Sunday, September 7, 2014

Upright Spans

Going Up!
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself on the Casco Bay Bridge headed towards Portland. I was travelling in 'my little world' and noticed that the cars in front of me were coming to a stop. Glancing off to the left, I discovered the reason. I sat there for about 3 minutes and nothing. No movement. People getting out of their vehicles and walking over the barrier to get a better look was not a good sign. I started wondering. What do they do when the bridge is in an upright position and mechanically frozen? With traffic snaking off in the distance behind me, a u-turn was out of the question. There was no access to the empty lanes across the stone wall. How does the Highway Department handle this dilemma? It happens at least a couple of times a year. They must have a plan, but what it is escapes me, unless the two lanes begins a long backup procedure. Well, this day my panic was soon calmed, when I saw the black stack and white nautical bridge making its way under the upright spans. You see the top of the tanker to the left just over the wall. Within 5 minutes, 'my world' was moving again.
Not all that exciting, but it happened.
Coming Down!

16 comments:

  1. I'd say it is exciting. I'd love to see a bridge open like that and to watch a ship go under. Cant's say that I ever have.
    You people near water are so lucky.

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  2. A huge problem for emergency vehicles, which is becoming worse each year because of increase in automobiles and actual belligerence of motorists in some situations. Glad I wasn't in an ambulance where minutes could make a difference.

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  3. i can't believe people just stop and get out for a view!

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  4. It looks like a good place to watch the passing ships!

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  5. This reminds me so much of my time in Chicago. I lived right on the Chicago River and I watched this bridges going up and down all they time. They looked a lot like this.

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  6. Only a couple of times a year Birdman, I would have thought much more often than that!

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  7. It seems like a blast from the past before they started building tall bridges to avoid those situations.

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  8. Were you in a rush? I'd have loved to watch this... if not in a rush!

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  9. When I used to live near a drawbridge, a lift became a kind of community moment. Emergencies, though, always had priority.

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  10. I know just how your felt, been there too many times. .Good photo of a scene that sparks a bit of panic in me too.

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  11. There is a lift bridge here that once or twice a year freezes up like that. Most people here know the alternate routes, but it's a nuisance nonetheless.

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  12. When we lived in the Annapolis, Maryland, area this happened on a regular basis. Always interesting.

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  13. Have faith, Big Guy. The bridge operators in Maine know what they are doing.

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  14. Nice shot. That would be something to see.

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  15. We've got one of these things that connects our part of the world to "over there." The alternate route is backtracking a good half hour and then a l-o-n-g drive around the Hood Canal. The price of living out in the hinterlands.

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