Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.
A large boat coming from lake Michigan passes through a railroad bridge, with a road bridge up ahead. It looks like it’s going to be a squeeze getting the boat through those narrow waterways. I wonder what it’s carrying?
Thanks: Nelson
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I took some ground level shots:...”
He must be going to dock at that island just past the next bridge, he couldn’t possibly navigate that river. At the other end of the river you find some wierd lo-res spots like this…http://maps.google.com/maps?q=st+joseph,+mi&ll=41.935583,-86.335545&spn=0.013708,0.040770&t=k&hl=en
More questions? How does that railway bridge work? Ive never seen a railway bridge that lifts up (or retracts?) like this one appears to.
If you look closely you can see that the roadway pivots on a central support (left side of the ship).
Actually that looks like a barge being pushed by a (barge boat?).
Actually, I think that’s an ore carrier; it’s prolly going to dock on the island and offload its cargo for transport by rail to the steel mills in Gary or elsewhere along the shore.
Thanks William! I dont know of anything similiar in Britain.
Here is another railroad that opens the same way. This one has not been in use for quite some time but they left it open as a “landmark” I guess.
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I submitted it quite a while ago but it was just an open bridge so I don’t think it was interesting enough. I had some ground shots of it to but can’t find them now.
Here’s another similar bridge:
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I’m not sure there are even tracks East of this bridge. I see a train to the West, but if you go East, it looks like the railroad bed isn’t maintained.
Also, upstream a boat that looks way out of place.
We were traveling through Rochester, NY and happened to stop at the park that over looks this boat that delivers concrete to the concrete plant located on the the river.
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I assume it must back out. A bit narrow for a K-turn.
The parking area for the park on the West bank is quite a bit higher than the river, so you get a good view.
JMjr
Those poor trucks to the west look stranded with the track lifted to the west and the east.
They were probably shunted into a siding years ago and forgotten about and now they cant be shifted because there is no track on either side. There seems to have been lots of rail activity in these parts at one time but now all sadly gone.
This bridge is located in Grand Haven, Michigan. The bridge actually rotates 90 degress to allow a boat/ship to pass. Its actually pretty cool though it is very old.
Whoa, cool. I was searching for cool boat pictures, and came stumbled upon the site.
Actually this bridge is in St. Joe MI. Its an old swingway bridge from around the turn of the century approx 1911. It swings from the middle, but doesnt lift up, it just locks inplace. Serveral trains a day pass over the bridge. The boat is a Tug/Barge combination, which is basically a ship that has a detachable tug boat. They are becoming popular on the great lakes, probably owned by Lafarge. Its delivering limestone or sand to the large silos just ahead of it on the north side of the river to make concrete. The harbor is pretty hard to navigate beyond this point.
J Wire has it correct. The bridge is in St. Joseph, MI (the link from the picture even says so) and it’s an awesome bridge. The entire span is balanced on the one central pivot point, and to see/hear it turn is quite the site. You can hear the gears whirring and just imagine how scary it must be for the operator inside the tiny house on the middle of the bridge to watch it swivel around.
Here is another swingway bridge, this one in Middletown Ct, no longer in use I believe.
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