Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 28, 2015 A newly built railway station was opened in the city of Delft in the Netherlands’ province of South Holland. This city has played a huge role in Dutch history over the centuries and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Netherlands. Delft -- located between Rotterdam to the southeast... Continue Reading →
December 30, 2019 The Ryfylke Tunnel in western Norway’s Rogaland county was officially opened to traffic. This tunnel -- encompassing one tube for each direction and two vehicular lanes in each of those tubes -- carries Norwegian National Road 13 under a body of water called Horgefjord (part of the vast fjord known as Boknafjord).... Continue Reading →
December 13, 1969 In northeastern Argentina, an underwater road tunnel was officially opened between the provinces of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe. This tunnel, measuring 7,864 feet (2,397 meters) in length, carries National Route 168 across the Paraná River. The tunnel serves as a link between Entre Ríos province’s capital city of Paraná and an... Continue Reading →
March 18, 1834 The first railway tunnel in the United States made its formal debut in west-central Pennsylvania as part of the infrastructure for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. The Staple Bend Tunnel was specifically built between the borough of Conemaugh (the present-day city of Johnstown) and the settlement (now borough) of Hollidaysburg. At the time of... Continue Reading →
December 22, 1937 The Lincoln Tunnel, which serves as a link between Weehawken, New Jersey, and New York City’s Midtown Manhattan, was officially opened to traffic with the debut of its first tube. “Engineering Marvel Dedicated,” proclaimed a headline in the Pennsylvania-based Indiana Evening Gazette. This structure and the Holland Tunnel (in operation since 1927)... Continue Reading →
October 1, 1906 A major railway tunnel in the Duchy of Carinthia, a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was officially opened. The area where this tunnel was built now traverses both the southern region of the Republic of Austria and the northern section of the Republic of Slovenia. The Karawanks Tunnel owes its name to... Continue Reading →
July 16, 1965 The Mont Blanc Tunnel was officially dedicated. This road tunnel, which is located beneath Mont Blanc in the Alps, links the town of Chamonix in southeastern France with the resort village of Courmayeur in northwestern Italy. (Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in not only the Alps but also all of Europe.)... Continue Reading →
June 23, 2007 A dedication ceremony was held for the Sitina Tunnel in Bratislava, the capital and largest city of the country of Slovakia in central Europe. This tunnel carries the D2 motorway underneath a section of the mountain range known as the Little Carpathians (a part of the Carpathian Mountains). The Sitina Tunnel was... Continue Reading →
June 16, 1940 The East Side Highway in the southeastern corner of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State made its debut. The dedication ceremony for this new means of vehicular access to the park was held at the north portal of a tunnel built as a key portion of the route. This event was... Continue Reading →
May 3, 2017 At 3:30 p.m., a pivotal moment in the construction of the Mӕlefjell Tunnel between the municipalities of Seljord and Hjartdal in southeastern Norway took place when both halves of the structure were joined together. This breakthrough occurred four years after the construction company NCC had begun building the road tunnel. “I’ve been... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 