Can there ever have been a more appropriate memorial to a writer than the new Samuel Beckett bridge that opened in Dublin on 10 December? The several thousand tons of steel deck and pylon were fabricated in a factory in Rotterdam, then carried across the sea by a barge labouring in the churning swell. A stately bridge carried over the turbulent water by a boat?
The designer was Santiago Calatrava, the Valencian architect who has made expressionist bridges and weirdly torqued structures a trademark. Never mind that Beckett made a virtue of muted understatement. The writer once said "Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness". Calatrava does not think that way. He's in the landmark business.
This is Calatrava's second bridge in Dublin – the first was dedicated to James Joyce and opened in 2003. The new Beckett Bridge is technically interesting: the structure is cable-stayed from a 40-metre pylon. The span across the Liffey is 124m and carries two lanes of motor traffic, one of cycles and one of Godots. Trains may come later. Hydraulic apparatus allows the bridge to swing through 90 degrees in the horizontal plane to allow ships to pass.
Artistically, it is more interesting still. Calatrava has ignored the temptation to use ForEx traders, race-horse owners and other Celtic tigers as a source of inspiration. Instead, he has been inspired by Guinness's traditional harp: the tensioned cables are, he says, to be seen as strings. It reminds me of what Beckett said about Dublin university containing the cream of Ireland: rich and thick.
Lol thanks Cragman I take that as a high compliment. I love Huell Howser. When I was a teenager he was the young 'sports guy' on our local news station in Nashville. Ironically Pat Sajack of Wheel of Fortune was the weather guy on the competing station. Just look at em both now!
Atlanterhavsveien on the coast of Norway, connecting Kristiansund and Molde, is pretty amazing. Hopping from island to skerry to island for 8 km, more in the ocean than on land. Bridges, tunnels and other neat stuff.
Bridge photos are all from last April, doing my job. Just happened to take more photos on the clock that month.
Credit: Timid TopRope
Credit: Timid TopRope
Bidwell Bar bridge. Lake Oroville.
Credit: Timid TopRope
Lots of these kind of private bridges in the hills. Some are maintained, this one isn't. Good idea to look under before proceeding.
Credit: Timid TopRope
The Calatrava Sundial footbridge in Redding is really beautiful, but hotter than f*#k half the year with its glass walkway. My pics of it don't do it justice.
Swinging railroad bridge over the Swinomish Channel ( that's salt water ).
A few minutes after this shot was taken, the kite and camera crash-landed in the water - about halfway between the bridge and the barge - when the kite fell apart. The camera is fine ( Pentax Optio W80 ) with the dunking, but everything else electric ( radio receiver, 3 servos, and a battery ) was shot. I always wondered what would happen if I crashed in the water.
The Bridge to Nowhere, East Fork,San Gabriel Mountains.
A federal works project in the 1930s. There is no road leading away from it, and a long since vanished road leading to it. Its the bridge to nowhere, man.
Yeah bvb I drove down past Temecula last summer during a fricking heat wave to your San Diego bouldering strong hold under that bridge, so cool looking. I also got off and did the old 395 bit for ways too, old school.
I LOVE the new Benecia bridge but loved the old carcass too.
Bridges are one of the highest expressions of a civilization, right up there with language and culture (seriously)
dfrost I've walked over that bridge a hundred times I bet. Used to boulder there a lot when I lived in Modesto. Still try to get there a couple times a year.
So I'm dismayed that no love has been shown Mssr Eiffel for his Garabit Viaduct
over the Truyère River. It was built 5 years before his less usefull tour.
Mssr Eiffel is also well-known in Switzerland for designing the railway bridge
over the Birs River. It was built in 1875 and was one of his earlist designs.
Sadly, on 14 June 1891 it collapsed when a heavier-than-normal-train crossed
it killing 73 and badly injuring 171. The analysis "revealed that Euler's
formula for buckling, which had hitherto been used to calculate design
loads in such structures, needed to be corrected for slender bars." (Wiki)
Nice shots of the Tower Bridge, Dingus. I've been over that one countless times. Prime gateway out of my home town is how I looked at it. I still think the new paint job is a POS, although the sidewalk widening is alright.
