zondag, augustus 19, 2007

rotterdam's swan

mafalda

Every city should have a great piece of symbolic architecture. In Paris it's the Eiffel Tower; in New York, the Empire State Building; in Rotterdam it's the Erasmus bridge. This cable-stay bridge links the northern and southern halves of the city with a 2,600-foot span in spectacular style. The bridge deck is supported by steel cables slung over a pylon that is bent to counter the forces of tension. Traffic passes underneath the 456-foot pylon as it straddles the roadway. The structure is called "the Swan" by locals because of its graceful posture over the water. The Erasmus Bridge is such a dramatic departure in bridge building that it has even become part of the city's official logo. Queen Beatrix, herself, officially opened the bridge in September, 1996. Shortly thereafter a problem was discovered with the web of cables. They had a habit of vibrating when the wind and rain are just right. The problem was corrected with stronger shock dampeners.
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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anoniem said...

Great white sky over rotterdam and dark sky over the bridge!
Do you have a wide-angle lens?

9:05 a.m.  
Anonymous Anoniem said...

No, I didn't use wide-angle for this photo, although the borders seem a little bit curved, don't they?

2:32 p.m.  
Anonymous Anoniem said...

i also like this photo. and rotterdam has loads of characteristic architecture: thing of the towers next to the station, the cubus houses, and the hef (the old railroad bridge across the harbout, of which only the suspended part remains - i remember when it still was complete - it was quite impressive)

5:09 p.m.  

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