New River Gorge Bridge

About this place

The New River Gorge Bridge is a 924 m steel arch bridge over the New River Gorge near Fayetteville, West Virginia, about 2.6 km in a straight line north-east of the town, in the Appalachian Mountains. Its arch spans 518 m; for 26 years it was the world's longest single-span arch bridge, and it is now the seventh-longest and the longest outside China. The roadway is 267 m above the river, making it one of the highest vehicular bridges in the world and the third-highest in the United States. When completed in 1977 it was the world's highest bridge carrying a regular roadway, until a bridge in China opened in 2001. It carries US Route 19, about 16,000 vehicles cross it each day, and on the annual «Bridge Day» hundreds of properly equipped people may climb on it or BASE-jump from it. The brown steel arch leaps between the sides of a deep, forested gorge, with the green New River running beneath among rocks and rapids. Decks at the visitor centre and the old winding road down to the gorge floor give different views of the bridge, and in autumn the forests turn orange and red. Viewing the bridge is free, and the area is part of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The road down to the gorge floor is narrow and winding, and guided catwalk tours on the bridge structure are paid and need booking.