diego, California... Continue Reading →
November 19, 1993 At Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, then-Federal Highway Administrator (and later U.S. Transportation Secretary) Rodney Slater played the key role in a ceremony honoring somebody who had distinguished himself both as a war hero and important good-roads advocate. Roy Stone had served in the Union Army during the Civil War and,... Continue Reading →
November 15, 1928 The first commercial use of a rail detector car in the United States took place. Since the advent of the train, a key challenge had been to avert service failures and dangerous derailments along the tracks carrying that mode of transportation. Inventor and entrepreneur Elmer A. Sperry, in response to this challenge, started to... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1877 Ralph H. Carpenter, who launched and led one of the largest manufacturers of school bus bodies in the United States, was born in southern Indiana. As a teenager, Carpenter set up his own blacksmith shop in the city of Mitchell in the Hoosier State. A significant part of Carpenter’s job as a... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 