BETA BRIDGE
The University of Virginia (Wahoowa!) has countless traditions, some from its initial days, and some emerging more recently. Today one of the most notable landmarks on Grounds, Beta Bridge, has been at the center of a famous tradition just since the latter 1900's.
Often brightly colored with hand-lettered messages spanning its length, the bridge carrying Rugby Road over the C&O railroad tracks over the years has become the place for paintbrush-wielding students to express themselves. Event information, birthday celebrations, offers of praise and encouragement, and even memorials have been painted on the bridge.
After the tragic deaths of 3 students Beta Bridge had it longest lasting memorial, and a permanent exhibit has been added to honor the lives of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis, Jr. and D'Sean Perry
In recent times the bridge has accomplished something the CO has not - opening an instagram account to allow those far from Charlottesville to see the latest messaging and artwork. You can follow along in other ways, and can even see updates in action if you look at the Google street view from September of 2016. At one point a chunk of paint fell off revealing hundreds of layers, and weighing over 500 pounds.
To claim this virtual, simply snap a picture showing you were there, including showing at least a portion of the bridge highlighting the current artwork. This way all viewers of this cache page can see how the bridge has changed over time. Your face is not required to be in the photo, but please find some way to show that you were there.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.