Pont Jacques-Cartier

Pont Jacques-Cartier, originally uploaded by susanvg.

This is part of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge which spans the St. Laurence River. I love its grace. Built in the 1920s and opened in 1930, it was the first bridge connecting Montreal Island to the South Shore which accommodated cars. In summer the bridge closes when the Fireworks Festival is held. People line the bridge to get a good view as the pyrotechnics are set off at La Ronde amusement park just east of the bridge.

It's hard to image Montreal without the bridges, the tunnel and the metro which connect it to the mainland. At one time, ferries and ice bridges were the only way to bring goods from one shore to the next. In between seasons when the ice was forming or breaking up must have been treacherous. Now the river rarely freezes completely. But even bridges can be treacherous in inclement weather. In our infamous ice storm of 1998, bridges were closed as the ice which had build up on the girders began to crash down.

I found a site about the bridge and was surprised to learn that one of the members of the design team Joseph B. Strauss, went on to design the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Day 291: Russell Park Dry Stone Bridge

Day 291: Russell Park Dry Stone Bridge, originally uploaded by susanvg.

We read about it in the local paper and went to have a look - this is a dry stone bridge - a bridge put together just with stones - no mortar. You can learn more about the process here. The key - is the keystone - just as in other arches. You can see a detail below.

First they built a wooden structure or scaffold underneath and placed the stones on top. The keystone, once it was wedged in holds the stones together by the pressure they exert on each other. I find it amazing that people discovered this possibility long ago. Though most structures are built with mortar, it is the same principal of wedge shaped blocks of stone (voussoirs) leading to the keystone that creates an arch. There are arches built on this principal that still stand since Roman times. Ah - the ingenuity of man.