of bridges and dikes

[lizziebelle]

pierce, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I finished my laundry, scrubbed the bathroom floor with Lysol (yet again), and took out the trash, so I rewarded myself with a nice walk. I took a zigzag route downtown, and ended up at the old bridge, which is in the middle of being refurbished.




I started walking along the river toward the old railroad bridge, which I discovered just today is not in service anymore.








I walked along the dike, which I'd never done before. I noticed that all the trees and fences along it were being taken down, which I found a bit alarming. What was going on? I came across a woman and her teenaged son who were removing brush behind their house, and asked them about it. She said that the trees were weakening the dike, and they were going to raise it up a few feet, so everything had to come down. Which is good, but it was sad to see so many trees lying on the ground.

The sky is growing even greyer and darker, and there is rain/sleet/snow expected tonight. I just hope the drive tomorrow morning isn't too bad. I'm glad I made it out, despite the lack of sunshine.

Comments

[anaquana.livejournal.com]

Heh... I remember walking across that old train trestle on my way home from high school several times.

Great way to help get over your fear of heights.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

I didn't have the nerve to cross it. ;)

[anaquana.livejournal.com]

Yes, well... considering that it was more than a decade ago that I crossed it and it was rickety and falling apart then, I definitely wouldn't recommend crossing it now. :D

[sandwell.livejournal.com]

dead railway lines so rock. they're kind of eerie in a sort of 'this used to be so busy', 'ghostly' way.

there's a huge viaduct a few miles from where i live, in the middle of countryside that used to be industrial, that's no longer used but i think they're not allowed to remove it (because of its architectural status) even though it's not used any more.

Ah, found it, here we go (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennerley_Viaduct). It looks really weird just stood there in what appears to be the middle of nowhere.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

There's a walking/bike path along an old railway in Northampton, a couple of towns north of here, that includes the old trestle. It's pretty cool when they reuse trails like that. :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Great photos of the bridge--I kind of like the look of it all rusted, but I guess from a structural point of view it's better to have it refurbished.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's the auto bridge that they're refurbishing, not the train one. I don't know what the plans (if any) are for the railroad trestle. It's kind of a cool old ghost of the industrial past of Westfield. :)

[desert-sparrow.livejournal.com]

To me, a fascinating subject. Nice framing.