Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
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 →
June 27, 1998 In the northernmost region of western Norway, the Stordal Tunnel in Møre og Romsdal county first went into service. This road tunnel was officially opened by Kjell Magne Bondevik (born in 1947), who served as prime minister of Norway between 1997 and 2000 and again from 2001 to 2005. Measuring 11,580 feet... Continue Reading →
March 25, 1992 The Ria Bridge, which is located in northwestern Spain’s autonomous community of Galicia, was opened to traffic. (A ria is a coastal inlet that has been formed for the partial submergence of a river that was never covered or otherwise impacted by any glaciers or ice sheets.) This bridge is part of... Continue Reading →
January 21, 2019 A bridge in the Gambia (officially called the Republic of the Gambia) was opened to the public. This bridge, which connects the country’s northern and southern regions, carries the Trans-Gambia Highway across the Gambia River. Measuring 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) in length, the structure is one of West Africa’s longest bridges. This... Continue Reading →
December 24, 1915 At 4:00 p.m., a recently finished masonry arch bridge in northwest Washington, D.C., made its ceremony-free debut. This Christmas Eve opening was authorized by U.S. Army Major Charles W. Kutz (1870-1951), the military civil engineer member of the three-person Board of Commissioners that governed the city at that time. The completion of... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 