Tag Archives: bridges

Downtown Pittsburgh on the Three Rivers

I had to make a trip to Pittsburgh for a work conference.  It has been nearly twenty years since I was last there, so I was keen to see how the city is.  Pittsburgh has adapted to the post steel industry quite well and the downtown is not a bad place to visit.  I did get out on my last day before I headed home and got some views of the area around the three rivers including shots from the convention center and some from the surrounding hills.  Here are some of those shots.

Tacoma Narrows Bridges

Ask any engineering student about famous bridges and the Tacoma Narrows has a great chance of coming up.  The original bridge failed pretty spectacularly due to aeroelastic issues.  It was replaced and the bridge has stood since without significant issues other than overcrowding.  Consequently, a second Bridge was added a few years ago.  The pair span the narrows and provide a roadway for the busy local traffic.

The hike around Point Defiance Park takes you out onto the overlooks the narrows and, as you move along the trail, you get differing views of the bridges.  The further south you get in the park, the clearer the view is of the whole span.  I grabbed a few shots of the water and the bridges and also shot some closer shots to make a pano when I got home.

Oregon Bridges

The Pacific Coast Highway runs along the coast in Oregon and passes through some towns with big harbors.  Rather than head inland around the harbors, the highway crosses the entrance to some of these harbors over bridges.  The architecture of some of these bridges is pretty cool.  They have a bit of a deco feel to them.  Sadly, some of the details are best seen as you are driving over which limits the ability to get pictures.

Get a bit further away, though, and you can see the bridges and get some shots.  Sunset on the bridge at Waldport made for a good view.  The bridge at Newport was one we crossed a number of times.  I only got to shoot it on the morning we drove home.  A quick diversion down to the area near the brewery meant I could take a couple of pictures before getting on our way for the long drive home.

I Thought These Bridges Were Moving

Spring in Chicago does not always arrive promptly but this year the absence of a real winter has meant that it has.  With nice weather comes the possibility of boating and that means the annual migration of the boats from their winter storage to the marinas for the summer.  For anyone with some height to their boat, i.e. sailing boats, this requires you to make use of the bi-weekly bridge opening schedule.

A look online told me that the first opening of the season was coming up on Saturday so I decided to take a look.  The weather was great and so some good shooting opportunities should have been available.  I wandered along the river inland since no bridges along the main stretch were open yet so I had time to get to Wolf Point where the river splits.  Along the way I grabbed a few shots of things that appealed to me.

At Wolf Point, I had two disappointments.  First, the water birds were very active right in front of me but I only had a wide angle and a fish-eye with me so no good opportunity to get any shots.  Second, looking all the way down the south branch, I couldn’t see any sign of activity.  Since I had a limited amount of time before Nancy and I were planning on heading out, this looked like it was going to be a bust.

So it turned out, I wandered back towards home and we went out.  When we returned in the middle of the afternoon, the bridges by us were just going down.  That many hours would have been a disappointingly long time to wait.  Maybe next week.