Bridges Between

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RuneE is sponsoring this monthly challenge on the first Monday of every month. Building Bridges is subject to open interpretation.

About two weeks ago, I went to the park downtown where they had the annual Recycled Arts Festival..

I saw neat benches that had been salvaged from the dump.

I saw creations made from junk metal by artists.

I saw the inner soles of shoes being used for a cute sign.


I saw creative benches.







There was so much more and it was all about recycling!

So what does this have to do with BRIDGES BETWEEN? A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When things are recycled, we are taking care of the earth. When we take care of the earth WE ARE the BRIDGE FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS to enjoy the earth when they live here because we have taken care of it by not throwing everything away. We find new uses for things. We recycle! This is a most important message to today's generation who grew up with FAST everything. It is our responsibility to teach our children and grandchildren to care for the earth for the future generations: to build more bridges between for their children and children's children.

Building Bridges -- June 2008

RuneE is sponsoring this monthly challenge on the first Monday of every month. Building Bridges is subject to open interpretation.


My "building bridges"entry is sorta unusual this month. The bridge is the river itself. When tall ships come up the Columbia River, the I-5 bridge has a section that rises and allows the ships to go further east or west. I moved here in 1985 and this was the first time I ever saw the bridge raise and lower again! The passage of tall ships from one side of the I-5 bridge to the other is my BRIDGES BETWEEN this month.



Saw these two ships in the Columbia River a week ago Saturday. They were here for the Rose festival celebrated this week. Their sails were too tall to go under the bridge so it a part of it was lifted and then lowered after their passage under it.





The two ships have reached the other side of the bridge and it begins to go down again.











Traffic resumes on the bridge between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

Building Bridges -- May 2008 and ODD SHOTS

If you are here for ODD SHOTS, please scroll down.


RuneE is sponsoring this monthly challenge on the first Monday of every month. Building Bridges is subject to open interpretation.



click on photo to see bridge better-- if you don't you will miss out on a beauty!
This bridge is one between states -- it takes one from Washington to Oregon or from Oregon to Washington -- the two cities are Portland and Vancouver. It crosses the Columbia River. It is called the I-5 bridge named because it connects the two states. It is a vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian bridge across the Columbia River. Trains have a separate bridge. This bridge completes the Interstate all the way from Mexico to Canada. I have included some history of the I-5 bridge below if you care to learn more.

First I-5 bridge
The bridge was built to replace an overcrowded ferry system operated by Pacific Railway, Light & Power Co. Construction on the bridge began in March 1915, following the sale of bonds.The first bridge was opened on February 14, 1917 at a cost of $1.75 million, which was shared between Clark County in Washington and Multnomah County in Oregon. WA paid $500,000 with OR paying $1,250,000.[4] The first bridge had a total of 13 steel spans with three measuring 275 ft (84 m) in length while the remaining ten spans were 265 ft (80 m) long. One of the 275-ft spans is the lift span for allowing river traffic by the bridge. The original paved roadway was 38 ft (12 m) wide and had a 5-ft (1.5-m) wide sidewalk. It was the first automobile bridge across the river between Washington and Oregon, and the second to span the river at all, after the Wenatchee Bridge of 1908. It was originally a toll bridge costing 5¢ per person. In 1929 the states of Washington and Oregon jointly purchased it from the counties and subsequently removed the tolls.


Upgrades
In 1958 a $14.5 million upgrade created a southbound span and doubled the capacity of the bridge. The new bridge was built with a "humpback" that provides 72 ft (22 m) of vertical clearance and minimizes bridge openings. At the time the new bridge was opened, the old one closed to give it the matching humpback. When both bridges were opened in 1960, tolls were reinstated at $.20 for cars, $.40 for light trucks, and $.60 for heavy trucks and buses, before being permanently removed in 1966.
A $3 million upgrade to the lift cables, expansion joints, and a deck repaving was completed in 1990. The diesel generator used to power the lift was replaced in 1995 at a cost of $150,000. In 1999 the bridge was repainted at a cost of $17 million. A $10.8 million electrical upgrade was completed in mid-May of 2005.
The bridge is 3,538 ft (1,078 m) long with a main span of 531 ft (162 m).[7] The vertical lift provides 176 ft (54 m) of clearance when opened. The lift takes 10 minutes to open and does so between 10 and 20 times per month. In 2001 the 6 lanes of the bridges carried 120,000 vehicles including 10,000 trucks, operating at capacity for four hours every day.

