3519 replies to this topic

[jklymak]

Can you say what condition the Golden Gate bridge was in before it was refurbished? Had it suffered from decades of neglect like the JSB? It might also be noted that San Francisco chose to replace the SF-Oakland bridge rather than refurbish it. To some it was almost as "iconic" as the GG. It likely came down to a matter of economics in both cases.

And there is no way that anyone will ever convince me that the JSB is in the same "iconic" league as the Golden Gate bridge, despite having the same designer. To support that argument one simply sounds foolish.

I think you missed some of the thread. SF has a bridge that is almost the same as the JSB that they preserved for heritage reasons for a not unreasonable cost.

http://www.vibrantvi...1&postcount=170

[aastra]

I'm not really clear on how much it cost to fix up the Third Street/Lefty O'Doul Bridge and how much it cost to fix up the smaller/older Fourth Street Bridge. If I understand things correctly, it was the work on the Fourth Street Bridge that was somewhat controversial because of cost overruns and such (and the fake counterweight):

San Francisco's Fourth Street Bridge (1915?):

http://www.flickr.co...uid/2943634354/


San Francisco's Third Street/Lefty O'Doul Bridge (1931):

http://www.flickr.co...234/3557758899/

[aastra]

Victoria's Johnson Street Bridge (1924):

http://www.flickr.co...saak/125390998/

[VicHockeyFan]

So get a load of this, too funny. I'm on my way to a meeting today down at The Local, and I'm just turning the corner, walking, from Yates onto Wharf and passing some tourists, when a woman in the group exclaims "is that a bridge!?" as the Blue Bridge had just come into her view.

See, a bridge-lover. As all you could see from that point was a bit of blue, and lots of counterweight, she would have had to travel further to exclaim if we had a lower-profile replacement.

[CharlieFoxtrot]

I think you touched on something there:

The Blue Bridge as an iconic surprise, not a iconic destination.

I don't think that many tourists come here based on the existence of the JSB, it's just a happy accident. It's presence or absence does not affect the cruise boat schedule....

People come here to see the Legislature, Museum, and wait for the Queen to come out and wave at the Empress, but once they get down to the inner harbour and look around, that's when it's all "Hey, check out that cool blue bridge!!", the obligatory pictures, and then the moving on to Overpriced Tea and The Chamber of Horrors. Maybe Miniature World if they're really looking to throw around the tourist bucks.

You know, come to think of it, Miniature World could use a good refurbishment.

[aastra]

So did we all know about the Cherry Street Trunnion Bridge in Toronto? Built in 1931 by some bozo named Strauss.

...designated under the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Toronto in 1992 as Architectural Historical.

That's the problem with Toronto. It's such an impersonal big city that's lost all connection with its past.


(The bridge is green. Good call by Torontonians. If it were another colour it would probably be gone by now.)

[aastra]

I'd never heard of the Cherry Street Trunnion Bridge. I only just discovered it now when I decided to look up how many bascule bridges there are in Canada. Wikipedia tells me there are a handful, and only one west of Ontario.

Victoria has one historic bridge. Once it's gone, it's gone.

But then again it's rusty, so...

[aastra]

Here's a map that shows the "hairpin of death" as compared to other incredibly notorious and unbelievably dangerous turns in the city core:



I'd suggest it would probably be safest just to brick them all up. Stop the carnage forever.

[aastra]

The Ashtabula lift bridge (also known as the West Fifth Street bridge) is a Strauss bascule bridge that spans the Ashtabula River in the harbor of Ashtabula, Ohio. Built in 1925, it is one of only two of its type that remain in service in the state of Ohio. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was restored in 1986, and was also closed from March to December 2008 for repairs and repainting.

http://en.wikipedia....ula_lift_bridge

In Ohio it's history. Something to be proud of. In Victoria it's junk. Hallmark Society, where are you?


http://www.flickr.co...N00/1364138744/

The really amazing thing is that it's blue and yet they still decided not to replace it.

[G-Man]

I am really starting to feel sick about the thought of it going. Aastra stop it, your logic is hurting my brain.

[aastra]

What's to feel sick about? Victoria is really too young a city and too small a city to have a Strauss-designed bridge, anyway.

(Even though Victoria's bridge is older than Toronto's and even though Victoria is bigger than Thunder Bay and Kingston and Ashtabula put together).

[Ginger Snap]

What's to feel sick about? Victoria is really too young a city and too small a city to have a Strauss-designed bridge, anyway.

(Even though Victoria's bridge is older than Toronto's and even though Victoria is bigger than Thunder Bay and Kingston and Ashtabula put together).

Good grief Aastra, some people would be happy to have a new bridge not because they are small minded and foolish, but (get this) because they actually aren't fond of the current bridge. True story.

[aastra]

That's a great point. For example, I'm not fond of the legislature. A glass office building would be much better. True story.

[aastra]

Just so everybody understands, it's not small-minded and foolish to want to replace a historic structure if you happen to not be fond of that particular structure.

So exactly what would be a small-minded and foolish motive?

[G-Man]

I think we should get rid of all heritage structures that some people are not fond of.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Good grief Aastra, some people would be happy to have a new bridge not because they are small minded and foolish, but (get this) because they actually aren't fond of the current bridge. True story.

Yeah, that's a great criterion for heritage preservation (not). You're not fond of something, and that's a good reason to exchange it for something new?

I think we should get rid of all heritage structures that some people are not fond of.

Hear, hear! We'd get this town cleaned up and running like a clock in no time.

[aastra]

If a representative of the Hallmark Society were participating in this forum I'm sure we'd get a lecture about how our contemporary assessments of the esthetic and/or functional value of a historic structure are not relevant.

The structure can be beloved or it can be despised, but that doesn't change what the structure is (when it was built, who built it, how rare/unique it is, and so forth).

Take any historic structure on the face of the earth and I can find you plenty of people who'd sneer at it. I'm reminded of a Canadian soldier's WW2 tale about how he was fully prepared to fire on the Tower of Pisa because -- at the time -- he had no idea what it was. He had never heard of the thing and it sure didn't look special to him.

[aastra]

I can't believe you're comparing the Tower of Pisa to the Johnson Street Bridge.

(just saving Nparker the trouble of replying to that)

[Jill]

Has anybody organized a formal Save the Bridge group?

[Holden West]

Has anybody organized a formal Save the Bridge group?

No, but there's an informal group (Keep the Blue Bridge!!!) on Facebook.