Lansing in Fayette County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)

The Bridge

By Don Morfe, August 4, 2012

1. The Bridge Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Completed in 1977, New River Bridge is the world’s longest single-arch steel span bridge. At 876 feet above the river it is American’s 2nd-highest bridge.

Features to Notice
Color. The steel used here, Cor-ten steel, rusts slightly on the surface. This surface-rust inhibits deeper rust, protecting the steel and eliminating the need to paint. It also provides the color which darkens with time.

Concrete supports anchoring bridge to opposite slope. Abandoned mine tunnels honeycombing the hillside created a major engineering problem. Engineers devised special supports.

(Inscription under the image in the lower left)
Workers lower the last beam to complete the arch. Steel was brought to position by trolleys running on 3-inch cables.

(Inscription under the image in the lower right)
Under construction, New River Bridge looms high above its predecessor, Fayette Station Bridge.

Erected by National Park Service US Department of Interior.

Location. 38° 4.194′ N, 81° 4.542′ W. Marker is

New River Bridge image. Click for full size.

By Don Morfe, August 4, 2012

2. New River Bridge

in Lansing, West Virginia, in Fayette County. Marker is on Visitor Center Road. The marker is on the grounds of the Canyon Rim Visitor Center New River Gorge National River. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lansing WV 25862, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Trail to Bridge Overlook (here, next to this marker); The Deceptive Forest (within shouting distance of this marker); New River (within shouting distance of this marker); Smoke, Coke, Coal, and Kaymoor (within shouting distance of this marker); New River Gorge Scenic Drives (within shouting distance of this marker); New River Gorge National River (within shouting distance of this marker); Townsend's Ferry (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fayetteville Town Park (approx. 1.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lansing.

Categories. • Bridges & Viaducts • Waterways & Vessels •

By Don Morfe, October 7, 1994

3. New River Bridge

Entrance sign to Canyon Rim Visitor Center New River Gorge National River image. Click for full size.

By Don Morfe, August 4, 2012

4. Entrance sign to Canyon Rim Visitor Center New River Gorge National River

More. Search the internet for The Bridge.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 28, 2016. This page originally submitted on November 26, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 172 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on November 26, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.