Skip to main content

The New River Gorge Bridge

Image
By
Known best for the annual 'Bridge Day,' held every October to celebrate this engineering feat's birthday, the New River Gorge Bridge is one of West Virginia's best-known road features.  The bridge completed in 1977 has also served as an economic stimulus for the New River Area, as various adventure and outdoor oriented business have flourished because of the improved accessibility to the region's true natural wonder, the New River.  Built as part of Appalachian Regional Corridor 'L,' the New River Bridge spans 3,030 feet in length.  At 876 feet over the New River, it is the third highest bridge in the US, and the arch length of 1700 feet made the bridge at the time it opened the longest steel single arch span in the world.  (The bridge is now the third longest of its kind in the world and the longest within the US.) Corridor 'L' is simply nearly 70 miles of US 19 from the West Virginia Turnpike Exit 48 to Interstate 79 (Exit 57).  It serves as a shortcut for many travelers from Western Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario to the South and vice versa.  Personally, I cross this bridge and travel this route a number of  times a year between North Carolina and Pittsburgh.

The Canyon Rim Visitor Center is the one of the better and most accessible of locations to take photos and learn about the bridge.  It is just off the north shore landing of the structure.  At the visitor center, there are a number of vantage points.  One, a quick walk that leads to a viewing platform from just above highway level (shown above) or through a longer and more strenuous trek - there are a lot of stairs - to a viewing platform that affords views of the bridge (see below) and of the New River Gorge below.  The Canyon Rim Visitor Center features exhibits and video presentations about the geological formation of the river, the area's coal heritage, and of course the bridge itself.  The visitor center is also a great place to stop and have a picnic and in our case let the kids get out and play for a little bit.

 
The 40 year old bridge replaced a turn of the century structure that sits less than 20 feet over the river.  It also eliminated a 45 minute down the ridge, across the river, and back up the ridge venture that motorists wishing to cross the New River at this location had to take.  Once the bridge opened, US 19 moved from an alignment to the bridge's south, over modern day WV 41, onto Corridor L and the new bridge. 

The Fayette Station Bridge viewed from the lower Canyon Rim overlook.
"Bridge Day" is a celebration of the bridge and also of the recreational opportunities the New River has to offer.  The event, first held in 1980, features bridge jumping, rappelling, a carnival atmosphere, and more.  The festival is West Virginia's largest one-day event.  For More Information visit the New River Convention and Visitors Bureau's Bridge Day Site.  The festival is held the third Saturday of every October.  John and Barb Bee attended Bridge Day in 1989 and received a certificate recognizing their completion of walking across the bridge.

Today, you can do a rather unique bridge walk yourself.  Bridge Walk, LLC offers guided tours along the catwalk underneath the bridge.  The tours are offered daily and cost $69/person.  This unique tour was first offered in 2009 as a partnership between the WV Department of Transportation, National Park Service and Bridge Walk, LLC.  Since then, over 30,000 people have taken part of this tour.


Construction on the bridge began in 1974 and was completed three years later at a cost of $37 million.  The bridge officially opened to traffic on October 22, 1977.  The bridge was featured on the back of the West Virginia state quarter by the US Mint in 2005.

Site Navigation:
Sources & Links:
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

By
  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

By
Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...
Post a Comment
Read more