Replacement

Components of the bridge were manufactured and prepared for assembly in Gary, Indiana.
Currently, many traffic engineers consider the bridge to be obsolete, both due to its age and its limited capacity. The bridge is frequently a bottleneck which impacts both traffic on the freeway, as well as on the river. The Oregon and Washington state departments of transportation are jointly studying how to replace the bridge. The estimated cost for a replacement bridge is around $2 billion.

A replacement (especially a fixed span bridge) is complicated by a railroad drawbridge crossing the Columbia a short distance downriver, which constrains the location of the shipping channel; and by approach paths to Portland International Airport in Portland and to Pearson Field Airport in Vancouver, which limit the height of any new structure. Some have proposed replacing the bridge in a different location. There are presently 12 transportation plans that are being studied to improve and expand the Interstate 5 crossing of the Columbia River. In late 2006, 2-4 of these plans will be selected for a final proposal.
There is also a long standing debate as to whether or not a new bridge would include a MAX Light Rail line, express buses or bus rapid transit. During his 2007 "State of the City" address, Vancouver mayor Royce Pollard stated
“I've said it before, but it bears repeating – Vancouver and Clark County residents have the cheapest buy-in to one of the most successful light-rail systems in the world, the MAX system. There is over $5 billion invested in light rail across the river. We can tap into that system at a very minimal cost. We’d be foolish not to. The bi-state Columbia River Crossing initiative is making plans for the future of our community for 50 years and beyond. This project should not happen without integrating light rail that comes into downtown Vancouver. If the final alternative doesn’t have a light rail component, I will not support it."
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The symbol above is for a new meme that Katney started recently .

ODD SHOTS

Most stop signs are perpendicular. I have no idea why this one is slanted to the right -- maybe to get the drivers' attention? I investigated and it doesn't look like it was the mishap of a car accident. . .

Building Bridges -- April 2008 and ODD SHOT MONDAY

If you are here for ODD SHOTS, please scroll down.


RuneE is sponsoring this monthly challenge on the first Monday of every month. Building Bridges is subject to open interpretation.

This "bridges between" meme has challenged me to think beyond the normal bridges we see on the water. I have some great ones of those since I live on the Washington side of the Columbia River. One day, I will also share them on this meme but today I decided I wanted to show a different kind of bridge. I like that this challenge is just once a month because then I have time to really think out my entry.


PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE FOR DETAILS.
I ran across this photo I had taken last year of two spiders in side by side webs and my mind began to think of the bridges spiders make to trap their prey. The web construction itself is also a bridge for the spider to build the finished product.

I found this information in Wikipedia:

How spiders make webs
A orb weaver web anchored in a fork of a peach tree in winter
Spiders have several spinneret glands located at their abdomen which produce the silken thread. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose. Seven different gland types have currently been identified, although each species of spider will possess only a few of these types, never all seven at once.
Normally a spider has three pairs of spinnerets, but there are spiders with just one pair or as many as four pairs of spinnerets, with each spinneret having its own function.

During the process of making a web the spider will use its own body for measurements, a very practical and ergonomic design feature of any web. This will allow the spider to move quickly and efficiently around its own web with very few faults. It will start with the most difficult part of construction, the first thread. The spider effectively utilizes the wind to carry its initial adhesive thread. With some luck the silk is released from its spinners and carried by the wind to a suitable adherable surface.

