Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 6, 1936 In Oregon, the Yaquina Bay Bridge -- nearly a month before its official dedication ceremony -- was opened to traffic on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend starting at 8:00 a.m. This 3,260-foot (990-meter)-long arch bridge carries U.S. Highway 1 (formally classified as the Oregon Coast Highway) over a section of Yaquina Bay... Continue Reading →
June 22, 1925 A ferry named the MV Crosline was launched in the western region of Seattle. This wooden diesel-powered ship had been designed by naval architect L.H. Coolidge. Crosline was built by the Marine Construction Company for entrepreneur Harry W. Crosby to use in his recently established ferry service in that part of the... Continue Reading →
May 16, 1961 Automotive manufacturer Richard J. Corbitt died in Henderson, North Carolina, at the age of 88. Corbitt had first established residence in that community in 1894, and he entered the transportation business five years later with the launch of the Corbitt Buggy Company. For several years, this company built horse-drawn buggies for hauling agricultural... Continue Reading →
On January 12, 2022, Amitabha “Amit” Bose was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). This Senate confirmation by a vote of 68-29 made Bose the first person of South Asian descent to lead FRA, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Bose was born... Continue Reading →
On April 8, 1996, a dedication ceremony was held for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Employee Memorial near the city of Paxico in the northeastern region of the Sunflower State. This memorial, which is specifically located at the Paxico Safety Rest Area on Interstate 70, commemorates state highway employees who have lost their lives... Continue Reading →
December 21, 1926 The Ross Island Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was opened in what the Associated Press (AP) called “a fitting dedicatory ceremony.” This cantilever truss bridge, which carries U.S. Route 26 (Mount Hood Highway) across a section of the Willamette River between the southwest and southeast parts of Portland, is approximately 800 feet... Continue Reading →
Neal A. McCaleb, whose longtime career in public service has included key leadership roles in transportation, is a member of the Chickasaw Nation (a federally recognized Native American tribe with its headquarters in the city of Ada, Oklahoma). McCaleb was born in 1935 in Oklahoma City. He graduated from Putnam City High School in Warr... Continue Reading →
Arlando Teller, a member of the Navajo Nation and a lifelong Arizona resident, became deputy director for tribal affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on February 1, 2021. “I am really grateful for this opportunity, but know that I’m not doing this alone,” Teller said at that time in an interview with Indian... Continue Reading →
October 28, 1874 Henry Garnett Shirley, who became the first president of AASHO (officially renamed AASHTO in 1973), was born in Jefferson County, West Virginia. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a degree in civil engineering in 1896, and went on to serve as commandant and professor of military science at Horner Military... Continue Reading →
October 12, 1996 Work was officially completed on a road coursing through a picturesque region of the southeastern United States. The Cherohala Skyway is a 43-mile (69-kilometer) route between the towns of Tellico Plains in Tennessee and Robbinsville in North Carolina. The name for this skyway is a portmanteau of Cherokee and Natahala, referring to... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 