Back when I lived in Black Mountain, I used to love to take drives down NC 9 between there and Bat Cave. There was a beautiful old single-lane steel truss bridge that crossed the Broad River just off of the road. One fall I took some photos of the bridge.
Last week I was playing with Street View on Google Maps, and noticed that NC 9 was available in Street View. So, I thought it would be cool to see what the bridge looked like.
Well, this is what it looks like today.
I’m glad I was able to take some photos of it to remember it by.
As my two-year-old daughter would say, “Uh-oh, bridge!”
Just trying out my new star filter I bought for night photography …
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A few weeks ago I wrote about an effort to save Ball’s Bridge in Huron County, Ontario, built in 1884, from demolition. I’m happy to report that this morning, I received an email stating that the bridge has been saved. The Huron County Council voted to transfer ownership of the bridge to two local townships, as well as grant $250,000 to rehabilitate it.
This is great news! I wish those involved great success as the bridge is rehabilitated, and I hope that one day I will be able to see it myself.
I happened across the web site that TDOT has set up for the dissemination of news about the Market Street Bridge project this morning. Said web site has a scanned copy of an article from the News-Free Press from 1985 discussing the bridge’s history. What I find most interesting is that the article opens by noting that TDOT had recently decreed that the bridge would need to be replaced. Apparently, Chattanooga residents didn’t like that idea, and here, twenty years down the road, the bridge is being renovated so that it can (hopefully) serve us for another eighty years or so.
I’m glad sanity prevailed and we still have the bridge with us. Not only is it cool and beautiful … it has significant historical value. I only hope that we will see the value in other historical truss bridges in this state, like the Marion Memorial Bridge, and save them as well …
Read More: Chief John Ross ‘Bascule’ Bridge Regarded As Unique Landmark
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I just started poking around at my photos from the weekend again … and found a few that I was really happy with. I
love the color in this one!
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Yeah, I’m going to run out of images to post here pretty soon. But … I’m having way too much fun.
I took this photo on the bridge, pre-renovation. It was a rather gloomy day out, and a little bit of Photoshopping made the day even more so …
Technorati Tags: photos, photography, photographs, Market Street Bridge, Chattanooga, Chattanooga TN, Tennessee River, historic bridges
Recently found a site about an
endangered through truss bridge in Ontario that locals are working to save. This particular bridge has something of an interesting story behind it …
Several generations ago, a young Miss Ball and her mother needed to travel to Goderich.
In 1884, the trek from Ball’s property to the region’s centre was not the convenient jaunt into town it is today. It was a labourous experience through forested paths and across the Maitland.
In those days when the Balls forged the river, Daryl says, they had no choice other than to take off their shoes and socks and wade across.
It was on a trip to buy sugar, Daryl adds, that Miss Ball was spotted by the engineer for the new Goderich bridge, built on the banks of the Maitland in Saltford.
“The engineer for the Goderich bridge fell in love with the Ball daughter,” Daryl reveals.
The story continues that the bridge was built so Miss Ball and her friends and family didn’t have to wade across the river any more … and eventually, Miss Ball and the engineer were married.
I wish these folks the best of luck in their endeavors. I think that story itself is good enough reason to save the bridge!
Petition: Repair and Re-Open Ball’s Bridge
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