Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
August 7, 1927The Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York, and the town of Fort Erie in Ontario, Canada, was officially opened. This international bridge, which has since become one of North America’s most vital commercial ports, was built at the east end of Lake Erie and approximately 12 miles (19;3 kilometers) upriver of Niagara Falls.... Continue Reading →
August 3, 2020 In northwestern Italy, an inaugural ceremony was held for a viaduct in the city of Genoa. (A viaduct is a type of bridge that encompasses a series of arches, columns, or piers; and connects two endpoints of roughly the same elevation.) The Genoa Saint George Bridge, which carries the Autostrada A10 motorway... Continue Reading →
August 1, 2008 Two bridges spanning the Port River in the port-side region of Adelaide (the capital city of the state of South Australia) were inaugurated. Both of these bascule bridges (bridges that can move to allow passage for vessels traveling through the area) were built by the Australian construction company Abigroup. One of these... Continue Reading →
July 26, 2022 The Pelješac Bridge in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the southernmost county of the Republic of Croatia, was officially opened to motor vehicle traffic. This cable-stayed bridge, which carries a two-lane expressway across Bay of Mali Ston (a bay of the Adriatic Sea), serves as a key connection between Croatia’s peninsula of Pelješac and... 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 →
June 28, 2019 In the Canadian province of Quebec, a dedication ceremony took place for the Samuel De Champlain Bridge in the Greater Montreal Area. This cable-stayed bridge, crossing the Saint Lawrence River, serves as a link between Nnns’ Island, part of the borough of Verdun in the city of Montreal; and the municipality of... Continue Reading →
June 23, 1916 Modine Manufacturing Company, which would become an international force in heating-and-cooling technology for motor vehicles, was incorporated. This company started out as a business run by engineer Arthur B. Modine in a one-room office adjacent to a small workshop in Racine, Wisconsin. Modine Manufacturing Company made its debut at a time when... Continue Reading →
June 13, 1931 The St. Johns Bridge was dedicated in Portland, Oregon. This steel suspension bridge, which carries the U.S. Route 30 Bypass over the Willamette River, links Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood with the industrial area near the community of Linnton. Renowned engineer David B. Steinman (1886-1960), whose many structural accomplishments include Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge,... Continue Reading →
June 9, 2003 In the eastern region of the Republic of Ireland, a bridge in the Boyne Valley was formally opened to motor vehicle traffic. This bridge, spanning the River Boyne, is located about two miles (3.2 kilometers) west of Drogheda (a town straddling the boundary between Counties Meath and Louth of the province of... Continue Reading →
June 6, 1933 The first open air drive-in movie theater opened on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey. Richard M. Hollingshead (1899-1975), finding a new way to use the “horseless carriage,” worked out the details for that theater by experimenting with the setup in his own driveway. One major challenge involved the automobiles that would... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 