Tuesday, August 18, 2009
FUTURE OF COVERED BRIDGES...
In many lands all over the planet, covered bridges are being engineered and constructed to suit the needs of the population... as always. Once mostly made of wood, now they are often made in a variety of material – steel, glass, composite and still, often wood.
Singapore is my latest addition to the Asian covered bridges and shows new structures that will push the technology and the image of covered bridges worldwide. We must keep in mind the purpose and the needs for these new covered walkways... as one narrow-minded person once try to impress on me that only vehicular wooden covered bridges really mattered, I was quick at pointing that all covered bridges built before 1900 where mostly built for foot traffic... be it human or animal! Covered bridges were built with the latest possible technological advances of the times... not as future antiquities!
Our cities have many example of the evolution of the covered bridge. From Venice Italy to Dresden in Saxony to Toronto, Singapore, Kuala-Lumpur and Hong-Kong, one can admire amazing footbridges between shopping-malls, palaces, cathedrals and office towers.
We must never stopped being amazed. New vistas, new structures...
The world is now a smaller place for we can cover it faster than ever. Through the centuries, we have built ourselves outstanding structures, using these as a pretext to discover the planet sound like a plan.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Legends listed
Since much of our larger structures have gone and are now only vague souvenirs or faded B/W photos, I think it appropriate to list on ATAWALK.net some of the largest covered bridges that existed. My first "LEGEND" is in Ohio...
Zanesville, where else... the Y-Bridge, that is in MUSKINGUM County. ROBERVAL County Quebec also sport a few ghosts, Taillon, Carbonneau and Taché, once the longest, largest and most breath-taking covered bridges in Québec, twins... curved-bridges, name it, there was at one point probably more town trusses in Lac St-John Region than standing trees...
http://www.atawalk.net/ohio.html and click on MUSKINGUM county...
http://www.atawalk.net/QuebecFiles/61-99.html for the present and past covered bridges in the area, pictured above is the Taché Bridge over the Grande Décharge between what was then St-Joseph d'Alma and Isle Maligne... the photo was taken May 26, 1928 hours before the 3 eastern spans of the bridge where taken down. The largest of the four span measuring 220 feet was left alone. Three new span where rebuilt and the bridge lasted until 1947.
Go peek... have fun!!!
SCR
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