A cool corollary is I remember riding my bike at night across the Tower Bridge and regularly seeing the local Hmong kids climbing up in the beams over traffic! I finally figured out they were gathering eggs from the nesting pigeons up there. Those immigrants lived off the land!
My other escape tube out of West Sacramento ("Wessack"=correct pronunciation) was the I Street Bridge just north a little ways from the Tower Bridge. Mostly, via the lower level railroad tracks. Pretty cool spot to ride the bridge when the river boats pass through.
I Street Bridge
Credit: Jebus H Bomz
West Sac is getting a bit of the ol' gentrification nowadays. Nothing quite so character building though as getting mooned by a whore and her pockmarked ass as a young lad.
This bridge is purely functional:
Little Egypt bridge
Credit: Jebus H Bomz
Little Egypt bridge is cool because it only goes to climbing.
A cool corollary is I remember riding my bike at night across the Tower Bridge and regularly seeing the local Hmong kids climbing up in the beams over traffic! I finally figured out they were gathering eggs from the nesting pigeons up there. Those immigrants lived off the land!
Thanks for that. Don't those Hmong kids know pigeons are flying RATS?
My other escape tube out of West Sacramento ("Wessack"=correct pronunciation) was the I Street Bridge just north a little ways from the Tower Bridge. Mostly, via the lower level railroad tracks. Pretty cool spot to ride the bridge when the river boats pass through.
I've always liked that bridge too, all rusty and work-aholic.
West Sac is getting a bit of the ol' gentrification nowadays. Nothing quite so character building though as getting mooned by a whore and her pockmarked ass as a young lad.
Wessac can use the gentrification imo, though yes, getting the pock eyed moon from a Jefferson St. ho is the dreams upon which Wessac was built.
Its Yolo county's best city! (move over Davis, ya college town pussies!)
Bridge over the Coxing Kill on Mohonk Preserve just after high water from Hurricane Irene.
Credit: happiegrrrl
View north from on bridge at same time. The water is usually flowing in a shallow channel over a 12 foot(or so) waterfall here, and usually you see the rock base of stream.
I have never been to Budapest, though I have always been interested of the country and it's people. One of the reasons is no good reason at all, but the fact that a lot of people from Finnskogen, Finland and Hungary have something in common in their genetic setup - a part of the Y-chromosome - showing a common ancestry. You find the same genetic marker in Estonia.
Last summer ( according to their Weekly Tattler ) a cuople brain surgeons decided to cross that bridge on the girders supporting it - underneath the bridge.
At least one of them got stuck mid-way across, and needed rescue.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from space. 20 miles of speed traps. The north end is at the bottom of the image. Two hours from the OBX from the north end, for us. We treat the tunnels as toxic tunnels and try to hold our breath all the way through. Road trip fun. Virginia Beach is in the upper left of the image. Chesapeake Bay to the right of the bridge and the Atlantic Ocean to the left.
not really a bridge
but a cool homemade truss i constructed.
the whole shanti cost me 80 bucks: 30 in sheet metal screws and 50 in hardware (the 2x10's were scrapped from my home construction)
not bad for a 20'x20' engineered carport.
i ravened my material from a giant forest-service slash pile up the street.
ive seen 30 inches of wet sierra snow on top
and i had zero deflection in the 20' clear span of that 12" diameter tree.
i can achieve positive mid-span camber by cranking down my home-made, high strength turnbuckles.
i've been meaning to add a second and third cable crimp, and a double nut on each end of the turnbuckle, as im certain this is the limitation on the over system capacity.
My favorite bridge, they will let you drive over it, but it is one way, so unless you are headed west to Durango it is along way around. The Royal Gorge railroad runs in the bottom of the canyon, impressive also, worth he price of admission.
The bridge was constructed in six months, between June 5, 1929, and late November 1929, as a toll bridge, at a cost of $350,000. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The bridge was not constructed for transportation purposes; instead, it was built with the intent that it serve as a tourist attraction, and has continued to be one of the most-visited tourist attractions in Colorado since its construction. The road is designated as Fremont County Road 3A. The Royal Gorge Route Railroad runs under the bridge along the base of Royal Gorge.
