Friday, February 06, 2009

Photo Hunt ~ Weekly Theme: Bridges


WEEKLY THEME: BRIDGES


The Footbridge of Multnomah Falls
A waterfall as magnificent and memorable as any in the country is located just a 30- minute drive outside of Portland. The winding road of the scenic highway will deliver you to Multnomah Falls while simultaneously captivating you along the way with breathtaking views of the Columbia River Gorge. Multnomah Falls is the second-tallest year-round waterfall in the nation. The water of the Falls drops 620 feet from its origin on Larch Mountain. Unusually cold weather can freeze the plummeting water into a majestic icesicle Visiting Multnomah Falls, a 611-foot-tall roaring, awe-inspiring cascade of icy water, lets you experience the power and beauty of nature up close and with ease.

Sundial Bridge
The Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay crosses the Sacramento River in the heart of Redding, California. Opened July 4, 2004, the bridge links the north and south campuses of Turtle Bay Exploration Park and serves as a new downtown entrance for Redding’s extensive Sacramento River Trail system.

The bridge celebrates human creativity and ingenuity, important themes of the 300 acre Turtle Bay Exploration Park. The steel, glass, and granite span evokes a sense of weightlessness and the translucent, non-skid decking provides for spectacular viewing at night. The bridge is also environmentally sensitive to its river setting. The tall pylon and cable stays allow the bridge to avoid the nearby salmon-spawning habitat there are no supports in the water while encouraging public appreciation for the river. Plazas are situated at both ends of the bridge for public use; the north-side plaza stretches to the water allowing patrons to sit at the river’s edge.

In addition to being a functional work of art, the Sundial Bridge is a technical marvel as well. The cable-stayed structure has an inclined, 217 foot pylon constructed of 580 tons of steel. The deck is made up of 200 tons of glass and granite and is supported by more than 4,300 feet of cable. The structure is stabilized by a steel truss, and rests on a foundation of more than 115 tons of steel and 1,900 cubic yards of concrete. The McConnell Foundation, a private, independent foundation established in Redding in 1964, funded the majority of the bridge’s $23 million cost.

World renowned Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava conceived the Sundial Bridge’s unusual design, his first free-standing bridge in the United States. Calatrava has built bridges, airports, rail terminals, stadiums, and other structures around the world.






17 comments:

YTSL said...

Amazing! Thanks for taking and sharing such great photos of bridges I hitherto never knew existed! :)

jams o donnell said...

Wow that first photo is stunning! Happy weekend

Anonymous said...

Both great photos,... love the sundial bridge. Does it really tell time?

Lene said...

This is really beautiful and amazing - and a bit frightening too ;) Great choise for the theme :)

Have a nice day :)

Anonymous said...

da first shot is superb!
lurve it..
have a great weekend ya ;)

June said...

Very interesting stuff...

Heather said...

I visited Multnomah falls so long ago, but I remember it really well. Beautiful pic of it :)

Michele said...

Gee... I am in awe of the beauty of the bridge... so beautiful! I am glad I dropped by! WOW

Mountain Retreat

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Great shots and thanks for the accompanying story.

marcia@joyismygoal said...

very nice esp the second ones angle
bridges are such a good subject they connect people and places

Unknown said...

Those are fabulous photos. Thanks for sharing information about them as well. I'd love to visit both of those locations.

TorAa said...

Oh, would you believe this?
a Norwegian blogger commenting on this post.
I Have been both places.
Most impressing was for me when we went down the Colombia Tiver Gorge and took the old sideway and discoverd all the waterfalls.
And of course the second highest year around waterfall in US was impressive.
And Portland as well. Not totalk about the Coast. Wooow.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful shots, and nice overview of the details of the bridges. Thanks for sharing! :)

Anonymous said...

Cool, I love the bridge with waterfall under it. Nice photo. Have a nice weekend

Anonymous said...

Those are great bridges. I went to Multnomah Falls years ago and I even have one of the flattened pennies with the imprint on it. The Sundial bridge is amazing. The stats on it makes one realize just how amazing. I would love to see it in person.

sammawow said...

What beautiful shots! I would love to go see both of those bridges! Wonderful choices for the theme!

Angela said...

Wow, great shots! Those bridges are so cool!

This photohunt was perfect for me. http://angela.quarantinemb.com/?p=608