Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Have You Seen The Bridge?

Okay, so who knows the obscure Led Zeppelin reference? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

I'm on a break from the multi-part review (delaying my "customizations" post yet again) for a snippet of local color. Des Moines just got a snazzy new pedestrian/bike bridge downtown over one of our (swollen) rivers, so I detoured over there on my homebound commute tonight. Here's a look from the east:


And here's the view when you're actually aboard this bifurcated beastie:


Down at the end, you can just make out local news-meisters Kevin "The Cronkite of Des Moines" Cooney and Cynthia "You Try Being Professional on Live TV When the Weather Guy Has an Albino Python in his Pants" Fodor (believe it or not, that's a work-safe YouTube link). Someone must have yelled "Action!" since the soon-to-flood river roiled right on cue:


And here's a distance shot from the west side:


I'm just hoping (along with the rest of Des Moines) that the flood waters aren't as bad as expected and the river stays right there where it belongs.

After this shot, I had to bolt, as I was standing right outside the Wells Fargo Arena -- which has a bad Justin Bieber infestation tonight. Luckily, I know that I can take 21 Justin Biebers in a fight:

How many Justin Biebers could you take in a fight?
Created by Oatmeal

5 comments:

Tarik Saleh said...

Where is that confounded bridge.

Jason T. Nunemaker said...

Ding ding ding! Tarik wins!

(As a young Zep-obsessed bass player, that sucker was my white whale... and looking at all those time signatures in the wiki, now I know why. John Paul Jones "considers this to be one of his favourite Led Zeppelin songs"? Dude, you have a sick sense of humor.)

ZinkThink said...

Haven't yet seen it in person, but I must confess I love the title of "bifurcated beastie" that you have christened it with. May have to use that in the future... :)

Anonymous said...

That is one of the most confusing Zep songs that I can think of, but I still love it (while some parts still grate on me). Weird. Definitely a J. Page song.

okay, you get extra points for squeezing "bifurcated" into a blog. The real question is: why is that even in your vocabulary??

And back to the subject of the blog.. that's a fine bridge! It's technically a suspension bridge, isn't it? Interesting how the roadway is also in compression, instead of just the arch itself.

Was there much trouble getting the bridge approved? Seems like it would have cost a bit more than a more conventional bridge.

Steve in Peoria

Steve Fuller said...

Steve - That bridge was built with private funds raised through donations.