Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 27, 1948 In southwestern Michigan’s city of St. Joseph, the Blossomland Bridge was dedicated in a series of evening ceremonies. This drawbridge was built to carry U.S. Route 31 (US 31) across the St. Joseph River (That segment of US 31 is now part of Michigan Highway 63.) There had been a longtime need... Continue Reading →
On August 6, 1938, a newly constructed steel through arch bridge was formally opened in Middlesex County in south-central Connecticut. This structure, spanning the Connecticut River and connecting the city of Middletown with the town of Portland, took the place of a drawbridge that had been opened in 1896. The building of a replacement bridge... Continue Reading →
After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a newly built bridge across Lake Champlain was officially opened to traffic on November 7, 2011. The Lake Champlain Bridge connects Crown Point, New York, with Chimney Point, Vermont. This structure replaced a bridge that had opened at that location in 1929 and was demolished in 2009. It took only about... Continue Reading →
September 22, 1986 The Alex Fraser Bridge was officially opened in Canada. This cable-stayed bridge carries British Columbia Highway 91 over the Fraser River and connects the cities of Richmond and New Westminster with the community of North Delta in the metropolitan region of Vancouver, British Columbia. The northern end of the bridge is on Annacis... Continue Reading →
September 3, 2013 A bicycle-and-pedestrian path on the newly constructed eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (famously nicknamed the Bay Bridge) made its debut. The noontime opening of the completed two-thirds of the path took place the day after the roadway portion of the new span was inaugurated. A segment of the original... Continue Reading →
August 28, 2018 In England’s North East region, the recently completed Northern Spire Bridge within the city and metropolitan borough of Sunderland was opened to pedestrians. This two-span cable-stayed bridge carries the highway A1231 over the River Wear and serves as a link between the Sunderland suburbs of Pallion and Castletown. The 1,102-foot (336-meter)-long structure... Continue Reading →
August 25, 1860 The Victoria Bridge in Canada was dedicated. This bridge, which spans the St. Lawrence River and connects Montreal with the south shore city of Saint-Lambert, was officially opened about eight months after the first trains had passed over the new structure. The Victoria Bridge was the first bridge over the St. Lawrence... Continue Reading →
August 14, 1929 Despite rainy weather, the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge spanning the Delaware River made its debut amid great fanfare. This steel arch, double-leaf bascule structure links the borough of Palmyra, New Jersey, with the Tacony neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia. The bridge, which replaced a ferry service that had been operating in the vicinity since 1922, was designed by... Continue Reading →
July 31, 1907 In Massachusetts, a new bridge spanning across the Charles River and connecting Boston’s Beacon Hill area with the Kendall Square community of Cambridge was officially dedicated. The North Adams Transcript reported, “The structure is unusually well lighted and one of its features which contribute to its reputation as one of the most beautiful... Continue Reading →
July 30, 1952 The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which connects the Eastern Shore of Maryland with the state’s Western Shore, was opened to traffic. At the time of its debut, this bridge -- with the original span measuring 4.3 miles (6.9 kilometers) in length from shore to shore -- was the world’s longest continuous steel structure... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 