New River Gorge Bridge

New River Gorge Bridge, West Virginia

We white water rafted nearby this bridge! TJ, our amazing White Water Rafting Guide, invited the rafters on our boat to return in October for "Bridge Day" to witness folks parachuting from this bridge. He says the best seat in the "house" for that event is on the river...in the raft!

On the back of a beautiful place mat I purchased while sightseeing (by land) during our West Virginia mountain trip, it says:

"You are visiting one of West Virginia's most scenic attractions. Two of the country's outstanding landmarks, one natural and one-made-made are combined to make this spectacular unforgettable view.......The New River Gorge is one of man's engineering and structural marvels. The bridge, the second highest in the United States, rises 876 feet above the rapids (over 325 feet higher than the Washington Monument)...."

Note: The Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado is the highest.

This site invites you to: "Join tens of thousands of visitors (October 20, 2007) as you walk across the longest, single-span steel arch bridge (in the western hemisphere) and take in the views from 876 feet up in the air." It's "One of America's Top One Hundred Festivals."

The site goes on to explain that...

"The 3,030-foot New River Gorge Bridge took three years to complete and cost nearly $37 million. Because of the chosen arch design, and the depth of the gorge, steel was moved into position by trolleys running on three inch diameter cables stretched between two 330-foot towers. More than 88 million pounds of steel are incorporated. Michael Baker Jr., Inc. was the design engineer company for the structure, which was built by the American Bridge Division of US Steel. Its cor-ten steel will never need painting. The span arches across the New River, among the oldest rivers in North America, considered to be America's best whitewater."

Wow! How exciting that we got to explore this bridge by sea and by land during our recent trip! The mountain fun was non-stop! :-)

Smiles,

Penny