Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 11, 1910 In Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, a recently completed bridge was dedicated in the Cleveland region. The new structure, carrying Detroit Road over the Rocky River, was the fifth bridge built at that location to connect the cities of Rocky River and Lakewood. Construction on this version of the Detroit Rocky River Bridge began... Continue Reading →
September 28, 2008 The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge was officially opened to foot and bicycle traffic two months ahead of schedule. The footbridge crosses over the Missouri River and links the cities of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska. The 3,000-foot (914.4-meter) structure, which can be found north of the Interstate 480 girder bridge, is the longest... Continue Reading →
September 10, 1932 The George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge was officially opened in the borough of East Pittsburgh in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County. One newspaper characterized the debuting bridge as “the most recent link in Pennsylvania’s maze of beautiful highways.” The 1,598-foot (487.1-meter)-long bridge, which consists of five spans and carries U.S. Route 30 over the Turtle... Continue Reading →
September 6, 1996 In the Netherlands, a recently completed bridge was officially opened by Queen Beatrix in the city of Rotterdam. This combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge was named after the prominent Dutch Renaissance humanist Desiderius Erasmus, who is also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam. The Erasmus Bridge (“Erasmusbrug” in Dutch), which crosses a distributary... Continue Reading →
August 21, 1960 David B. Steinman, a structural engineer who designed a number of notable bridges across the globe, died in New York City. It is not completely clear where he had been born. Several sources indicate that Steinman was born in the town of Chomsk in the present-day Republic of Belarus in 1886 and... Continue Reading →
August 13, 1962 The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge linking the community of Lubec, Maine, and Canada’s Campobello Island – where the 32nd U.S. president maintained a summer retreat – was dedicated. The international bridge, measuring 847 feet (258.2 meters) in length, crosses over the Lubec Narrows at the edge of the Bay of Fundy and... Continue Reading →
August 9, 2015 A cable-stayed bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, was first opened to the public. This open house took place more than a month before the bridge was officially dedicated. The new structure was designed by TriMet, the regional transit authority for the Portland metropolitan area, for the MAX Orange Line... Continue Reading →
July 9, 1930 A bridge was officially opened in northeastern Montana to a great deal of fanfare. The new structure, spanning the Missouri River between McCone and Roosevelt counties in the Big Sky Country, was named the Lewis and Clark Bridge. (In May 1805, the Corps of Discovery Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William... Continue Reading →
July 6, 1881 In central Iowa, a potentially horrific passenger train wreck was averted thanks to a heroic teenage girl. The girl was 17-year-old Katherine Carroll “Kate” Shelley, who lived in that region of the Hawkeye State with her family. Kate had been born in Ireland, and she and her family immigrated to the United... Continue Reading →
July 5, 328 A Roman Empire bridge built across the river Danube made its formal debut. This opening of the bridge took place in the presence of Constantine I (also called Constantine the Great), who reigned as Roman emperor from 306 to 337. The structure, which has become known as Constantine’s Bridge, was constructed in... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 