your local landmarks

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rochie

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Inspired by Messy1 (Bryon), this thread is to put pictures of your local landmarks or places of interest.

So to kick off here is the Transporter bridge over the river Tees, about 2 miles from my house.
First from around 1945 and then a modern shot.

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he Tees Transporter Bridge has been a symbol of the area since it was opened in 1911. There are only two other Transporter Bridges still in existence in Britain. These bridges are at Newport (Gwent), opened 1906 and Warrington, opened 1916.

The Tees Transporter is a total of 851 feet (259.3 metres) in length which makes it the longest of those remaining Transporter Bridges in the world. Its cantilever construction has three main bridge spans that give it its unique appearance. The bridge is, effectively, two almost independent structures joined at the centre of the River Tees. Each half of the bridge has an 'anchor' span of 140 feet (42.6 metres) and then cantilevers across the river some 285 feet (86.8 metres) from the tower leg to meet its twin from the opposite bank. The passenger gondola is suspended by steel cables and runs on a wheel and rail system approximately 160 feet (48.7 metres) above the River Tees. While Middlesbrough's Transporter is the largest operational Transporter Bridge the largest bridge ever of this type is recorded as 1000 feet (304.7 metres) in length, built over the River Mersey near Widnes. That bridge closed in 1961 and has, sadly, now been demolished.

As far as we have been able to research, there have been some twenty Transporter Bridges constructed around the world of which only eleven still exist and a lesser number again are still in regular use. The first bridge, near Bilbao, Spain, opened in 1893. All the bridges were constructed in the 23 years between 1893 and 1916 and of the nine demolished structures an average life of 36 years was achieved.

In December 1993, the bridge was awarded the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' highest honour, The Heritage Plaque for engineering excellence, in recognition of the Council's efforts in keeping the bridge in good working order. Its historical importance was also recognised in 1985 by its listing as a Grade II* Listed Building and its prominence as a local landmark was further enhanced in 1993 by the installation of flood lights that operate during the winter months.

In April 1996 local government reorganisation transferred the ownership of the bridge to Middlesbrough Council and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council with Middlesbrough Council responsible for the day-to-day running and maintenance of the bridge.
 
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Karl I've never heard of a Transporter Bridge and am not clear on what they do or how they work (and I build bridges for a living, 53 so far at the last count) can you explain it a little more?
 
Karl I've never heard of a Transporter Bridge and am not clear on what they do or how they work (and I build bridges for a living, 53 so far at the last count) can you explain it a little more?

Glenn.

A platform is slung under neath at ground level, you drive on and it moves over to the other side
Here is a pic of the platform in motion.

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Wow, like Glenn, never heard of those but it sure looks like a cheaper alternative to a draw bridge. This is Mackenzie's landmark, the worlds largest tree crusher....

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....there is a larger one but it's under the lake. One of these was trialled in Viet Nam during the conflict but the wet terrain was unsuitable and someone finally realized it made for a very large target.

History


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARLsHq6U0dk

Geo
 
Strange but very cool Karl, kind of like a ferry without the boat.

Never saw one of those either George. I had a great uncle that was on the Alaskan highway when the Army put thru the pioneer road. That would have come in handy then :lol:
 
Strange but very cool Karl, kind of like a ferry without the boat.

That is exactly what it is, from the dog days of sailing ships bridges near the sea needed to be tall to allow them to pass. there is another in Newport Wales and several other similar types. A long time ago a fairly famous actor (Terry Scott) was staying in the region. He decided to use the Bridge to get from his hotel to the theatre called "The Forum". Unfortunately he had no idea how it worked, thought it was like any other and drove off the ramp with the cradle at the other end and landed in the catch netting. The play he was appearing in was called "A funny thing happened on the way to the forum"
 
Nice little thread Karl and what an iconic start. Do you recall the BBC comedy drama show "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" where the bridge was sold to Native Americans as a bridge to their casino, subsequently it was dismantled to be erected over this great canyon, assumedly the Grand Canyon.

As for that steel viaduct spanning the Oldman River, that is one MOTHER of a bridge.
 
There are a good deal of notable landmarks in and around the Redding (northern California) area, however, none is more recognizable than Mount Shasta. It is among the tallest free-standing volcanoes on earth and ranks 96 on the list of tallest mountains on the planet at a height of 14,179 feet (4,322m). It is the southern-most volcano in the Cascade range and even though it last erupted in 1786, it is considered dormant.

This photo was taken at sunset last November (8 November 2014) at 6:03 p.m.

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