Upside-Down Moonlight
by Chris Bordeleau
Title
Upside-Down Moonlight
Artist
Chris Bordeleau
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The "Upside-Down" bridge in Lockport, NY under a full moon.
The Upside-Down bridge was rumored to have been built this way in order to limit the height of the barges on the Erie canal. This is only a rumor as there are far lower bridges downstream.
The real reason is far less interesting, but much more sensible. Bridge truss-work is built above the traffic - in this case the railroad - only when there's not enough room underneath the bridge to do it this way. Building it above means that the bridge has to be wider to accomodate both the traffic AND the truss-work. That means more material and higher building costs. Here the clearance from the water to the railroad bed was far enough to allow the railroad to save some money by building a narrower bridge with the truss-work beneath, with plenty of room to spare for canal traffic.
Uploaded
July 4th, 2015
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Viewed 1,605 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/27/2024 at 4:23 AM
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