Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
December 9, 2005 The Sunniberg Bridge near eastern Switzerland’s Alpine village of Klosters was officially opened to vehicular traffic nine years after its completion. (“Sunniberg” means “sunny mountain” in German.) This curved multi-span extradosed bridge – a structure that blends the main components of both a cable-stayed bridge and a prestressed box girder bridge –... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1890 Chicago’s Grand Central Station was opened. This passenger railroad terminal, which had been designed by architect Solon Spencer Beman (1853-1914) and completed by the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad, was specifically located downtown at 201 Harrison Street (bounded by Harrison, Wells, and Polk Streets as well as the Chicago River). On the day... Continue Reading →
December 3, 1995 In Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW), a cable-stayed bridge in Sydney was formally opened to traffic. This bridge, crossing Johnstons Bay on the western edge of the city’s central business district, is a major link between the suburb of Pyrmont and the port facility of Glebe Island within the suburb... Continue Reading →
December 2, 1843 The Alexandria Canal was officially opened to trade and navigation on the Potomac River. (Alexandria was part of the District of Columbia at the time but would be returned to Virginia about two years later.) This canal, which ultimately ran southwards for seven miles (11.3 kilometers) through Alexandria and Virginia’s present-day Arlington... Continue Reading →
December 1, 1982 Nearly nine decades after it was opened, a railway station in the town of Brevik in southeastern Norway was closed. (That town has officially been part of the municipality of Porsgrunn since 1964.) The station was built as part of the Brevik Line, a 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) railway in that region of Norway.... Continue Reading →
November 26, 1924 The Bear Mountain Bridge in southeastern New York was officially dedicated. This suspension bridge crosses the section of the Hudson River between Bear Mountain Park in Orange County and the town of Cortlandt in Westchester County. At the time of its debut, this structure was the world’s longest suspension bridge -- a... Continue Reading →
November 25, 1823 The Royal Suspension Chain Pier in Brighton on England’s southeastern coast was opened. This pier was the first major one to be built at that seaside resort. Widely known as the Chain Pier, it was designed by civil engineer (and Royal Navy veteran) Samuel Brown (1776-1852). Brown was a trailblazer when it... Continue Reading →
November 21, 1983 Regular operations began for the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink, a rapid transit line serving Maryland’s largest city and its northwestern suburbs, early that Monday morning. Rick Hirsch, reporting for the Miami Herald, highlighted both the significance of this line and the overall route it encompassed. Hirsch stated, “The Baltimore Metro -- America’s first... Continue Reading →
November 18, 1876 The entire segment of Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, was opened to the public about two years after construction on that route had begun. (Brooklyn was still an independent incorporated city at the time and would not become a borough of New York City until 1898.) The new parkway, spanning 5.5... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1938 After two days of being made available exclusively for pedestrians to cross, the newly completed Lions Gate Bridge in the Canadian province of British Columbia was first opened to vehicular traffic. This suspension bridge traverses the First Narrows of Burrard Inlet and links the city of Vancouver with the North Shore municipalities... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 