THE A TO Z PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE
B is for Bridges
They deserve our gratitude and respect
As I scoured my extensive photography collection searching for appropriate 'B' photos for JoAnn Ryan's In Living Colour A-Z Challenge, I discovered that over the years, I'd snapped a lot of bridges.
Not literally, of course!
I'm intrigued by these architectural structures between two earthly points erected purely for our convenience. Bridges reduce traveling time considerably as they shorten the distance by crossing over water rather than navigating around it. They've been around for centuries!
To facilitate reading, I've divided the bridges geographically and will share my favourites from Montréal, The USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Montréal, Canada
My lead photo is our brand-spanking new Pont Champlain. It was built over four years to replace the old one constructed in 1962 and teetering on collapse. They had some forethought to include a light rail track down the centre and a bicycle/walking track on the eastern side that is open year-round.
There are some cool facts and figures about building this new bridge if you are interested.
Did you know that Montréal is a city built on an island surrounded by three rivers? The Saint Lawrence, the Rivière des Prairies and the Lac des Deux Montagnes. Eighteen bridges connect the 'mainland' to the island. Source.
The Jacques Cartier bridge is a magnificent structure and has been a landmark in Montréal since 1930. I've walked over it twice during the summer months, and it was a remarkable experience.
La Ronde, our resident theme park, is underneath the bridge to the left, heading south. The Rowing Basin and the Park Jean Drapeau are to the right, where outdoor concerts and the Grand Prix are held.
I have a favourite — and relatively unknown — spot that I discovered soon after arriving here that has some of the best views of the bridge and the old port. It's near Habitat '67, some architecturally famous buildings erected for the 1967 World Exposition.
One of the oldest bridges is the Pont Victoria, built in 1854 and between the Jacques Cartier and the Champlain ones. It services both trains and cars and has an extensive roadway that can be put in place to cater to traffic when a ship is in the lock underneath its carriageway.
Simply being at the lock when a ship is coming through is quite remarkable!
Living and working on the island, I rarely have to cross any bridge, and I'm happy about that. Typically, traffic is hell each day on all bridges, especially at regular commute times.
I do have a canal to negotiate, however. Although I don't cross at this particular point where I took the photo, I love the simple curves on this bridge.
The USA
This photo is from the archives from when my babies were tiny. We spent a weekend in Vermont, enjoying bike paths, babbling brooks and ancient covered bridges.
According to vermontvacation.com, there are over 100 covered bridges in the state which is a stone's throw from Montréal. I had no idea there were so many, and I must do some more exploring.
This next photo was taken in 2015 when my two boys and I were sailing out of New York City on the Norweigan Breakaway for a 7-day cruise around the Caribbean.
It was my first and possibly last cruise; I hated it!
The best part was leaving New York under a dwindling March sun and crisp air with a beer in hand and this spectacular view of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
Sydney, Australia
I don't need to introduce her famous harbour bridge! I've crossed it many times by train, driven over it once and walked halfway over it. She sees each new year in style and is one of two bridges in Oz that can be legally climbed.
The ANZAC bridge is fairly new. Constructed in 1995, I took my first tour across it in December when I went to catch up with a friend. I love taking pictures in the passenger seat — remember, the driver sits on the right-hand side of a car down under, so don’t be yelling at me about taking pics while driving!
New Zealand
It was astonishing to see this buckled bridge weeks after the February 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people and displaced thousands of Cantabrians. I wrote about my visit to Christchurch post the earthquake back in 2021.
The Clutha river at Balclutha, a small town between Invercargill and Dunedin, has a lovely bridge crossing. It was always one of my favourite parts of our frequent car journey as a family, as my grandparents both lived in Dunedin.
This picture I took in 2017 when my best friend chauffeured me around some old haunts during a trip home. It is one of my favourite bridge shots.
The Edith-Cavell Bridge
Central Otago is the place to head in New Zealand if you are into adventure travel. There's white-water rafting, bungee jumping and jetboating. I'm not one for the first two, but I have been on the Shotover Jet twice. It's a thrilling ride through deep, narrow canyons and shallow patches of the Shotover river, ending with the mandatory Hamilton turn.
The parabolic rib-arched Edith- Cavell bridge near Arthurs Pass is gorgeous from below, where the jetboating company is based. It was built in 1919 and named after a nurse who was executed for helping allied soldiers escape from Belgium during WW1.
It is one of many one-way bridges still in operation in New Zealand and a protected heritage site.
According to Trip Advisor, there are many cool bridges in New Zealand that I've never seen or heard about. Topofy.com is also a fantastic global site that lists oodles of bridge facts, from the different types to the most unique and dangerous.
Hopefully, I can photograph more bridges as travel opportunities open up again. I honestly had no idea I had so many pictures of bridges until this A-Z challenge came up.
Thanks, JoAnn Ryan!
Do you have some bridge pictures hidden away too? Please share!