Tag Archives: sunk

MV Royal Iris Decaying Slowly

The Thames is a busy waterway for commercial shipping and has plenty of docks and wharves along its shores.  Seeing boats tied up is no surprise but seeing one that is sinking is not what I would have expected.  That is exactly what I found, though.  This old ferry was sitting at an awkward angle and looking very unwell.  I came upon it from the stern and then had to go inshore as the path deviated away from the river but it was soon back on the water and I was able to look back at the sad vessel.  A little research when I got home told me it is the MV Royal Iris, once a Mersey ferry.  She is not looking at her prime now!

That Sinking Feeling

I don’t go to airports to photograph boats.  That would seem to be a bit of a poor choice but, in Renton’s case, you are right by the water and there are some boats. Still, that wasn’t the goal until I saw this sad sight.  I am not sure of the story behind this but obviously something didn’t go right.  Did it sink here for some reason or had it developed a problem and made it back to the dock before it was overcome?  I don’t know.  All I do know is that it looks like an expensive fix is required.

What Happened to the Old Bridge?

Walking across the bridge from the overflow parking to the top of Snoqualmie Falls, I looked down the river to the top of the falls just beyond the barriers to stop errant boaters getting too close.  I also noticed something in the water below us.  For a while I was trying to work out what it was.  Then, courtesy of polarizing glasses, I could see through the reflections and make out the shape of some structure.

It looks to me like this was a previous bridge.  It sits just below the current bridge alignment and looks like it would have been the right size and shape to be a bridge span.  I wonder whether it collapsed or whether, when the replacement bridge was being built, it was simpler to dump the old span into the river than to take it away.  There could be another explanation of course and maybe it isn’t even part of a bridge.  However, it clearly is something man-made sitting on the bed of the river.