Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
May 24, 1915 Civil engineer Arthur Hale applied for a patent for his design of a road interchange focused on facilitating the flow of automobile traffic. Hale, who resided in the village of Rowlandsville in Maryland, characterized this design as one that contained “certain new and useful improvements in street crossings.” Hale’s proposed interchange consisted... Continue Reading →
Shailen P. Bhatt was officially sworn in by Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation, on January 13, 2023, to serve as head of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This inaugural ceremony made Bhatt the 21st administrator of FHWA and the first person of Indian descent to step into that leadership position. The previous month, Bhatt... Continue Reading →
May 2, 1906 Thomas F. Airis, who would become director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Highways and Traffic (a predecessor of the present-day District Department of Transportation) was born in the town of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He earned his degree in, civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin. In 1929, Airis joined the... Continue Reading →
April 30, 1939 The 1939 New York World’s Fair at Flushing-Meadows Corona Park was formally opened. This world’s fair ranks second only to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis as the largest event of its kind to be held in the United States. With its opening slogan of “Dawn of a New Day,”... Continue Reading →
On September 8, 2000, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Employee Memorial was formally established to honor those state employees who have lost their lives in work zones or elsewhere while performing their duties. These individuals are commemorated each year in an annual remembrance ceremony held at the memorial, which is located on the... Continue Reading →
April 11, 1895 A letter from California that was sent to General Roy Stone (1836-1905), director of the U.S. Office of Road Inquiry (forerunner of the Federal Highway Administration), shared news about a significant milestone in highways development within that state. This letter was from state highway officials in California and read in part: “It... Continue Reading →
March 5, 2008 John C. Mackie, who served as Michigan’s state highway commissioner, passed away in Warrenton, Virginia, at the age of 88. He was also the 51st president of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), which is now known as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Mackie was... Continue Reading →
January 26, 2010 In the Republic of Indonesia, the Kanci-Pejagan Toll Road on the island of Java was officially opened. Those participating in the dedication ceremony for the new road included Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born in 1949), who was president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. This 22-mile (36-kilometer)-long toll road, which is located in... Continue Reading →
October 12, 1962 The Thatcher Ferry Bridge, which spans the Pacific Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal, was officially opened. This bridge, until the debut of the Centennial Bridge in 2004, was the only non-swinging bridge to reconnect the land masses of North America and South America that had been separated by the canal. The... Continue Reading →
July 11, 1936 New York City’s Triborough Bridge -- connecting the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx -- was officially opened to traffic. The structure crosses the East and Harlem Rivers as well as the Bronx Kill strait. This bridge is actually a complex encompassing three long-span bridges, a web of viaducts and smaller bridges, and... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 