pipedreams Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 ba303a84-4108-4b9f-ab19-37b31a720972.MP4 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aomagrat Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 (edited) The long demolished Grace Memorial Bridge in Charleston SC is still my favorite bridge. As a child in the early 1960's riding over this marvelous two mile long bridge was like riding a rollercoaster. I had the pleasure of driving my 8 year old son over this bridge shortly before it was demolished, with him hissing and screaming "We're going to fall off!" all the way. In the video you can see three bridges. From right to left: The Grace Memorial Bridge opened in 1929, The Pearlman Bridge opened in 1966, And the Ravenel Bridge opened in 2005. The two older bridges were demolished after the Ravenel Bridge opened. Edited August 21, 2020 by aomagrat 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie-pete Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Most of those are pretty amazing designs. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, aomagrat said: The long demolished Grace Memorial Bridge in Charleston SC is still my favorite bridge. As a child in the early 1960's riding over this marvelous two mile long bridge was like riding a rollercoaster. I had the pleasure of driving my 8 year old son over this bridge shortly before it was demolished, with him hissing and screaming "We're going to fall off!" all the way. I used that bridge for two years in the late 50's. I didn't think it was anything unusual back then. I learned how to drive on a two lane bridge across the Mississippi a few blocks from home. It was so narrow you had about 12 inches between cars going in opposite directions. My father considered this a test of a drivers ability. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 7 minutes ago, willie-pete said: Most of those are pretty amazing designs. I see a few that wouldn't be allowed in the USA because of our lawyers and their need to sue. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwalchmai Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Wow. Cool bridges and tributes to Western civilization and technology. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railfancwb Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 On 8/20/2020 at 8:20 PM, janice6 said: I see a few that wouldn't be allowed in the USA because of our lawyers and their need to sue. Lawyering is a profession in which two or three can do well in a town so small that one would starve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railfancwb Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 The bridges in the original video above all seem to fall into the “Because we could. Why?” classification. Amazing and amusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbie18 Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 The first bridge in the video that curls up like a snake or centipede is damned awesome. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 6 hours ago, railfancwb said: The bridges in the original video above all seem to fall into the “Because we could. Why?” classification. Amazing and amusing. What is interesting to me is that in most European countries, the design and architecture of major constructs is a sole decision of government, and if it uses up a significant amount of the people's money, the government doesn't care. Their government is autonomous and doesn't have to answer to the people. Look at their tax rates! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted August 22, 2020 Administrators Share Posted August 22, 2020 I recently saw this bridge in Oklahoma City. I looked it up later and found that it is called the SkyDance bridge. It appears to be a footbridge only. I’m not sure if the parts that stick up do anything structurally, but it is a beautiful bridge. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railfancwb Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 Swing bridges were once more common than they are today. Used where water transportation and land transportation needed to be at about the same elevation. This one is small and rather basic. Actually the pictures show two bridges of similar size and construction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaBud Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 https://www.theoutbound.com/alabama/chillin/drive-the-covered-bridge-trail-in-blount-county 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railfancwb Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, BamaBud said: https://www.theoutbound.com/alabama/chillin/drive-the-covered-bridge-trail-in-blount-county That is actually pretty new as covered bridges go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipedreams Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 Local bridge, note the size of the truck. Original bridge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syntaxerrorsix Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 We fielded these with Force XXI in Texas in 2000 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipedreams Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 1 hour ago, syntaxerrorsix said: We fielded these with Force XXI in Texas in 2000 Watched one unfold a couple times. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Tiger Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 On 8/22/2020 at 7:38 AM, railfancwb said: The bridges in the original video above all seem to fall into the “Because we could. Why?” classification. Amazing and amusing. Some look pretty useful. I think the Falkirk Wheel is an engineering oddity/marvel that actually connects two canals. The one that just slides straight up would have the advantage that if a car were to be stuck on it, the car wouldn't fall off. It would just go for a ride. Twin Sales and the black one that twisted were just weird but really cool. But IMO "Because we could" is a perfectly acceptable reason to use a new bridge design. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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