Linn Cove Viaduct
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Linn Cove Viaduct is a 1243-foot concrete segmental bridge which snakes around the slopes of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. It was completed in 1983 at a cost of $10 million, and was the last section of the Blue Ridge Parkway to be finished. It is claimed to be the most complicated concrete bridge ever built.
The viaduct was needed because of the damage that a traditional cut-and-fill road would have caused to Grandfather Mountain. The viaduct was designed by Figg and Muller Engineers, Inc., and construction began in 1979. The bridge's segments were precast at an indoor facility and lowered into place by a crane. The only work done at ground level was drilling for the seven footings which support the viaduct. In particular, there was no access road other than the Blue Ridge Parkway itself. The bridge has received eleven design awards.
The National Park Service maintains a visitor center at the south end of the viaduct.