After yesterday’s horror show, I felt like a simple image of structural success would be peaceful. That beautiful three-hinge* arch was erected over the Connecticut River at Bellows Falls, Vermont in 1905. If you go to the high resolution version, you can make out some more detail: the suspenders from the arch down to the deck girders are pairs of loop eyebars, the big NOTICE says that there’s a $5 fine for driving or riding faster than a walking pace, and the bridge was built by Lewis Shoemaker & Company of Philadelphia for the towns of Walpole and Rockingham.
But mostly, I just love that built-up steel arch.
* The rather thorough discussion of the bridge at the HAER site describes the way that the center hinge is mostly hidden. Unfortunately, reading that will also lead to the knowledge that the bridge was demolished in 1982.
