Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 20, 1905 A three-hinged steel through arch bridge, crossing the Connecticut River and linking the Vermont village of Bellows Falls with the New Hampshire community of North Walpole, was formally opened. Measuring 644 feet and eight inches (196.5 meters) in length, the Bellow Falls Arch Bridge had been designed by Boston civil engineer J.R.... Continue Reading →
January 23, 1912 Regular service began on the Overseas Railroad, a 156-mile (251.1-kilometer)-long extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West (located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula). This service was launched the day after Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil and the developer of Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), arrived in... Continue Reading →
January 11, 1961 In New York City, a comparatively low-key dedication was held for a suspension bridge that crosses the East River and serves as a link between the neighborhoods of Throggs Neck in the Bronx and Bay Terrace in Queens. “The Throgs Neck Bridge was opened yesterday with no speeches, little fanfare and not... Continue Reading →
December 30, 2019 The Ryfylke Tunnel in western Norway’s Rogaland county was officially opened to traffic. This tunnel -- encompassing one tube for each direction and two vehicular lanes in each of those tubes -- carries Norwegian National Road 13 under a body of water called Horgefjord (part of the vast fjord known as Boknafjord).... Continue Reading →
December 21, 1926 The Ross Island Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was opened in what the Associated Press (AP) called “a fitting dedicatory ceremony.” This cantilever truss bridge, which carries U.S. Route 26 (Mount Hood Highway) across a section of the Willamette River between the southwest and southeast parts of Portland, is approximately 800 feet... Continue Reading →
December 13, 1969 In northeastern Argentina, an underwater road tunnel was officially opened between the provinces of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe. This tunnel, measuring 7,864 feet (2,397 meters) in length, carries National Route 168 across the Paraná River. The tunnel serves as a link between Entre Ríos province’s capital city of Paraná and an... Continue Reading →
December 9, 2018 In the northern part of Norway, the Hålogaland Bridge in Narvik Municipality made its formal debut. This suspension bridge crosses the mouth of the fjord known as the Rombaken. The Hålogaland Bridge carries European Route E6, a major north-south thoroughfare for Norway as well as the western coast of Sweden, across that... Continue Reading →
November 15, 1932 A major milestone for a pioneering highway in northern Virginia with took place with the inaugural ceremony for the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, which had been built by the Bureau of Public Roads of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to commemorate the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth. The new route, stretching from... Continue Reading →
October 31, 1929 The Louisville Municipal Bridge, spanning a section of the Ohio River between the cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana, was formally opened. Those attending the dedication ceremony for the four-lane cantilevered truss bridge included public officials from both of those states and also what one newspaper account characterized as “hundreds of onlookers.” ... Continue Reading →
October 3, 1970 In Wyoming, a 77-mile (123.9-kilometer) segment of Interstate 80 between the city of Laramie and community of Walcott Junction was officially opened to traffic. This section remains the longest stretch of the Interstate Highway System to make its debut at one time without any portion of the entire length previously opened. The... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 