This Month in W.Va. History: The New River Gorge Bridge opens to traffic

It was built as a necessary structure for modern travel in the region, but the New River Gorge Bridge has since become a West Virginia icon and the face of the nation’s newest national park.

The bridge officially opened to traffic on Oct. 22, 1977, and was hailed by officials as a game-changer for the region. The bridge reduced a 40-minute drive down narrow mountain roads and across one of North America's oldest rivers to less than a minute.

The mountains it’s nestled between called for the unique design that the bridge is now known for. The engineering masterpiece -- the longest steel span in the western hemisphere and third highest in the United States -- took four years and about $37 million to be completed.

“It will give us not only new transportation but new lifeblood,” then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller said. 

Boy, was he right. The bridge has since become one of the most photographed features in the state, has multiple hikes/overlooks that showcase it and a day of celebration each year.

Since 1980, thousands have flocked to the New River Gorge Bridge to watch BASE jumpers make the leap from the bridge down on Bridge Day -- the third Saturday of every October. It is the only time of the year the bridge is open to pedestrians, although tours of the walkway below the bridge are always available.

Being the most easily accessible feature of the New River Gorge (besides the river), the bridge has become one of the main faces in promotion of the freshly-minted New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. You can’t make it 10 seconds in any video of the area without a glimpse of the bridge.

The last time I was in the area, I ran into a woman who had no idea of the significance of the bridge, but she’d seen and heard about it in promotions for the park. Hey, visitors may not know the history, but if it gets them to stop, I think we’ll take it.