Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 11, 1974 In the state of Pará in northern Brazil, a port in the city of Santarém was inaugurated. The Port of Santarém is located on the right bank of the Tapajós River and only about two miles (three kilometers) from where this river converges with the Amazon River. (The Tapajós River is formed... Continue Reading →
In Toronto, a dedication ceremony was held for a set of highway bridges crossing the Don River Valley’s West Branch in the city’s neighborhood of Hoggs Hollow. These bridges, now collectively known as Hogg’s Hollow Bridge, were formally opened to traffic at three o’clock that Saturday afternoon. More than 1,000 people attended this event and... Continue Reading →
December 16, 1953 At the Delaware Water Gap – a section where the Delaware River slices through a major ridge of the Appalachian Mountains – a toll bridge connecting New Jersey with Pennsylvania was formally opened to traffic. New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll (1947-1954) was among the public officials on hand for the Wednesday... Continue Reading →
The Boston Bridge in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County was officially inaugurated. This cantilever bridge, which crosses the Youghiogheny River, serves as a link between Elizabeth Township and the borough of Versailles. The structure was named after Elizabeth Township’s Boston neighborhood. (That neighborhood, in turn, had been named after the capital city of Massachusetts.) About 5,000... Continue Reading →
September 19, 1981 A bridge spanning the Saint John River in Fredericton, the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick was officially dedicated. This bridge is an extension of Westmorland Street in the central district of Fredericton and it connects that area with New Brunswick Route 105 in the city’s neighborhood of Nashwaaksis.... Continue Reading →
September 10, 1965 The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, located 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of the New Mexico town of Taos, was dedicated. Approximately 4,000 people were on hand for the grand opening of this steel deck arch bridge. Jack M. Campbell (1916-1999), who served as governor of New Mexico from 1963 to 1967, cut... Continue Reading →
August 29, 1964 In northwestern Oregon, a vertical lift bridge crossing Youngs Bay was opened. This 4,200-foot (1,300-meter)-long structure, which is called the New Youngs Bay Bridge, carries two lanes of U.S. Route 101 (US 101) between the cities of Astoria and Warrenton. Construction on this bridge began in March 1963. The Old Youngs Bay... Continue Reading →
August 21, 1982 A tied-arch bridge crossing a section of the Mississippi River between Iowa and Wisconsin was officially opened. This bridge connects the Iowa city of Dubuque with the Wisconsin town of Jamestown. The Cedar Rapids Gazette noted that “sunny skies greeted the structure’s debut.” More than 6,000 people turned out for the grand... Continue Reading →
August 19, 1913 An unprecedented round trip of U.S. Army personnel and other individuals in a large White Motor Company truck came to an end when they returned to the city of Valdez on the southern coast of the then-Territory of Alaska 22 days after the journey began there. (Alaska, which had been purchased from... Continue Reading →
July 14, 2012 A bridge for pedestrians and cyclists in Portland, Oregon, made its public debut. This structure is officially named the US Congresswoman Darlene Hooley Pedestrian Bridge at Gibbs Street. Hooley, who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon from 1997 to 2009, had staunchly championed the construction of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 