Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
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 →
In southwestern Florida, a new mile (1.6-kilometer)-long bridge across the Peace River in Charlotte County made its formal debut. More than six decades earlier, the first bridge spanning that section of the river had been opened. This original structure, located just east of the current bridge, connected Live Oak Point on the river’s north bank... Continue Reading →
In Australia, the original Como Rail Bridge was opened in the colony (now state) of New South Wales. The bridge made its debut on Boxing Day – a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas in several regions throughout the world, including Australia – and crosses the Georges River between the Sydney suburbs of Oatley and... Continue Reading →
On New Zealand’s North Island, a new vehicular bridge spanning the Waikato River was opened. Victoria Bridge serves as a link between the town of Cambridge and a community that is now known as Leamington. Plans for a bridge at that location had been under development for several years. New Zealand surveyor and engineer James... Continue Reading →
In Western Asia, a major part of the current Al Garhoud Bridge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Dubai was opened to vehicle traffic. The bridge, which crosses Dubai Creek, connects the communities of Deira and Sharjah in the eastern region of Dubai with the district of Bur Dubai on the city’s western... Continue Reading →
A new pedestrian-and-bicycle bridge crossing the river Rhône and representing intercultural harmony was completed in Lyon, France. The Passerelle de la Paix (Peace Bridge) had been commissioned by the Urban Community of Lyon (also known as Grand Lyon) – a government subdivision within east-central France that was reorganized as the Metropolis of Lyon in 2015... Continue Reading →
In Southeast Asia, a new bridge was officially opened at the border of Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. This bridge, carrying the Pan-Borneo Highway, specifically crosses the Pandaruan River between the Limbang District in the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the Temburong District in Brunei Darussalam. The Pandaruan Bridge (also known as the Malaysia-Brunei Darussalam Friendship... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 