Taking the bridge

I took my mom to a doctor's appointment this afternoon. She went into the office, and I had some time to kill. But I had a plan. I wanted to get some photos from the 8th Street Bridge in Wyoming*, PA, before it is demolished.

There is a new bridge being constructed next to this old one, seen in a Google Earth image. The new bridge would be just to the left of the existing one in the image above. Fun fact: several structures visible along the river bank to either side of the bridge entrance no longer exist.

The walkway is along the western-facing side of the bridge, so the best time to take photos here would be in the morning, with the sun at your back. Unfortunately my schedule put me there in the afternoon, so I was photographing into the sun. In this photo Monocanock Island can be seen in the middle distance, bisected by the line from a crane.

A view of the southern shore of the Susquehanna from the 8th Street Bridge. Note the construction below.

More images of the ice formations downstream from the bridge.

I don't know how long it will take to complete the construction of the replacement for the 8th Street Bridge. This is an old bridge, very narrow and somewhat frightening; I did not feel anywhere near as safe on it as I did on the similar (but much sturdier) Nanticoke - West Nanticoke Bridge a few weeks ago. But it will be sad to see it go. It is always sad to see these marvels of structural engineering get shunted aside in favor of functional but soulless structures of prestressed concrete.



*Wyoming, PA has a long history. It was the site of the Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre. This incident directly or indirectly resulted in the name of the state of Wyoming, depending on which account of the state's designation you believe.