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Double Secret Zombie Engineering

 
 

Another pic of the Fryer’s Ford bridge: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28579340@N08/5611817076/

Other pics of the Rockafellows Mills Bridge I uploaded but may not have put in the post
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_176.jpg another portal view of the bridge, showing the fancy bits on top nicely.
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_193.jpg lower chord connection showing the arch made by the deck beams
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_196.jpg the foot of the bridge - is it mounted on rubber blocks??
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_203.jpg detail of modern guard rail showing how “pretend” original lattice was fit in.
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_183.jpg detail of restored end post connections. 100+ years of welded on plates and bits removed. Compare to the pics at Nathan’s RMB page
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_184.jpg upper chord wind and sway bracing details
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_189.jpg non-original: bolts replace hundreds of the original rivets. They’re stronger, and once painted it’s hard to spot them.
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/images/uploads/old_hunterdon_bridges_185.jpg a view upstream: the mill pond remains but the mill is long gone. The water tower just above the treeline in the middle of the picture is the one on County Route 523/Walter E. Foran Blvd, about 200 yards east of Route 31. So it might look like you’re deep in the country here, but “civilization” is just two turns and half a mile away. The water tower is part of the former Nestle factory, where they used to make Snapple drinks. Yale owned it too, and then they left as well.



Posted by Drew458    United States   on 07/14/2012 at 04:02 PM   
 
  1. Drew you may not get many responses on these articles, but I for one find them really interesting.

    Posted by LyndonB    United Kingdom   07/16/2012  at  11:54 AM  

  2. Thanks. I know they take too long to read, and too long to load the giant pictures. And 19th Century engineering - or any engineering at all - isn’t interesting to most folks. But I love it. Being around these old bridges makes me feel like I’m 7 years old again, in awe of how wonderful and exciting the world is.

    It’s all been stress relief for me, since 3 members of the immediate family are in terrible health situations right now. Well, 2, since my sister in law’s mother in law just died, after a long debilitating illness caused by incurable lung fungus. She was 82. Not sure what the funeral plans will be if any; she was both English and agnostic. And usually quite caustic in my direction; we weren’t close at all. Her son’s condition might finally be on the mend, and my MIL is now out of the hospital and in a physical therapy center. So that’s also an improvement. But it’s been ... very stressful ... around here the past month or so. I’ve used bridge spotting as an escape.

    Posted by Drew458    United States   07/17/2012  at  08:47 AM  

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