Measuring from deck to the river below, the Royal Gorge Bridge held the record of highest bridge in the world from 1929 to 2003, with a height of 956 ft. In 2003 it was surpassed by the Beipanjiang River 2003 Bridge with its height of 1,201 ft, however The Royal Gorge is still the highest bridge in the United States.
In October 2003, while performing a proximity demonstration, wingsuiter Dwain Weston was killed attempting to fly over the bridge.[3] Weston was wearing a wingsuit, a skydiving suit with fabric extended below the arms to the body and between the legs to catch air allowing for horizontal travel when skydiving. Weston was to go over the bridge while fellow skydiver Jeb Corliss was to go under it. Miscalculating his distance from the bridge, Weston struck a railing while traveling an estimated 120 mph, killing him instantly and dismembering extremities. Cleanup from his impact took two full days, and many parts of Weston's body were never recovered.
I remember that video posted here of the wasted dude B.A.S.E. jumping off this bridge - right in front of a CHP officer. Upon seeing it, it sure doesn't look all that high for parachuting ( you certainly wouldn't want to fall off it, though )
How long of a rope did you need to rap off the Bixby Creek Bridge? I'm curious because of that guy who B.A.S.E. jumped off of it.
My first "free" ( read "overhanging" ) rappel was also off a bridge - an abandoned bridge in the San Bernardino mountains ( used to be a bridge on Hwy 330, but later bypassed ). Ropes were only 150' then, and a rap off that bridge was exactly that. We just rapped right off the end of the rope. Good thing we didn't know enough to tie a knot in the end of it, that would have really complicated things.
We were still in our "let's test the system, to see if it works" phase.
2 150s is what we hat. Edelrids, if you are into that sort of thing.
When I think back, we must have had a few feet left over. We were in the iceplant overlooking the creek--I can't remember how much further down. We walked back up to the hwy. So what I mean to say is I don't know if two 165s would make it to the creek. Probably not. There's no reason to go down there. Unsafe or not.
One of the highlights of a drive up the coast is a walk back and forth across the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't drive across the bridge without stopping on the Marin side, and walking it.
Awesome structure, you can feel it move under the stresses it's bearing. Beautiful views. You're up in the weather. The dog digs the smells of a million people blowing past her nose.
Then you see this...
... and you're reminded it isn't a happy place for everyone. Every week or two on average someone hops off this bridge.
The western terminus of the old bridge above Hamilton Lk that got taken
out by an avalanche. The eastern terminus was just right of Ruth's hat.
What a structure that must have been. Musta taken a fair-sized avalanche too.
Thanks for the picture. The Kintai bridge in Iwakuni is remarkable.
Credit: D Fuka
Credit: D Fuka
Credit: D Fuka
Credit: D Fuka
This is the Wikipedia history
"After Iwakuni Castle was completed in 1608 by Kikkawa Hiroie, who was the first lord of Iwakuni Domain, a series of wooden bridges were built. However, most of them were destroyed by floods several times before the construction of the iconic Kintai Bridge. After that, Kintai Bridge was built by the third lord, Kikkawa Hiroyoshi in 1673. The new stone piers replaced the old wooden ones and it was thought to be flood-proof; however, the bridge was destroyed by a flood the next year. As a result, they redesigned the stone piers for greater strength, and a special tax was created to maintain the bridge. This maintenance consisted of being rebuilt periodically: every 20 years for 3 spans in the middle, every 40 years for 2 spans connecting to the riverside. In this way, the bridge had not been destroyed for 276 years. However, it was washed away again by flooding from typhoon "Kijia" in 1950. It had been in a weakened state at the time, both because the Japanese had stopped maintaining the bridge during World War II and the year before the typhoon, to expand the US Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, a large amount of gravel was taken by the US Military Force from the river around the bridge, strengthening the flow of the river. In 1953, the bridge was once again reconstructed using very similar techniques to the original; however, they used metal nails (made from the same tatara iron as the Katana) to increase its durability. Between 2001 and 2004, all five bridge girders were restored for the first time in 50 years.
Architecture
The bridge is composed by five sequential wooden arch bridges on four stone piers as well as two of wooden piers on the dry riverbed where the bridge begins and ends. Each of the three middle spans is 35.1 meters long, while the two end spans are 34.8 meters for a total length of about 175 meters with a width of 5 meters.
