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The First Bridge Across the BayClient: Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission SIR's highway sign research for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel really took flight. When it opened in 1964, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel captured worldwide attention as a modern engineering wonder. It was immediately selected "One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World" in a worldwide competition that included more than one hundred major projects. In 1965, it was distinguished as "The Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement" by the American Society of Civil Engineers. To ensure this new engineering marvel would catch the attention of commercial and passenger vehicle drivers headed to Virginia's eastern shore, SIR was asked to test alternative highway signs. SIR employed a relatively new research instrument called the tachistoscope (T-Scope). The T-Scope displays alternative graphic images in a manner that simulates the brief time a message on a highway sign has to register with drivers traveling 60 mph. The iconic symbol of a sea gull was the clear winner. Since 1964, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel "Follow The Gulls" sign has helped over 80 million commercial and passenger vehicles find their way across the Bay. |
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