April 14, 2006:
Before and After:
Sparky and I have been tracking bridge building and unbuilding for
the past 3 years. The top of the Ravenel towers provides an unusual
view of both the building and unbuilding processes. When Sparky sent me his
photos from yesterday I thought it would be interesting to use the
photos taken from the top during the
Ravenel building -
over the past couple of years and focus not on the building but the
views of the Town Creek, Drum Island and Cooper River segments of the
Grace and Pearman Bridges. Here are the comparision photos.
Looking west toward Charleston
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Jul 21, 2004: Early building of the primary approach and
clear views of the Town Creek sections and Drum Island sections
of the Pearman and Grace Bridges (from west tower)
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Feb 1, 2005: From the east Ravenel tower, there is a clearer view of the
Pearman and Grace cantilever sections. Note the square box surrounding
the Grace support just before the cantilever section. This is the
region that had to be rebuilt during the Pearman construcdtion.
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Feb 11, 2005:
Today, Oliver Forget and his Freyssinet team pulled the
last pair of stay cable. Being February, the air was clear and the
top of the east tower provided
a good view of the main span gap on the Ravenel as well as the Pearman and
Grace cantilever sections as well as their feeder Drum Island sections.
March 29, 2005:
Shortly after the east and west main spans of the Ravenel
were joined as seen from the east tower.
Another good view of the Grace and Pearman structures crossing Town
Creek and Drum Island.
April 14, 2006:
And Sparky's view of the unbuilding from the east tower.
Gone are the Town Creek spans and the Drum Island structures. All that
remains are paths across Drum island and the west Pearman cantilever and
the Grace cantilever and approach sections. Mickey's Advanced Blasting
Service has removed the D-25 to D-28 Pearman substructures and the jackup
barge is resting in front of C-2 supporting drilling for implosion.
The only remaining structure in Town Creek is P-3, Michale's pain-in-the-neck.
Looking east toward Mt. Pleasant
Before the opening of the Ravenel Bridge, looking toward Mt. Pleasant
March 22, 2005:
The east tower crane is still in position.
The light gray section near the bottom of the photo, where the stay
cable change direction, is where the east and west spans were joined.
May 22, 2005: Gone is the east tower crane
July 15, 2005:
The day before the opening as seen from the west tower.
The white and yellow lane markers are in place. A clear view of the Mt.
Pleasant approaches and the future home of the Mt. Pleasant observation and
fishing pier.
April 14, 2006: Sparky's view.
Note the residual Pearman substructures that will
become the supporting structure of the Mt. Pleasant observation and fishing
pier. Julian Adams in Joanna, SC has super curious eyes and has noticed
that near the expansion joints there are dark streaks
in the middle of each lane on the east side of the westbound lanes and
on the west side of the east bound lanes. My guess is this is oil from
diesel engines that shakes loose after the small bounce associated with
passing over the expansion joint. There must be a better solution to
this question. Any other ideas?
And a closer look from above at the unbuilding: The east Grace cantilever
The east cantilever, P-10 and the dropped section between P-11 and P-12
and a bit of nostalgia from me: one of the last early morning photos I
took of the Grace as I rode my bicycle across the Pearman to catch
closeups of the Ravenel building process. (May 7, 2004)
