Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
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 →
February 23. 1984 On the Australian island state of Tasmania, the Bowen Bridge in the city of Hobart was dedicated. This 3,202-foot (976-meter)-long segmental cantilever bridge carries Goodwood Road (Route B35) across the River Derwent. The Bowen Bridge serves a key link for motor vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists traveling between the eastern and western areas... Continue Reading →
February 17, 2012 The first cable-stayed bridge in Rio de Janeiro was officially opened. This 780-meter (2,559.1-foot)-long structure, which was named Ponte do Saber (Portuguese for “Bridge of Knowledge”), carries vehicular traffic across the Canal do Fundão (an artificial estuary created in 1951). The bridge serves as a connection between the Ilha do Fundão campus... Continue Reading →
February 12, 1938 A truss bridge built in the Montopolis neighborhood of Austin, Texas, in Travis County was dedicated during a Saturday ceremony. The next day’s edition of the Austin American reported, “The huge span of smooth concrete and shiny steel was constructed to replace [an] old iron bridge washed out by the flood of... Continue Reading →
January 29, 1914 Fred L. Baker (1872-1927) was a long way from his hometown of Los Angeles, but he had had an important reason for being in New York City on a Thursday in January. As president of the Automobile Club of Southern California -- an affiliate of the federation of motor clubs of the... Continue Reading →
January 20, 1995 A cable-stayed road bridge in northwestern France’s Normandy region first went into service. The Pont de Normandie (Normandy Bridge) spans the river Seine and connects the commune of Honfleur with the major port city of Le Havre. This bridge has the distinction of being the last bridge to cross the Seine before... Continue Reading →
January 16, 1902 A newly completed bridge in Bangkok, the capital of the Southeast Asian country known at the time as Siam, was formally opened. (Siam was the official name of present-day Thailand until 1939 and then between 1946 and 1948.) Construction of the bridge was commissioned in 1901 by Valaya Alongkorn (1884-1938), a princess... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 