The New River Gorge Bridge

Using the new Chisel & Bits mod for Minecraft 1.10.2 I built the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia.

For the first time, I'm offering a download of the build to you guys. Just go to the reddit post here for instalation instructions:

Completed in 1977, the bridge cost a total of 37 million dollars. The bridge is known for revitalizing a major part of the West Virginian economy, introducing tourism to the area and ease of transportation. Before the bridge, a 45 minute drive down and up the steep gorge was needed to even cross it. Now, only a short 45 second drive across the bridge is needed to connect the east to the west. Comparison shot of the real bridge.

After completion, the bridge held the record for largest single span arch bridge for years until two larger ones were completed in China. It currently holds the record in the Western Hemisphere, which we all know is the best hemisphere anyway.

After this photo; all facts will be in relation to the minecraft build itself, not the actual New River Bridge. Unless otherwise stated.

Here at the site of the New River Gorge Bridge project we have already set foundations for the bridge. The total span, from foundation to foundation, is 191 meters.

A "dead man" block of concrete was poured on each side of the gorge for securing anchor points. Afterwards, a system of cables was strung across the gorge to create a trolley for moving materials.

A small section of road deck was built on each side of the gorge.

These will be our anchor points until the end of the arch construction.

An arch section under construction begins, anchored by steel cable to the road deck and dead man.

Additional sections of arch are constructed and mounted by cable.

As we are nearing the end of arch construction, a massive amount of weight is now suspended over the river.

The only thing keeping all of this steel from crashing down into the water are some relatively thin steel cables.

The final piece of the arch is now being fitted into place.

Completion! The tiebacks can be removed now as the arch can now fully support itself.

Beams are now fitted into place for mounting the road deck. The widest of the beams on the real bridge can be as large or larger than a tractor trailer.

The beams gradually become wider as they become longer towards the bottom to help support the road deck.

Now construction can resume on the road deck.

The section of road deck is now in place.

A walkway is constructed to aid in maintenance and tours of the bridge.

The concrete roadway was constructed, barriers placed, and guardrails bolted in place

The arch mount

Comparison shot of the bridge over a standard minecraft village. The center of the bridge and the center of the town well are on the same x and z axis.

Here are some more shader shots of the bridge. Using Sildur's Vibrant Shaders Lite.

Terrain created with Worldpainter.

Thanks for viewing! All in all this project took me about two months to create. Even more if I included days in between working on it! I took a whitewater rafting trip on the New River last year and this bridge just took my breath away. West Virginia might be the most beautiful state I have ever visited.