Round Robin - Bridges

The theme this time is for "Bridges --- All around the world there are bridges, in all shapes and sizes, ages and colors. Bridges connect two places, enabling something to pass safely over something else; but the details vary wildly. It can be a little wooden foot bridge over a three foot-wide babbling brook, a drawbridge, a railroad bridge, a stone bridge carved out by the forces of nature, or even that big Golden one over the Bay that our friend Carly loves to capture with her camera. Wherever you live, I can almost guarantee there's an interesting bridge somewhere nearby to photograph." Be sure to take a look at how the Robins interpreted the theme--you can find the linking list here.

This year, I saw a couple of really cool bridges on my vacations. This first one is the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston, MA. On 14 October 2002, elephants from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus crossed the new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge to demonstrate the bridge's structural integrity. The 14 elephants proved that the bridge supports 112,000 pounds. The Boston elephant march resembled tests of the 1800s when bridge engineering was more questionable. It officially opened to traffic in 2003.

Also in Boston, is this smaller bridge near the site of the infamous Boston Tea Party.

This is a picture of the Ravenal Bridge, which spans the Copper River in Charleston, SC. It was completed in 2005 and is North America's longest cable stay span. The bridge was featured on the TV show Extreme Engineering and includes a shared bicycle-pedestrian path.