For Sparky and myself, curiosity drives passion which in turn fuels our life's engine. Our passion was capturing the story of both unbuilding the Grace (1929 - 2007) and Pearman (1966 - 2007) Bridges and discovering the unbuilders. It takes a lot of passion to track a project from July 2005 until April 2007 - rain, shine, hurricanes or moving to Singapore. We discovered the joy of discovery learning. Ken Canty opened the front door for us - then Steve Testa, Ponch Billingsley and Mickey Rogers opened many side doors. Below are the highlights of what we discovered, who we met and what we learned.
And a reminder from T.S. Eliot (East Coker from the Four Quartets)
Home is where one starts from. As we grow older The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated Of dead and living. Not the intense moment Isolated, with no before and after, But a lifetime burning in every moment And not the lifetime of one man only But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.
From the Ravenel - this is the worksite
a closer view
The worksite at the port
From East Bay - The Grace superstructure on the left, Pearman in the middle and the lone Pearman pier at East Bay.
Only a few girders on the Pearman base
Another look from East Bay
and Michael eating away at the support piers
Bite after
bite after
bite
Bones from the superstructures
and more bones - waiting to be transported
Loading bones
and the truck for hauling
Manny in the launching position
and some cutting
and more cutting
Chris' 7550 taking a bow
and a bit of rebuilding
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
C. Frank Starmer