Tomorrow will include photos of the lift span being floated out – but for now I wanted to share two shots of the flurry of activity that had to happen in order for the span to be floated out in the first place. The first shot above features two workers hurriedly screwing something onto one of the barge towers that will help secure the 2 million pound lift span. The shot below is a serene capture of the Cape Cod barge at rest with the early morning light reflecting the scene in the rich blue water of the Piscataqua.

While I was scouting out good spots to watch the lift span float out of the Memorial Bridge, I decided to head over to Four Tree Island for a nice head on shot.  The wind was sharp and my hands were absolutely frozen, but a nice long exposure with a fascinating cloud movement made for a worthy image. Hard to imagine that in a few days this view will never be the same.  I’m looking forward to some action shots with the barge carrying the bridge – but until then some scenic shots will have to do the trick.

Before the project can move forward, it must first take a few steps back.  The deconstruction of the Memorial Bridge is underway, and the central lift span will be floated out on Monday evening next week.  I was amazed when I stopped to take a photo of the light at the top of the abutment, when all of a sudden, I saw some sparks go flying down the length of the bridge.

The Creole Miss of Riverside and Pickering Marine is working on the early demolition of the Memorial Bridge on a sunny winter afternoon.  This view will be an ever changing scene for the next year and a half…and this site provides an opportunity to watch it all unfold: http://www.portsmouthwebcam.com/index.php/memorial-bridge/ - I highly recommend watching the time lapse of the day’s activity.

Looking forward to documenting the evolution of the bridge’s demise and reconstruction.

With interesting weather and light, one of my favorite things to do is find a wide open vista to capture all of the grand intricacies.  The Memorial Bridge seems a bit more grandiose when it’s sandwiched in between beautiful reflections on the Piscataqua and interesting cloud cover above.  The lift span is now up, and has been for more than a week at this point – and I hope to find some inviting conditions to get back and capture a few more images before the span is floated out at the end of January.

With Portsmouth’s bridges being one of the most talked about items of the past few years, I thought I’d take a moment to feature them from a different angle.  Often – I take for granted that Maine probably has the best view of Portsmouth, from the various shorelines in Kittery. 

I’ve shot the three bridges before, from Peirce Island, but this vantage point from the other side of the river provides a glimpse of the Piscataqua River Bridge (high-level), the Middle Bridge, with the Memorial Bridge in the far distance.  Once the new bridge has been constructed, it will look more like the Middle Bridge’s twin.  The shot isn’t overly dramatic, just a nice peaceful glimpse of the river…so I hope to be back with some more outrageous sky conditions someday.

As the Memorial Bridge’s numbered days come to a close, it readies for its departure into the great beyond. I liked the minimalism of this shot with the bridge looking as though it’s ascending into the heavens above.