Original Construction
For nearly three hundred years, the many versions of the bridge stood without the use of metal nails. This was achieved by the careful fitting of the wooden parts and by the construction of the thick girders by clamping and binding them together with metal belts. The main wooden parts of the bridge were covered by sheets of copper for additional durability.
Flood protection
The shape and weight of the bridge made it extremely strong at the top, but incredibly weak from underneath. To address concern that flood waters rushing along the river would destroy the bridge in its entirety, the bridge was designed so that the wooden pathway merely "floats" on top of its frame using mortise and tenon joints. This allowed rising flood waters to lift out the wooden pathway and carry it off down stream while sparing the main structure."
The history of construction in the West and the use of calculation (Source: Wikipedia)
Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity (ca. 600 AD)
Greek mathematics was technically advanced and we know for certain that they employed and understood the principles of pulleys, which would have enabled them to build gibs and cranes to lift heavy stonework to the upper parts of buildings. Their surveying skills were exceptional, enabling them to set out the incredibly exact optical corrections of buildings like the Parthenon, although the methods used remain a mystery. Simpler decoration, such as fluting on columns, was simply left until the drums of the columns were cut in place.
The ancient Greeks never developed the strong mortars which became an important feature of Roman construction.
Romans
Vitruvius gives details of many Roman machines. The Romans developed sophisticated timber cranes allowing them to lift considerable weights to great heights. The upper limit of lifting appears to have been about 100 tonnes. Trajan's column in Rome contains some of the largest stones ever lifted in a Roman building, and engineers are still uncertain exactly how it was achieved.
A list of the longest, highest and deepest Roman structures can be found in the List of ancient architectural records. Roman building ingenuity extended over bridges, aqueducts, and covered amphitheatres. Their sewerage and water-supply works were remarkable and some systems are still in operation today. The only aspect of Roman construction for which very little evidence survives is the form of timber roof structures, none of which seem to have survived intact. Possibly, triangulated roof trusses were built, this being the only conceivable way of constructing the immense spans achieved, the longest exceeding 30 metres.
Middle ages
In the Middle Ages of Europe fortifications, castles and cathedrals were the greatest construction projects. The Roman building techniques were lost. (But Roman techniques, including the use of iron ring-beams, would appear to have been used in the Palatine Chapel at Aachen, c. 800 AD, where it is believed builders from the Langobard Kingdom in northern Italy contributed to the work.
There were no standard textbooks on building in the Middle Ages. Master craftsmen transferred their knowledge through apprenticeships and from father to son. Trade secrets were closely guarded, as they were the source of a craftsman's livelihood. Drawings only survive from the later period. Parchment was too expensive to be commonly used and paper did not appear until the end of the period. Models were used for designing structures and could be built to large scales. Details were mostly designed at full size on tracing floors, some of which survive.
Romanesque buildings of the period 600–1100 AD were entirely roofed in timber or had stone barrel vaults covered by timber roofs. The Gothic style of architecture with its vaults, flying buttresses and pointed gothic arches developed in the twelfth century and in the centuries that followed ever more incredible feats of constructional daring were achieved in stone. Thin stone vaults and towering buildings were constructed using rules derived by trial and error. Failures were frequent, particularly in difficult areas such as crossing towers.
The pile driver was invented around 1500.
