The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, is scheduled to open this week. An 8-story "log bridge" spans I-80 just east of Kearney, Nebraska. The $60 million monument and museum celebrates the historical westward migration path, "from the Oregon trail, pony express and telegraph to modern highways and fiber optics..." The early reports indicate quite an extravaganza, where visitors don headsets issued by a "mountain man" and wander along a transportation chronology, ending on the interstate highway, which "opens up a whole new world of pleasure travel in America." Time to get back in your car. Other attractions are planned for the area, including an Indian Village or giant teepee.

Using giant multi-wheeled transporters, the 1,500-ton, 309-foot structure was rolled across the highway in one piece on the night of Aug. 16, 1999. The interstate was closed for eight hours while the archway was locked onto its support platforms. (Team Roadside was caught up in the tangle, on our way from The Birthplace of Kool Aid in Hastings, NE to The Ice Replica of Sonja Heine's Heart -- now melted -- in Omaha). [06/25/2000]

November 26, 2009