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Cutting Through the Night

I headed back to the work site later the same day to see how things were progressing. I wanted to know how fast things were moving but I also wanted to see the work at night. The cutting torches they are using provide a great shower of sparks but, during the day, it is hard to make that impression since they are not very conspicuous. If they were cutting at night, I figured the effect would be more pronounced. That certainly was the case.

Moreover, they had got a lot further than I had expected. The section was almost totally cut free. It was now rest on the barge ready to be moved when the final cuts were made. As you can see from above, it wasn’t long before this happened. They really had made swift work of the first stage of the task.

Starting the removal

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The start of the bridge replacement program I mentioned here was swift. One of the first things they did after getting the trains shut down was to open the span that wasn’t being worked on. This provided room to move the barges around with their loads without obstruction. Then the team got to work on cutting loose the section that is to be replaced. There was plenty of structure to be cut free first before the main section could be removed. Teams were busy cutting and removing all day. The project is underway around the clock. Some of the shots are in the gallery below.

Wells Street Bridge Prep

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A major engineering activity is underway in the city at the moment. The Chicago River is crossed by many bridges. Most of them are bascule bridges and they are part of a cycle of maintenance with each bridge getting refurbished periodically. Metalwork repair and repainting is usually the order of business but, sometimes, they need more significant work. The Wells Street Bridge is undergoing just such a work program. Part of it is being repaired but some of the metalwork needs replacement.

This bridge is more complex than some. It has two levels with street traffic on the lower level and the “L” on the upper level. Replacement is, therefore, more problematic. Shutting down a line on the “L” is not done lightly. The street traffic is more easily diverted so, having that closed is easier to handle and it has been shut for a while now as the preparation for the repair was underway. The bridge has two spans and they are being done one at a time. The south span is first. They have prepared the section that is remaining and now they are cutting off the rest.

A new span has been constructed offsite. This is floated to the location, the old section is cut off and the new section bolted on. That makes it sound so simple, doesn’t it? It obviously is a little more complex, not least because it has to be done in just over a week including replacing the train tracks and electrical systems. These shots show the site in preparation for the big task. I will provide updates as the job progresses. Sadly, I have to be out of town during some of the work but will show what I can.

Snowy Trees

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Unlike last winter, this one has been a bit colder in the Chicago area. It hasn’t been consistently cold but there have been some cold times and we have had a bit of snow. We don’t tend to get too much snow in the city itself. It does happen but usually the areas around the city get hit a lot more than we do. It is easy to forget this but, when we head out to other places, we get a reminder.

A recent trip out to Barrington was one of those times. As we drove along the roads through the country, there was plenty of snow about. Lots of it was attached to the trees and it had clumped together in quite an interesting way. It looked like large cotton balls attached to the branches. Sadly, when you are driving along a road with nowhere to pull off, you can’t easily get a picture.

Once we got to Barrington, though, I saw some trees near the parking lot that looked similar. Nancy headed inside (it was cold so she was no fool) while I wandered across the lot. Just a phone to take the pictures with but you use what you have. The location wasn’t quite as pretty as the roads we had come along but you get an idea of what it was like. The sun was out and the temperature was rising so some of the snow was already melting off the branches so I think I was quite lucky to get what I did.

Old Pandas

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We were talking about baby pandas at home the other day. Apparently, San Diego zoo has a new baby panda. This reminded me about a trip we made to the zoo there in 2002. They had a new panda on display at that time. I got a couple of shots of it on film – hence the fact that there are only a few shots as opposed to a huge bunch of them! Anyway, this young panda was happily playing in its enclosure while large crowds gathered to watch.

I was fascinated by the bear’s interest in trying to hurt itself. It seemed constantly to be hanging from a branch upside down with a very tenuous grip on the wood. It looked like an accident was inevitable – especially since young animals haven’t always learned the extent of their capabilities. Since all pandas are owned by the Chinese government, I was imagining a fall and injury causing a diplomatic incident. Of course, nothing happened. Meanwhile, I dug out the old shots and here they are.

Gulls During the Break

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The eagles and the ducks got our attention but the gulls were also around on the Mississippi. Gulls don’t tend to get much interest but, if you have been standing around for a while waiting for something to happen, the gulls start to be a bit more interesting. Is this the bird shooting equivalent of going ugly early? They even did some diving for us close in so I guess I should be a bit more grateful. We put it down to tracking practice and we will stick with that I think.

Ducks in Flight

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The eagle trip to the Mississippi provided plenty of times when the big birds were either elsewhere or just sitting in the trees wondering what to do next. This meant either doing nothing ourselves of having a practice on the other wildlife passing by. There were a few ducks in flight. Since these are small targets, they have to be reasonably close to make a shot even worth trying. However, a couple of times they came close so why not?

Wintery Suburbs

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Coming home to Chicago recently, we were landing just after some snow had blown through the area. We made a slightly unusual approach to Midway and did some maneuvering pretty low over the suburbs near the airport. I love this sort of thing since I find the rows of houses really fascinating from above. I managed to snap a few shots out of the window as we came in. These were grabbed with the camera on my phone so the control was a little limited but it was better than missing it altogether.

Some of the industrial buildings in the area also look cool from the air. This part of town has a bunch of rail yards and the geometry of them is impressive from above.

Bald Eagles

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It has been a couple of years since I last made a trip out to the Mississippi to take pictures of the bald eagles that fish out there. Last winter it was pretty warm and my schedule was a bit busy. Warm weather means the river doesn’t freeze up and the birds can fish anywhere they like. When it gets cold, the ice means fishing is harder to do and they tend to gather at the dams along the river since they will usually have some open water just downstream.

This winter hasn’t been consistently cold either but it has been a while and I don’t know whether I will still be here next year so, with a good looking weather forecast, I decided to go. I was not alone in this with the number of people at Lock and Dam 14 in Iowa far larger than I have ever seen before. Combined with the relatively open river, this meant the people were healthily outnumbering the eagles.

However, there were a few birds in the air at various times. Sadly, with a lot of open water, they could choose where to fish. Also, the wind was coming from across the river so they tended to make their fishing runs away from us. Consequently, there were lots of eagle butt shots to be had but not many front views. Even so, I was with some friends so it was a good day to be out and there were a few shots that made the trip a success, even if I didn’t get anything as good as I have managed in previous years.

Head on Big Boys

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My day out shooting with Hayman was mainly an aviation themed event. One of the things I was interested in was looking for something more head on as the heavier jets launch out of SFO. Most aircraft depart off 01 and head out across the bay. however, the heavier widebodies launch off 28 and climb out towards South San Francisco. A head on shot of them coming off the runway is what i really want.

Hayman had a location which was halfway to what we wanted. You are a bit further from the airport and so they rise out of the surrounding landscape rather than seeing them come off the runway itself. The location has a lot of promise. Sadly, on this day the weather was not nice and, as the day was moving along, what light there was after the clouds had taken their share was fading fast. however, it was rather fun to see the 747s and A380 climbing out over us. Definitely something to try again some time. As for the runway shot, we shall have to keep exploring to find the right spot for that!