Skip to main content

Highway

Blue Ridge Parkway
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Roads & RailsEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 1935-1937Blue Ridge MountainsState: VACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Blue-Ridge-Parkway/

Designed to connect the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway was planned to provide pleasant motoring and to conserve and interpret the unique natural and cultural resources of the Southern Highlands. It was conceived also as a public works project to relieve unemployment in the Appalachian region during the Great Depression.

YearAdded:
1999
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/thewebprincess (CC BY-ND 2.0) Image Caption: A stunning view from an outlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is famous for its beautyEra_date_from: 1935
Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 1930Veterans Memorial BridgeWest HempfieldState: PACountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Columbia-Wrightsville-Bridge/Creator: Long, James , Wiley-Maxon Construction Company

The total length of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge is 7,374 feet. Its construction required 100,000 cubic yards of concrete and 8 million pounds of steel reinforcing rods.

YearAdded:
1984
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Gerry Dincher (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Columbia-Wrightsville BridgeEra_date_from: 1930
Alaska Highway
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Roads & RailsEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1942Dawson Creek British ColumbiaDelta JunctionState: AKZip: 99737Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/alaska-highway/Creator: MacDonald, Thomas

The Alaska Highway, initially called the Alaskan-Canadian (Alcan) Military Highway, provided an essential transportation link to the Yukon and Alaska during World War II. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon. After the shock of Pearl Harbor, the Alaska Highway was a first step in America's defense strategy -- a vital military supply line during the war. Over ten thousand Army Engineers were rushed to the far Northwest.

YearAdded:
1995
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Bruce McKay (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Driving on the Alaska Highway with a snowy mountain horizonEra_date_from: 1942
Subscribe to Highway

Innovations

Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway, initially called the Alaskan-Canadian (Alcan) Military Highway, provided an essential transportation link to the Yukon and Alaska during World War II. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska…

Read More
Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge

The total length of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge is 7,374 feet. Its construction required 100,000 cubic yards of concrete and 8 million pounds of steel reinforcing rods.

Consisting of 28 arches, each 185 feet long, the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge carrying automobile traffic…

Read More
Blue Ridge Parkway

Designed to connect the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway was planned to provide pleasant motoring and to conserve and interpret the unique natural and cultural resources of the Southern Highlands. It was…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.