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This is from the "High Bridge" probably the best view of downtown St Paul and the surrounding hills. It was a bit windy and the sky was hazy so not a sharp as I would like. Next summer I will try again when there is more activity on the river. Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the north bank of the Mississippi River. Saint Paul-Minneapolis known as the "Twin Cities" form the core of the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.5 million residents. The city's population at the 2000 census was 287,151. Saint Paul serves as the county seat of Ramsey County, the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota. Founded near historic Native American settlements as a trading and transportation center, the city rose to prominence when it was named the capital of the Minnesota Territory in 1849. Regionally, the city is popular for the home of the Minnesota Wild and for the Science Museum of Minnesota. As a business hub of the Upper Midwest, it is headquarters for companies such as Ecolab and Lawson Software. St. Paul, along with its Twin City, Minneapolis, is known for its high literacy rate. It is the only city in the US, with a population of 250,000 or more, to increase the circulation number of Sunday newspapers in 2007. The settlement originally began at present-day Lambert's Landing but was referred to as Pig's Eye, when Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant established a popular tavern there. When Fr. Lucien Galtier, the first Catholic pastor of the region, established the Log Chapel of St. Paul (shortly thereafter to become the first location of the Cathedral of St. Paul), he made it known that the settlement was now to be called by that name, as "St. Paul as applied to a town or city was well appropriated, this monosyllable is short, sounds good, it is understood by all Christian denominations...". |
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The Chicago Great Western opened their Robert Street lift bridge during 1913 and was later merged into the Chicago and North Western, which itself merged into the Union Pacific Railroad. The center portion of the bridge lifts upward for river traffic to pass and is similar to bridges in Hastings MN and Hannibal MO. |
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Clifton Bridge spans the river Avon and connects the City of Bristol to Leigh Woods in Somerset. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed after his death in 1864. He won a competition to design a bridge here, but because the powers that be didn't believe that such a span could be built, he had to build a brick abutment on the Leigh Woods side to reduce the span. The chains used were second hand having been used on the original Hungerford bridge over the Thames in London. The river here is tidal although the sea (Bristol Channel) is over 5 miles downstream. This is why the water is kept in Bristol Docks by lock gates (the floating harbour) otherwise all craft ended up resting on the mud at low tide. They had to have extra strong hulls hence the phrase "shipshape and Bristol fashion!'See:http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=27492 for a distant view from Dundry hill. Clifton Bridge in Bristol was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to cross the River Avon at Avon Gorge.
It was completed after his death in 1864 It is the location of the first ever bungee jump on 1st April 1979 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8DLooHqJMc See the view from Dundry athttp://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=26462 and http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=24574 and http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=27492 and balloons over the bridge at http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=30205. Balloons over the bridge at http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=30355 Sorry about the stitching on the bridge guys. I'll do better next time. 621 shots Canon SX1IS manual settings Sept 2009 |
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The Robert Street Bridge is a reinforced concrete multiple-arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota with the St. Paul Union Pacific Vertical-lift Rail Bridge crossing underneath it at an angle. It was built in 1924-1926 and was commissioned in the early 1920s to replace a wrought-iron span, originally built in 1884-1885, that had become obsolete due to increasing traffic. The engineers who designed the bridge had several obstacles to work around. The tracks of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, St. Paul Union Depot, and the Chicago Great Western Railway mainline were factors. The engineers also had to provide adequate clearance above the river, as defined by the United States War Department at the time. Finally, the bridge had to clear Second Street in downtown St. Paul and work through a busy manufacturing district at the south end. The location of nearly every pier was dictated by these requirements. As a result, the bridge was designed with a combination of barrel-arch and rib-arch flanking spans and a rainbow arch for the central span. |
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The Wabasha Street Bridge is a segmental bridge that spans the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. There are actually two separate bridges, one for northbound and one for southbound traffic. The bridge was built in 1996 with a large opening ceremony and with bridge closed to traffic and free ice cream. Mayor Norm Coleman let loose two rehabilitated Bald eagles, a male and a female. The bridge replaced an earlier structure that was built in 1889. The new bridge was built with pedestrians in mind with 11-foot wide sidewalks, six overlooks at the pier locations, and a stairway down to Raspberry Island. The color scheme of the bridge was also planned to reflect the architectural heritage of St. Paul, with a soft buff color (the color of sandstone) to reflect the colors used in many downtown St. Paul buildings. The color of terracotta roofs in the city was used to select the color of the railings, and the green patina of the St. Paul Cathedral is echoed in the ornamental color of the overlooks. |
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Here is a view of the Robert Street Bridge, the Chicago & Northwestern RR Tracks and the tip of Raspberry Island |
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The Lafayette Bridge was constructed in 1968 using the standard design, detailing and fabrication methods of the late 1960’s. Like many bridges of that era, it has developed a history of structural steel fatigue problems that may not pose an immediate safety risk, but still requires the constant attention of Mn/DOT’s bridge inspectors. The Lafayette Bridge, a part of Hwy. 52 that carries 81,000 vehicles a day and spans the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul, is the state's most-traveled bridge with troubles similar to the I-35W bridge. Like that bridge, the Lafayette is "fracture-critical," meaning that if one part fails the whole bridge could fall. |
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Long Exposures |
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San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge |
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San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge |