Month: October 2020

Falling Sands Viaduct — The Wilden Marsh Blog

I was out and about around the Falling Sands Viaduct yesterday. The viaduct carries the Severn Valley Heritage Railway, and bridges both the River Stour and the Worcester and Staffordshire canal at the northern end of Wilden Marsh. Here are a few photos of this historic structure, dating from1877 and rising 64 feet above the […]

Falling Sands Viaduct — The Wilden Marsh Blog

Over The River — The Eternal Traveller

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%211m18%211m12%211m3%211d28699.41849803477%212d152.47779203802057%213d-25.95402258354988%212m3%211f0%212f0%213f0%213m2%211i1024%212i768%214f13.1%213m3%211m2%211s0x6b94b5d2eda6e735%3A0x20bb4b8e0c280500%212sDickabram+Bridge%215e0%213m2%211sen%212sau%214v1601250829571%215m2%211sen%212sau

Kind Squares Photo Challenge #6 ~ Queensland: One of a Kind Destination: Dickabram Bridge, Miva, Queensland For a country bridge linking two small rural towns, Dickabram Bridge is an impressive sight. Located between Miva and Theebine, the steel truss bridge is 191 metres long and stands 23 metres above the Mary River. The bridge opened […]

Over The River — The Eternal Traveller

BHC Pic of the Week Nr. 118

Before getting to the tour guide on the bridges in Schwerin, there is one bridge one needs to have a look at, which is this structure. The Schlossbrücke belongs to one of the most ornamental bridges in not only Schwerin but also in the German state of Mecklenburg-Pommerania (MV). The bridge and the castle were built in the same time period, yet the bridge was needed to cross the channel of Lake Schwerin in order for the construction of the castle to be realized. The five-span stone arch bridge was constructed in 1844. The castle was built in parts from 1845 until its full completion in 1857 and the likes of Gottfried Semper, Friedrich August Stüler, Georg Adolf Demmler and Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. Because of its ornamental design, together with the bridge itself, the castle represents one of the finest examples of romantic Historicism in Europe and has been considered a World Heritage Site. The Castle is known by many as the Neuschwanstein of the North, though its Bavarian counterpart is far more visited than this one. Still the castle is the site of the state parliament which meets regularly.

Structurally, the bridge has a total length of 48 meters and a width of 16.27 meters. It’s art greco railings feature geometrical, square shapes, flanked with ornamental lanterns with horse statues found on the portal end facing the historic city center. The bridge connects the castle with the historic city center, yet another structure, built in 1897, is located on the opposite end and connects the castle with the Castle Gardens.

The bridge was rehabilitated in 1984 and since then, it has been open to only pedestrians and cyclists, even though some cars belonging to government officials can use the structure as well. The bridge’s ornamental appearance can be compared to many of the structures in other European countries. This includes the Moltke Bridge in Berlin, the Pont Alexandre III in Paris, the Ushakovsky Bridge in St. Petersburg and even the Svatopluk Čech Bridge in Prague. Surprisingly, the bridge and the castle survived both World Wars without a scratch and have maintained their aesthetic appearance, thus making them highly recommended places to visit while bridgehunting in Germany. From my personal standpoint, the bridge and the castle are a photographer’s dream, especially on a day like this one in August, where a setting like this can result in some really awesome photos, ripe for a photo contest, regardless of which camera to use.

One needs a full day to visit the castle complex and its bridges, especially with the Schlossbrücke. Yet believe me, you will never be disappointed. 🙂 ❤

The Choluteca Bridge

Here’s an interesting “Bridge to Nowhere” story that takes us to Honduras. There, the US Army Engineers built a bridge to span Choluteca River only to find that Hurricane Mitch rerouted the river, making the modern bridge useless in the literal sense of the word. Have a look at the story behind this useless crossing that still stands to this day…….

malcolmsmusings.org

U.S. Army Engineers built a bridge over the Choluteca river in Honduras to withstand storms and hurricanes. In 1998 Hurricane Mitch brought floods, death and destruction to the area. 150 Honduran bridges were destroyed, but not the Choluteca Bridge.

When the flood waters receded the hurricane had re-routed the river to flow through a new channel. The bridge remaineda fine structure, but it spanned a river that was no longer there. 12 years later it still stands useless.

In 2020 there are excellent well-constructed bridges – but over re-routed rivers.

Offices with big open spaces have been empty for months. Many people have adjusted to working from home; they like not having to travel for work or meetings. Work is still being done, the river is still flowing – but it’s flowing outside the office building.

Our hospitals were designed and built for serious illness, medication, invasive procedures and cures…

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Work Begins on the Tower Bridge in California

Work Begins on the Tower Bridge in California

Transportation History

July 20, 1934

In California, construction began on a new bridge that would cross the Sacramento River and connect the state capital of Sacramento in Sacramento County with the city of West Sacramento in Yolo County. This vertical lift bridge was built to replace the M Street Bridge, which was owned by the Sacramento Northern Railway. (A vertical lift bridge is a type of movable bridge designed for areas through which large ships travel on a regular basis; this bridge’s span can be elevated vertically while remaining parallel with the structure’s deck.)

“Formal legal technicalities dealing with posting of bonds and signing of contracts with the Sacramento Northern railroad will not be completed for a couple of days,” reported the July 20 edition of the Woodland Daily Democrat newspaper. “However, construction buildings were set up on the job today, including the office and tool house.”

The M Street Bridge was a…

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The Opening of the Present-Day Arrigoni Bridge in Connecticut

The Opening of the Present-Day Arrigoni Bridge in Connecticut

Transportation History

On August 6, 1938, a newly constructed steel through arch bridge was formally opened in Middlesex County in south-central Connecticut. This structure, spanning the Connecticut River and connecting the city of Middletown with the town of Portland, took the place of a drawbridge that had been opened in 1896. The building of a replacement bridge began in 1936. Charles J. Arrigoni, who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1933 to 1936 and the Connecticut State Senate between 1937 and 1940, was a staunch champion of this construction project. Originally called the Middletown-Portland Bridge, the structure was eventually renamed the Arrigoni Bridge.

The bridge was opened with considerable fanfare despite inclement weather throughout that Saturday afternoon. The festivities included a huge parade that made its way across the new structure. The Hartford Courant reported, “Along the sidewalks of the Main streets in Middletown and Portland, filling every available space…

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Simple Conceptually, Difficult To Build — Old Structures Engineering

That’s an action shot of the construction of the Lethbridge Viaduct by the Canadian Pacific Railway, in southern Alberta, sometime between mid-1908 and early 1909. Everything about this is fantastic, in both meanings of the word. 537 more words

Simple Conceptually, Difficult To Build — Old Structures Engineering