Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 24, 1843 In the British colony (and present-day state) of Western Australia, the first of a series of bridges known as the Causeway was opened to serve as a crossing over the Swan River and connect the town (now city) of Perth with the port of Fremantle. For more than a decade, many settlers... Continue Reading →
The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, made history during the first day of battle in the American War of Independence. This structure, immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emerson as “the rude bridge that arched the flood,” marked the location where colonial minutemen and others serving alongside them fought British light infantry companies that had come... Continue Reading →
Albert Gallatin, secretary of the Treasury under President Thomas Jefferson, submitted to the U.S. Senate a far-reaching report on the young nation’s critical transportation needs. Over a year earlier, the Senate passed a resolution calling upon the U.S. Treasury Department to prepare and submit “a plan for the application of such means are within the... Continue Reading →
The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge was opened in the Canadian maritime province of Nova Scotia. The suspension bridge, measuring nearly one mile (1.6 kilometers) in length, crosses Halifax Harbour and serves as a link between the Halifax Peninsula and the city of Dartmouth. At the time of its debut, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge played... Continue Reading →
In southeastern Australia, a truss bridge crossing the Murrumbidgee River was officially opened to connect the village of Tharwa with the city (and Australia’s present-day capital) of Canberra. The bridge reported the Queanbeyan Observer at the time, “is a stupendous but withal a light and very graceful structure.” As a truss bridge, Tharwa Bridge was... Continue Reading →
A pedestrian and cycle bridge in the British city and unitary authority area of Derby was first opened to the public. This opening of the Cathedral Green Footbridge, which spans the River Derwent, took place 13 days before the official dedication ceremony for the new structure. The footbridge was built in a section of Derby... Continue Reading →
A large-scale celebration was held for the opening of the new Sellwood Bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. The deck arch bridge, connecting Portland's Sellwood and Westmoreland neighborhoods on the east side of the river with Oregon Route 43/Macadam Avenue on the west side, replaced a bridge with the same name that had been... Continue Reading →
Sir William Arrol, one of the most renowned civil engineers of the Victoria Era, died at his home in the Scottish town of Ayr at the age of 74. “A GREAT BRIDGE BUILDER,” proclaimed the headline in the next day’s edition of the London Standard for the article announcing his death. The article stated, “Sheer... Continue Reading →
In the state of South Australia, a new bridge was opened in the town of Paringa. The bridge was built to carry the Brown’s Well railway (later renamed the Barmera railway), which had begun operations in 1913, across the Murray River at Paringa and to the larger South Australia town of Renmark in that grain-growing... Continue Reading →
In northeastern England, a new bridge was officially dedicated. The Surtees Bridge, carrying the A66(T) road across the River Tees near the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, replaced a structure that had been built there in 1981 with two vehicular lanes in each direction. The original Surtees Bridge, while initially estimated to have a design life of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 