Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
April 2, 1966 In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a dedication ceremony was held for a prestressed concrete box girder bridge carrying Warringah Road (now part of the route known as A38) across Middle Harbour. This six-lane, high-level structure is called the Roseville Bridge. Measuring 1,237 feet (377 meters) in length, it... Continue Reading →
March 30, 2003 An arch bridge in northern Portugal’s Porto metropolitan area was inaugurated. This 1,217-foot (371-meter)-long bridge spans the river Douro and carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic between the city of Porto and the city and municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia. The bridge was named after Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), the... Continue Reading →
March 25, 1940 An open house for the public was held for a recently completed Greyhound bus terminal at 1100 New York Avenue in northwest Washington, D.C. This open house, which was formally classified as a public preview, took place between 4:00 and 9:00 p.m. on the day before the actual start of bus operations... Continue Reading →
March 20, 1956 Only four days after his 76th birthday, inventor and engineer William Bushnell Stout died of a heart attack at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Stout, who made significant innovations in the aviation and automotive fields, had been born in 1880 in Quincy, Illinois. After graduating from the Mechanic Arts High School in... Continue Reading →
March 19, 1964 The Great St Bernard Tunnel joining Switzerland and Italy was officially opened to vehicular traffic. This tunnel became the first one running through the formidable Alps for automobiles, and it is a major link between the municipality of Martigny in southwestern Switzerland and the comune of Aosta in northwestern Italy. The tunnel... Continue Reading →
Margaret A. Wilcox, who was born in Chicago in 1838, became a prolific mechanical engineer and inventor at a time when very few women -- due to prevailing social conventions -- played any meaningful role at all in these professions. She developed a strong interest in mechanical engineering early in life and would use her... Continue Reading →
March 12, 1985 A prestressed concrete bridge in southeastern Australia was officially opened to traffic. This 1,086-foot (331-meter)-long structure, which carries the Sturt Highway across the Murray River, serves as a link between the town of Buronga in the state of New South Wales (NSW) and the city of Mildura in the state of Victoria.... Continue Reading →
March 11, 2016 In the Australian state of Victoria, an arterial route built in the vicinity of southeastern Melbourne’s suburb of Dingley Village first went into service. Dingley Bypass was officially opened by Luke Donnellan (born in 1966), who served as the minister for Roads and Road Safety within the Executive Council of Victoria from... Continue Reading →
March 5, 2000 In the state of South Australia (SA), the Heysen Tunnels in the Adelaide suburb of Crafers West were officially opened. These twin-tube tunnels, which each encompass three lanes for vehicular traffic, carry the South Eastern Freeway beneath the locality known as Eagle On The Hill. The tunnels were named in memory of... Continue Reading →
Charles Edwin “Charlie” Wiggins gained an enviable reputation when it came to automobiles, whether his endeavor at any given time involved repairing and refining those motor vehicles or competing in car races. He was born on July 15, 1897, in Evansville, Indiana. Wiggins’ mother died when he was only nine years old, and he stopped... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 