New River Gorge Bridge - West Virginia
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
New River Gorge Bridge - West Virginia
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
A semi crosses the New River Gorge Bridge in the fog at the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
The New River Gorge Bridge, constructed of steel, is a continuous-span, open-spandrel; arch-truss bridge with an overall length of 3,030 feet, 6 inches. When it opened in 1977, the bridge held the title of the longest steel arch bridge in the world. It is still the longest single-span steel arch in the United States, and at 876 feet above the New River, it is the third-highest bridge in the Western Hemisphere.
While the design of the bridge is relatively conventional, the enormous scale of the project in what at the time was a remote Appalachian location made it an engineering marvel. It has been a tremendous boon for the local economy, turning what was once a 45-minute treacherous drive down a one-lane curvy road into the gorge and back up into a less than a minute crossing.
The bridge is part of the New River Gorge National River and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
Copyright 2020 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
September 25th, 2020
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