Bridges

I hae become fascinated by bridges and the concept of man fording short or vast bodies of water by way of permanent structures. In this case – the East River separating (isolating?) Manhattan from Brooklyn. I can understand why there are few and each is multiple use. I imagine that even in the 1800s – getting the land alone might have been a challenge.

The Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge

The bridge itself has four sets of rails, double traffic lanes, bikes to the left and pedestrians to the right

pedestrian lane

pedestrian lane

as I start my journey across. Except for one Brooklyn man who was returning home from a bridge hike, I saw no other Caucasian faces. Perhaps it was the time of day or simply the proximity to Chinatown and travel across the bridge being limited to those few who had a need, burdened down with bags and packs.

 

bridge detail

bridge detail

1901-1910

1901-1910

pillars

pillars

and the center over the traffic lanes

and the center over the traffic lanes

from the other bridge

from the other bridge

Getting from one bridge to another proved to be an interesting hike involving stairs, walking along Sands, zig-zaging through a few blocks (ignoring THE Watchtower) to reach the Brooklyn Bridge access.

I am where?

I am where?

The Brooklyn Bridge

the Manhattan end span

the Manhattan end span

more than you wanted to know

more than you wanted to know

and the second

and the second

Unlike the Manhattan Bridge, the Brooklyn was crowded with walkers, joggers, bicyclists, tourists and the occasional construction worker.

construction started

construction started

The pedestrian path was jammed with those streaming across the bridge center while flanked by traffic zooming past on both sides. While forming a steady stream, those on wheels were by far outnumbered by the gawkers and camera toters. This group is slow moving and happily risking the 1100 morning sun beating down on the crowd. The dudes with the coolers are doing a brisk business in cold drinks and ice water as the temperature continues to rise.

full of people

full of people

There is lovely detail to the bridge

lamps

lamps

arches

arches

wires as art

wires as art

And then there is the skyline

Both clear in the light and affected by the rising heat waves.

toward the right

toward the right

and to the left

and to the left

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
This entry was posted in Travel, Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Bridges

  1. Jacqui says:

    When I was younger, I”d go to my father’s office at 100 Gold St. The window looked out on the Brooklyn Bridge. Super close. I wish I had a camera back then, I’ll always remember that breathtaking view.

  2. Helen says:

    Great Photos!

  3. Margo says:

    Wow, tell me this doesn’t resemble a cathedral?! Interesting architectural parallels to religious buildings in some of these – something I hadn’t noticed before about bridges. Nice photos.

  4. Berg says:

    Brings back lots of memories, thanks

  5. Alison says:

    Wave hi to my sister on 111th ave…

  6. Isobel says:

    WOW. Great pictures. And to think I lived in the City for two years and never saw things the way you see them.

  7. Beverly says:

    What a fantastic collection of bridge photos – beautiful architecture & detail. Thanks for sending them.

    There is another aspect to bridges that a lot of people don’t think of – the underlying geology. Think of the forces acting on the bridge pillars – the underlying soil and/or bedrock has got to be strong enough to withstand them. Here we are very lucky with the Forth Bridges as they are firmly grounded on a dolerite sill, but in other areas it is much more of an engineering challenge. There are definitely good places to build your bridge and not-so-good places.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.