Renaissance
The Renaissance in Italy, the invention of moveable type and the Reformation changed the character of building. The rediscovery of Vitruvius had a strong influence. During the Middle Ages buildings were designed by the people that built them. The master mason and master carpenters learnt their trades by word of mouth and relied on experience, models and rules of thumb to determine the sizes of building elements. Vitruvius however describes in detail the education of the perfect architect who, he said, must be skilled in all the arts and sciences.Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the first of the new style of architects. He started life as a goldsmith and educated himself in Roman architecture by studying ruins. He went on to engineer the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
The rebirth of the idea of an architect in the Renaissance radically changed the nature of building design. The Renaissance reintroduced the classical style of architecture. Leon Battista Alberti's treatise on architecture raised the subject to a new level, defining architecture as something worthy of study by the aristocracy. Previously it was viewed merely as a technical art, suited only to the artisan. The resulting change in status of architecture and more importantly the architect is key to understanding the changes in the process of design. The Renaissance architect was often an artist (a painter or sculptor) who had little knowledge of building technology but a keen grasp of the rules of classical design. The architect thus had to provide detailed drawings for the craftsmen setting out the disposition of the various parts. This was what we call the process of design, from the Italian word for drawing. Occasionally the architect would get involved in particularly difficult technical problems but the technical side of architecture was mainly left up to the craftsmen. This change in the way buildings were designed had a fundamental difference on the way problems were approached. Where the Medieval craftsmen tended to approach a problem with a technical solution in mind, the Renaissance architect started with an idea of the what the end product needed to look like and then searched around for a way of making it work. This led to extraordinary leaps forward in engineering.
Construction in the seventeenth century
The seventeenth century saw the birth of modern science which would have profound effects on building construction in the centuries to come. The major breakthroughs were towards the end of the century when architect-engineers began to use experimental science to inform the form of their buildings. However it was not until the eighteenth century that engineering theory developed sufficiently to allow sizes of members to be calculated. Seventeenth-century structures relied strongly on experience, rules of thumb and the use of scale models.
Construction in the eighteenth century
The eighteenth century saw the development of many the ideas that had been born in the late seventeenth century. The architects and engineers became increasingly professionalised. Experimental science and mathematical methods became increasingly sophisticated and employed in buildings. At the same time the birth of the industrial revolution saw an increase in the size of cities and increase in the pace and quantity of construction.
Yes, there is Eric and it is now open eastbound with the westbound completion coming soon. I've been meaning to get some shots of what is a fantastic crossing from the view out a car wind shield.
In the meantime, this is what it's like from Google images:
The old Port Mann Bridge is the little orange one to the right ! It will be demo'd after completion of the new one. The cable stay design of the new bridge is a geometrical masterpiece:
Don't get f*#ked up on your directions around that bridge... it ain't easy getting turned around, lol. The approaches to the new bridge have really screwed up the GPS lemme tell you. I know more about the surface streets around that bridge than a Californian needs harhar.
Lions' Gate (First Narrows) bridge, joining Vancouver to points north, is also rather interesting, if only because it was the first major suspension bridge in the world to have its deck replaced while it continued in use. In 2000 - 02, they replaced the deck a segment at a time - one segment every few days. A considerable engineering feat, given that they had to maintain tension/compression throughout.
Good point MH. Add to the fun was the crew who cut free the old sections, replacing with the new had to have the Lions Gate Bridge ready for morning traffic at 6.30am (once at 7am) after a 10pm shut down. The deck replacement also included seismic upgrades of the entire structure and epoxy repaint of the towers.
This is a great photo of the basics. A barge would sail under the section area to be replaced, receive the old piece and also deliver the new one for reinstatement. Proud work:
Aye I was there Plaidman, back in oh sh#t, August? Late July? HellifIknow. Anyway one of those in N outs in a day. Got a rental at the airport and met a client at one of their locations. Then I followed him as we drove to their HQ office. Dude lives there in Portland but rides bis bicycle to work everyday. Doesn't drive much harhar. We ended up going the wrong way, crossed this bridge and it seemed like we had to cross bridge after bridge after bridge to get back where we started, pretty funny. Pretty place, it was nice and balmy on the day I was there. Got in a traffic jam on way back to airport. Fairly nice airport too as I recall. Had a bloody mary there in the airport bar.
Aye she does have elegant curves both vertical and horizontal. I've never seen a bridge quite like her. I saw it from the freeway and given I have an hour to spare and the afternoon was so nice I had to stop to caress her arches, walk her deck and admire
Credit: Dingus Milktoast
Stanley Consultants provided construction administration and construction observation, as a subcontractor to ARUP (engineer of record) for the Center Street Pedestrian Bridge. The Center Street Bridge is a signature landmark for the Principal Riverwalk in downtown Des Moines, Iowa and connects the east and west sides of the city. This unique bridge features two separate paths; one is dedicated to walkers, joggers and runners while the other is for bicyclist.
Such a beauty!