When it sticks to a surface the spider will carefully walk over the thread and strengthen it with a second thread. This process is repeated until the primary thread is strong enough to support the rest of the netting. After strengthening the first thread the spider will continue to make a Y shaped netting. The first three radials of the web are now constructed. More radials are added making sure that the distance between each radial is small enough to cross. This means that the number of radials in a web directly depends on the size of the spider plus the size of the web. After the radials are complete the spider will fortify the center of the web with about five circular threads. Then a spiral of non-sticky, evenly spaced, circular threads are made for the spider to easily move around its own web during construction. The spider then, beginning from the outside in, will methodically create the adhesive spiral threads. It will utilize the initial radiating lines as well as the non-sticky spirals as guide lines. The spaces between each spiral will be directly proportional to the distance from the tip of its back legs to its spinners.

This is one way the spider will use its own body as a measuring/spacing device. While the sticky spirals are formed the non-adhesive spirals are removed as there is no need for them anymore. After the spider has completed its web it will chew off the initial three center spiral threads then sit and wait. If the web is broken without any structural damage during the construction the spider does not make any initial attempts to rectify the problem. Indeed, there are many variations to constructing a web. This is just one possible way.

Webs allow a spider to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down. Thus it is an efficient method of gathering food. However, constructing the web is in itself an energetically costly process due to the large amount of protein required, in the form of silk. In addition, after a time the silk will lose its stickiness and thus become inefficient at capturing prey. It is not uncommon for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning. The silk proteins are thus "recycled."

The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. Its microstructure is under investigation for potential applications in industry, including bullet-proof vests, and artificial tendons. Researchers have used genetically modified mammals to produce the proteins needed to make this material.


The spider, after spinning its web, will then wait on, or near, the web for a prey animal to become trapped. The spider can sense the impact and struggle of a prey animal by vibrations transmitted along the web lines.

Spiders do not usually adhere to their own webs. However, they are not immune to their own glue. Some of the strands of the web are sticky, and others are not. For example, if a spider has chosen to wait along the outer edges of its web, it may spin a non-sticky prey or signal line to the web hub to monitor web movement. Spiders have to be careful to only climb on the non-sticky strands of their webs.

A spider positioned in the middle of the web makes for a highly visible prey for birds and other predators, even without web decorations. Many day-hunting orb-web spinners reduce this risk by hiding at the edge of the web with one foot on a signal line from the hub, or by appearing to be inedible or unappetizing.



The symbol above is for a new meme that Katney started recently .

While most bus shelters have space for a wheel chair and a bench for at least two people and more room to stand under in case it is raining, on a walk, I recently spied this small bus stop seating near a church. To me it was definitely odd but am sure, welcoming to those who need to wait for a bus.

Building Bridges -- March 2008

RuneE is sponsoring this monthly challenge on the first Monday of every month. Building Bridges is subject to open interpretation. I have taken a very wide and literal interpretation for this month. . . They are still "building" this bridge and it should be finished this summer but I couldn't wait to share it with everyone. We have been wanting this for years. Now, it is built to celebrate a special event for the Northwest commemorating Lewis and Clark's expedition in our area.

Our city, Vancouver, Washington is almost finished with this bridge. It is a pedestrian bridge and starts near the old Fort Vancouver replica,


crosses over Hiway 14 and ends at the Old Apple Tree Park,


famous for having the oldest apple tree in the northwest.

This is a photo of the architects plan that is posted across the street from the Old Apple Tree Park. Click on photo to read more about it on the sign. You can also read more about it here: Confluence Project Along the Columbia River. The project itself is a bridge between Washington history and the present day.


I took this photo in a moving car as we were headed west on Hiway 14. The bridge is almost finished. It was supposed to have a completion date of 2007 so we are anxious to use it soon.

Hope you enjoyed learning about my first entry for "Building Bridges." I will update on this challenge when I get to walk across the bridge on its official opening day this summer.