The steel-arch bridge near Fayetteville, West Virginia, USA, is the New River Gorge Bridge. It is 924 meters long and 518 meters wide. About 40, 92, 129 kilos of U.S. Cor Ten steel and American cement were used to construct this landmark. Today, it is the world's No. 3 largest arch bridge in the world. Every day, an average number of 16,200 cars and vehicles use this bridge.
It carries the US 19 route over the river at a height of 267 meters, giving it the status of being the second highest bridge for cars and vehicles in USA and the fifth highest globally.
The bridge is situated in the midst of the New River Gorge National River. Visitors can use the services of the National Park Service to take in the views from the bridge's northern end and the staircase that leads downwards to the gorge. A Bridge Walk or catwalk two feet wide runs the entire span of the bridge below the roadway.
The New River Gorge Bridge across the New River in West Virginia. [CC] credit.The bridge is the venue of Bridge Day, celebrated in Fayette County, when the bridge is closed to traffic. Festivities during this festival include displays of rappelling, BASE jumping and ascending on the third Saturday of October.
With the opening of the New River Gorge Bridge in 1977, the problem of traveling in this area was solved. By using the bridge, people could shorten a 40-minute drive down the narrow mountain roads and across one of America's oldest rivers in less than a minute.