Liberty
Credit: Dingus Milktoast
Mmmmm
Credit: Dingus Milktoast
Beauty abounds in Des Moines. Must be the French influence! Merde!
This old Diestelhorst Bridge was built in 1915 and is 639 feet long.
It was the first automobile bridge over the Sacramento River in Northern California.
Named for the man who owned the land.
Lake Redding Bridge or New Diestelhorst Bridge over the Sacramento.
Credit: Bridgehunter.com
We used to have family birthdays, picnics and Fourth of July down at Lake Redding Park, fireworks off of one of these low spans. I remember the RR bridge, the SP tracks you see, they always fascinated me, so high, so climbable. Mom wrote in my baby book that I climbed and jumped all the time, she had to watch me like a hawk when we went to the park.
The Salt Creek Bridge, built in 1925 as part of Old Hwy 99. Above it the RR trestle put in @1940 to bridge the waters of Lake Shasta.
Credit: mouse from merced
Charlie Creek, Lakehead, CA.
The old Charlie Creek Bridge. Many bridges along Hwy 99 needed re-alignment via replacement alongside, or even on top, like this, a trend followed to this day by the Caltrans folks. The Carquinez is the one that sticks in my mind from early-day trips, S
After cruising through all the bridges on this thread, this one pales in comparison. I don't think this is the original, historic bridge but one rebuilt at a later time.
The Millau Viaduct (French: le Viaduc de Millau, IPA: [vjadyk də mijo]) is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France.
Designed by the French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest bridge in the world with one mast's summit at 343.0 metres (1,125 ft) above the base of the structure.[3][4] It is the 12th highest bridge deck in the world, being 270 metres (890 ft)[1] between the road deck and the ground below.[5] The viaduct is part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier. Construction cost was approximately €400 million. It was formally dedicated on 14 December 2004, inaugurated on the 15th, and opened to traffic on the 16th. The bridge received the 2006 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.[6]--Wikipedia
Some pictures of the Bahn line bridge in Mainz, this is the line to Frankfurt. All of the stonework is pre war, but the span was itself was bombed out and had to be rebuilt.
You ever check out that little limestone 'bridge' down on the creek below moaning cavern? Parking is on left < 1 mile after crossing Parrot's Ferry heading north....pockety boulder stuff with a wet landing!
Great place to swim sometimes but I have seen it with some scary white tweaker trash on some weekends. Lots of trash down there now with the easier access. Fun swimming through those things.
The Ahwahnee Bridge in Yosemite Valley is one of several historic bridges that the National Park Service may demolish as part of its "Merced River Plan." Their plan is open for public comment until April 2013 and can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/mrp-deis-doc.htm
Removal of this or other bridges will significantly impact access for visitors to Yosemite and adversely effect the historic character of the valley landscape. They also plan to remove the famous Ice Rink, which is hardly next to the river, but deemed incompatible with recreational values there. Please comment on their short-sighted demolition plans.
ps. Btw, the Wards Ferry road is one of the great backroads of northern California, if you are ever in Groveland needing to go to Sonora (or vice versa) go that way, tellm Dingus sentchya.
When this bridge opens on May 3rd, about 40 invited BASE jumpers are going to have 3 days of fun with this. Worlds Tallest, over 1,300', to the road deck and then those pillars are another 500'!!!
In many cases, yes. In the case of the scores the enviros forced the Alaska
Pipeline to build, not so much. They were afraid the pipeline, standing
high above the tundra, would scare the caribou and change their migration.
Right, like that woulda happened. Having worked up there I can assure you
the caribou absolutely love those 'bridges' to smithereens! The bulls will
get up on 'em to make sure some interloper isn't exercising his designs on
his wimmen. But no other self-repecting caribou is gonna waste calories
walking over the silly things. On warm and windless days the rest of the
'bou will be found standing in the shade provided by the pipe. The elevated
pipe also provides a bit of a venturi effect for any wind there is which
helps to keep the damn bugs off.
And did I mention that the only things 'bou are scared of are wolves?
When you go out to your truck in the morning you often have to shoo the
'bou away. Yeah, they're so afraid of people. Well, ok, unless you're
dressed like an Inuit hunter.
Let us know!