New River Gorge Bridge - BLInspirations

Note: This post is one of a series about our visit to New River Gorge and Bridge in late October 2018. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of color in the trees then. For details of the New River National River and links to other posts, please see New River Gorge and Bridge (Overview).

The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel arch bridge that carries US Rt. 19 over the New River Gorge, near Fayetteville, West Virginia. The four-lane bridge is is 3,030 feet long, more than 69 feet wide, and 876 feet above the New River. With an arch 1,700 feet long, for many years it was the world’s longest single-span arch bridge; it is now the fourth longest. It is currently the third highest bridge in the USA.

Construction on the bridge began in June 1974, and was completed in October 1977. The bridge cut the vehicle travel time from one side of the gorge to the other from about 45 minutes to 45 seconds. (See Fayette Station Road in New River Gorge and Bridge.)

The featured photo was taken from the Tunney Hunsaker bridge that carries Fayette Station Road over the New River at the bottom of the gorge. Three of the photos in the Additional Photos section were also taken from various locations along Fayette Station Road.

The New River Gorge Bridge is within the National Park Service’s New River Gorge National River area, which protects this portion of the New River. At the northern end of the bridge, the Park Service operates the Canyon Rim Visitor Center; it has several scenic overlooks at different levels descending into the gorge; the top overlook is accessible.

Since its opening, the bridge has been the centerpiece of Fayette County’s ‘Bridge Day’, held on the third Saturday of October to commemorate the completion of the bridge. This festival includes demonstrations of rappelling, ascending, and BASE jumping. Bungee jumping has been banned since 1993.