It is so uplifting to witness a bridge being erected
India is a country on the move and is perpetually in road construction mode.
Despite the discomfort - that includes dust and traffic jams - it feels nice to think that the road that is being made will make the travel in that stretch more comfortable some day in future. I also realize that all bridges do not lead to smoother traffic.
But the most soothing and uplifting feeling I get out of road construction is when I see a bridge being fabricated. If I happen to cross that way during the construction, I try to pause and marvel at the huge steel or concrete slabs suspended between giant pillars. The bridge starts bit by bit and one day you find it joining the two ends that would not join without the pillars, slabs and joints.
A bridge feels good also because it is a symbol of joining of creative forces, a synthesis.
The stories about how big bridges are erected over wide rivers, gorges a quarter kilometre deep, along steep mountain slopes and over seas, especially when you see them on Discovery TV, give a surreal feeling about how the tiny man achieves great engineering feats. Somehow, civil and mechanical giant structures give that feeling more than much bigger achievements in computer technology etc.
This is a photo of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, United States, under construction. It was built 84 years back when today's technology was not available.
Below is a photo of a road bridge under construction, using pre-fab tech. (image courtesy: L&T)
And one more (image: Arvind Tech):
Despite the discomfort - that includes dust and traffic jams - it feels nice to think that the road that is being made will make the travel in that stretch more comfortable some day in future. I also realize that all bridges do not lead to smoother traffic.
But the most soothing and uplifting feeling I get out of road construction is when I see a bridge being fabricated. If I happen to cross that way during the construction, I try to pause and marvel at the huge steel or concrete slabs suspended between giant pillars. The bridge starts bit by bit and one day you find it joining the two ends that would not join without the pillars, slabs and joints.
A bridge feels good also because it is a symbol of joining of creative forces, a synthesis.
The stories about how big bridges are erected over wide rivers, gorges a quarter kilometre deep, along steep mountain slopes and over seas, especially when you see them on Discovery TV, give a surreal feeling about how the tiny man achieves great engineering feats. Somehow, civil and mechanical giant structures give that feeling more than much bigger achievements in computer technology etc.
This is a photo of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, United States, under construction. It was built 84 years back when today's technology was not available.
Below is a photo of a road bridge under construction, using pre-fab tech. (image courtesy: L&T)
