For those not going to the Baylor game in Mountaineer Field on Saturday there is the 35^th annual New River Gorge Bridge Day near Fayetteville, West Virginia.

The bridge was opened to traffic in 1977, reducing a 45-minute drive to get from one side to the other to a 3,030-foot vehicle crossing. 

On every third Saturday in October since 1980, except for 2001 because of the 9/11 terrorism that struck America, it’s Bridge Day.

In 1980 two parachutists jumped from a plane onto the bridge. Five parachutists jumped from the bridge into the gorge. And 5,500 people made the 3,000-foot walk across the bridge.

And the event has grown like Topsy since.

Parking is free at the shuttle stops. It costs $2 to take the shuttle to and from the Bridge Festival. Dogs are not allowed at Bridge Day. Neither are backpacks on the bridge in this era of terrorism.

Marcia Michalski Westfall, Class of 1974, the kindergarten teacher from Kilarm who rides a 2011 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Elctra Glide across America with husband Dave Westfall, Class of 1948, is coming from Hawk’s Nest in Ansted to Fayetteville for Bridge Day.

The American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel built the bridge for $37 million. Using unpainted weathering steel saved $300,000. Instead of the usual cost of $1 million to repaint such a bridge, it is treated with calcium magnesium acetate, which smells like vinegar, instead of the normal salt treatment that prevents icing

It is the longest steel arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere with a 1,700-foot span and the third highest bridge in the United States at 876 feet. 

The 1929 Royal Gorge Bridge over the Arkansas River is 955 feet high. The 2010 Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge over the Colorado River, which Paula and I walked across on our Las Vegas trip this year, is 890 feet. 

Fifth-highest is the Glade Creek Bridge in West Virginia at 700 feet.

Schedule of events for New River Gorge Bridge Day:

10/17/2014 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm	The Taste of Bridge Day Smokey’s on the Gorge, Lansing WV
10/18/2014 5:30 am	Event Vendors to Various Parking Lots
10/18/2014 7:30 am - 12:00 pm	Farmer's Market Diogi’s Parking Lot, Fayetteville WV
10/18/2014 8:30 am - 3:30 pm	Shuttles begin service at designated parking lots
10/18/2014 9:00 am - 3:00 pm	Annual New River Gorge Bridge Day Festival
10/18/2014 10:00 am - 2:00 pm	Crossroads Mall presents the XPOGO Stunt Team
10/18/2014 10:00 am - 4:00 pm	Fayette County National Bank Bridge Day Car Show Gorge Gateway Center, Fayetteville WV
10/18/2014 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm	Music in Downtown Fayetteville
10/18/2014 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Chili & Cornbread Cookoff in Downtown Fayetteville
10/19/2014 All Day	Enjoy the New River Gorge