Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 5, 1994 A rebuilt version of a covered bridge in the town of Foster, Rhode Island, was officially dedicated. This structure, known as Swamp Meadow Bridge, is located on Central Pike and crosses Hemlock Brook in that region of the Ocean State. The building of the first version of Swamp Meadow Bridge had been... Continue Reading →
October 31, 1886 A double-deck metal arch bridge on Portugal’s northwestern coast was formally opened. This structure, crossing the river Douro, serves as a link between the cities of Porto and Villa Nova de Gaia. The bridge was named after Dom Luís I (1838-1889), who reigned as king of Portugal from 1861 until his death.... Continue Reading →
September 24, 2004 In the westernmost region of Slovenia, a vehicular bridge crossing the Osp Valley and located near the village of Črni Kal was first opened to traffic. The Črni Kal Viaduct, which is part of the 152.4-mile (245.3-kilometer)-long A1 motorway (also called Slovenika), was jointly designed by Janez Kožel and Marjan Pipenbaher. Construction... Continue Reading →
August 14, 1957 The Administration Committee of AASHO (now known as AASHTO) approved the now-familiar shield used on the Interstate Highway System. The committee made this decision in the wake of several months during which the association’s U.S. Route Numbering Committee sifted through and evaluated dozens of shapes and sizes for a possible route marker... Continue Reading →
July 31, 1962 A steel beam bridge in Washington, D.C., was officially opened. This bridge was built to carry the 12th Street Expressway over the Washington Channel, a body of water that parallels the Potomac River. Originally known as the Washington Channel Bridge, this structure was inaugurated with considerable fanfare. These festivities, which included a... Continue Reading →
July 8, 2013 The Sveti Ilija Tunnel in central-southern Croatia was officially opened. This tunnel carries the D76 state road through a 5,387-foot (1,642-meter)-tall mountain ridge known as Sveti Ilija (Saint Elijah). This ridge, which is part of the Biokovo mountain range, was named after a prophet in the Old Testament. The Sveti Ilija Tunnel... Continue Reading →
On October 25, 2017, a dedication ceremony was held for a memorial commemorating West Virginia state highway employees who have lost their lives in work zone collisions. The creation of this memorial was spearheaded by the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH), the largest agency of the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT). The WVDOH... Continue Reading →
April 10, 1951 The Battery Park Underpass, a vehicular tunnel at the southernmost tip of Manhattan in New York City, was officially opened during a noontime ceremony. This underpass is located near the neighborhoods of Battery Park and South Ferry. It serves as a link between Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive (popularly known as... Continue Reading →
March 25, 1992 The Ria Bridge, which is located in northwestern Spain’s autonomous community of Galicia, was opened to traffic. (A ria is a coastal inlet that has been formed for the partial submergence of a river that was never covered or otherwise impacted by any glaciers or ice sheets.) This bridge is part of... Continue Reading →
February 11, 1933 In Allegheny County, a suspension bridge built in Pittsburgh’s South Side was opened to traffic without any formality or notable amount of fanfare. This bridge’s low-key debut was reported in the next day’s edition of the Pittsburgh Press. “Undedicated and without ceremony, the county’s new bridge across Monongahela River at Tenth Street... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 