I’m typing this week’s column from beautiful Adventures on the Gorge, overlooking the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville.

I’m fresh off a unique tour of the New River Gorge Bridge — underneath. The Bridge Walk tour takes you to the catwalk beneath the famous arch bridge. If one can get beyond a fear of heights and ignore the shaking of the bridge caused by the flow of traffic above, it’s a wonderful way to see the gorge and the New River from where its name comes from. It is also a good way to marvel at the engineering behind the bridge.

I come from St. Marys. At one time we had a sister bridge to the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant. You should know about the Silver Bridge, which collapsed into the Ohio River decades ago. Despite the hype, no, the accident was not caused by the Mothman (I’ll never get the obsession with the Mothman or the Flatwoods Monster or other cryptids). It was in fact caused by an engineering flaw that went unnoticed.

It turns out that the first Hi-Carpenter Bridge in St. Marys had the same exact flaw and the state closed the bridge as a precaution. Rather than try to fix the issue, the bridge was demolished, leaving St. Marys without a direct crossing to Newport, Ohio. A ferry boat service — similar to what Sistersville uses now — had to be used to get from one side or another.

Thankfully, by the 1970s a new Hi-Carpenter Bridge was built, but you can see the remains of the old Hi-Carpenter Bridge, which connects St. Marys to Middle Island, one of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge — the only island accessible by car.

Bridges are interesting things. It seems so simple: Build something flat from one side of a bank to another so people, animals and vehicles can get from one side or another. But more engineering goes into it.

What kind of bridge should one build? An arch bridge like the New River Gorge Bridge? A suspension bridge like the Wheeling Suspension Bridge? What kind of load will the bridge handle? Mere vehicles, people, or even trains? What is the lifespan of a bridge? How long can a bridge be maintained before it ultimately needs replaced or, heaven forbid, collapse?

West Virginia can be likened to a bridge. You know the kind. You probably have one in your county. You’ve probably driven across it hundreds of times and never thought about it. Bridges carry a lot of weight. They are mostly dependable when properly maintained. They connect our valleys and mountainsides, rivers and creeks.

West Virginia has carried much of the weight of the nation. Our people mined the coal that powered a nation, helped win world wars, melted the iron to make the steel. For that matter, we made the steel too once upon a time. Chemicals and plastics made in West Virginia have improved the lives of billions. Our men and women, truly our most valuable resource, have fought in all of this nation’s wars.

West Virginians are dependable. We stop to help our friends, neighbors, and strangers. We all chip in during the worst disasters. Our workers are known to spend decades working for one company. West Virginians are loyal to a fault. Our word is our bond.

In many ways, West Virginia is helping this nation build a bridge to the future. Our coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants are helping power the electric cars becoming increasingly more common on our highways. Natural gas produced in West Virginia is helping this nation reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Soon, West Virginia will build the batteries that will allow solar and wind power to be more effective and less expensive to produce. We’re already starting to see possible hydrogen projects, producing a cleaner fuel source for industry. We’re finding the rare earth minerals to vital to our electronics in the acid mine drainage from long-since shuttered coal mines, which can help the U.S. wean itself away from China as a source for these minerals. We’re producing electric school buses and electric boats.

Sure, West Virginia is losing more people than we’re gaining. Much of that is due to older residents dying off and younger adults not having as many children. But we are seeing in the data more people migrating here. West Virginia is increasingly becoming the place where high-paying manufacturing jobs are coming to. And young professionals are taking advantage of incentives offered by Ascend West Virginia and others to do their remote work here in the Mountain State.

The rest of the nation likes to make fun of us, stereotype us, and deride us. But they need us, and regardless of how the country treats us, we’re always there. I’ve been traveling around this state as part of the 2023 class of Leadership West Virginia. Every region of the state has different challenges, but I do see a positive energy among West Virginians that I’m not sure I’ve seen before.

As we get ready to celebrate West Virginia’s founding, let’s see ourselves as the New River Gorge Bridge — solid as the rock that connects each end of the arch that supports that bridge.