Sepia saturday 67 : 26 March 2011

Once again it’s Sepia Saturday and this week’s photo theme was taken in the mid 1930’s and shows the reconstruction of the bridge over the River Loughor at Pontardulais, Wales. There is so much going on in this photo….the billboards intrigued me the most, but having little time to research them I selected to post about “bridges.” We wouldn’t get very far without bridges in our lives, and believe me there are so many bridges for so many reasons all over the world just waiting….for us to come meet them!
If you want to jump right in with your own…or something else go here

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2011/03/sepia-saturday-67-26-march-2011.html

Hastings Spiral Bridge in Hastings, Minnesota shown in this undated postcard.

This bridge was built in 1895 the shipping industry required a bridge with at least 55 feet clearance over the Mississippi River and for city traffic the town leaders wanted a bridge that delivered traffic into the downtown rather than over and beyond it.
As horses were replaced by automobiles and heavy trucks began to use the highways, the old Spiral Bridge was unable to support the heavier loads.  It was demolished in 1951 and replaced with a more conventional span.

Note: For Sepia Saturday Bloggers notice how the old mill in this photo is much like the one in the theme photo.





Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge - Built in 1905 and reconstructed in 1929.

A section of the bridge rises 138 feet to allow boats to pass underneath through the Duluth Ship Canal. The canal separates the mainland and most of the city from Minnesota Point, which is a long sand spit that protects the harbor.  Cars can cross the lift bridge on their way to Minnesota Point aka Park Point and is a casual beachside neighborhood.

Enter ......... The Stillwater Lift Bridge (showing the wooden approach used during construction in May 27, 1931) Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.  This bridge is still in use in Stillwater, Minnesota and crosses the St. Croix River into Wisconsin.

Stillwater, Minnesota Lift Bridge built in 1931 to replace a Swing Bridge from 1910.

It was the last bridge of this design to be built in the area.  This area is known for great spring flooding and is closed for weeks at a time during the flooding season!  Stillwater is one of my favorite river towns to frequently visit.

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis foot bridge a refreshing and  fashionable spot for visitors to admire the Minnehaha Falls.  American writer Elizabeth Ellet made a trip in 1852 that became very widely known and she was a frequent contributor to national magazines such as Godey's Lady's Book and she described Minnehaha Falls as a "vision of beauty" and it still is today! 

The name Minnehaha often translated as "Laughing water" but the correct translation is "curling water" or "Waterfall."

A Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer visited St. Paul in October of 1850 and our Governor Ramsey and his wife Anna hosted her with a gala welcome and later Bremer published her "Home of the New World," in 1853 praising Minnesota's agricultural potential and prophetically observed,

"This Minnesota is a glorious country, and just the country for Northern emigrants....It is four times as large as England; its soil is of the richest description, with extensive wooded tracts; great numbers of rivers and lakes abounding in fish, and a healthy, invigorating climate....What a glorious new Scandinavia might not Minnesota become!"

Suspension bridge linking Minneapolis to Nicollet Island, this is about 1865, as it opened in 1855, it was the first permanent span on the Mississippi River.

The property was a private corporation, the facility was operated as a private toll bridge until purchased by Hennepin County in 1869. The toll was five cents for pedestrians, twenty-five cents for horse-drawn wagons, and two cents for “swine or sheep.”   Its condition quickly deteriorated to the point where replacement was needed. The new bridge was built directly adjacent to the old, so, for a brief period during construction, both bridges coexisted. The old bridge was demolished in 1876 when the new bridge was complete.

Enter the next generation of bridges from across the mighty pond........to England

Clifton Suspension Bridge -Avon Gorge- City of Bristol, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset, England.

And one more view of this most lovely bridge....

One more look at a distance of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.