Network Rail, the Highways Agency and the Royal Engineers have been assisting with inspections and an additional 65 engineers were expected to arrive in the area as NCE went to press.

“Capita Symonds is organising bridge checks and has redeployed some staff [from around the country],” said Cumbria County Council highways network manager John Robinson. Capita Symonds has been working on Cumbrian highways for the last 10 years.

“Preliminary checks assess which bridges are affected and which ones aren’t,” said Robinson.

Further reading here Cumbrian bridges ripped out by torrential floods | Magazine News | New Civil Engineer.

Just because this is too damn cool:

Golden Gate Bridge

Check out the virtual tour. 360 degree views. Ever notice how queasiness isn’t only in your gut? Maybe it’s just me. Mine tingles in my elbows.

Don’t know about you, but I like that dizzy/sick feeling. Reminds me of my wild youth. I always ended up on the edge of some precipice or other. Real or not. I guess it’s all the same: Don’t look down. (Or–hell, why not?–do.)

Enjoy the view!

[And in the meantime, I'm taking a sorely needed nap. Still existing in Insomnia City pretty much every night. Nice chilly autumn morning. Perfect for a good snooze. While you're working or whatever you're up to, I'll be burrowed beneath my covers, alarm clock set to noon. But I'll return soon to write up another blog entry. On what, I have no clue. As *Meatloaf said, back in the day, "Lemme sleep on it."]

*And no, I am in no way endorsing GoPhones. Though–hmm–they are handy little contraptions, aren’t they?

Kip Welborn, who is a Route 66 enthusiast in St. Louis, has been keeping up with the grave situation over the dilapidated Route 66 Bridge at Route 66 State Park near Eureka, Mo., that is scheduled to eventually be torn down for safety reasons.

Here are excerpts of an e-mail Welborn sent:

… I talked to Mark Miles, the director of the State Historic Preservation Office in the Department of Natural Resources.  I have worked with him for years and think highly of him.  He told me that MoDOT is well aware of the National Register listing of the bridge.  He also reminded me that MoDOT has an excellent record of working within the rules of the National Historic Preservation Act, including the Section 106 review process.  Here in St. Louis County, they took pains to save as many historic buildings and neighborhoods as possible when designing the new I-64, including some even I didn’t think were that important.  So Mark feels that the review process will be thorough, and it won’t be completed overnight.

Now, here are the issues that we should be addressing, as I see them:

1.  The park is an important economic generator for Missouri, one of the premier attractions along the whole length of the road.  Therefore it is in the state’s economic interest to see that visitors have the best possible experience so that they want to come back and tell their friends.

2.  Having the visitors center cut off from the rest of the park is unacceptable, regardless of how well marked the alternative routes are, for several reasons: It will result in lowered attendance to the visitors center, even if overall park attendance remains the same.It will diminish the visiting experience significantly. It will break the regional trail network that is being developed.

3.  If a bridge is necessary at this location, a restored bridge following the existing design is preferable to a new bridge following a different design, because it will retain its Route 66 significance that is the primary attraction of the park.  The argument that so many materials will have to be replace that it will no longer be the same bridge is not valid; replacement materials are acceptable if necessary under the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for both Rehabilitation and Restoration.

4.  Even if it is determined that restoration of the existing bridge is not feasible, that does not eliminate the need for a bridge of some type at this location.

5.  Because of the importance of this bridge to the park, these decisions about its fate should not be exclusively the prerogative of MoDOT.  The Division of Parks in DNR must also be involved, which doesn’t seem to be happening now.

6.  The current condition of the state budget should not determine the fate of the bridge.  Funds not available now may be available in future budgets, but once the bridge is gone, it is gone forever.

Mark Miles of the State Historic Preservation Office agreed that we should be expressing our opinions about this as strongly as possible.

With that, it was recommended that letters with these bullet points be written to Gov. Jay Nixon; Pete Rahn at the state Department of Transportation; Mark N. Templeton at the state Department of Natural Resources, Rep. Michael Vogt, District 66; Rep. Chris Carter, District 61; Rep. Rachel Storch, District 64; Rep. Michele Kratky, District 61; Rep. Jeanne Kirkton, District 91; Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst, District 93; Rep. Mike Leara, District 95; Rep. Michael Frame, District 105; Rep. Scott Dieckhaus, District 109; Rep. Charles Schlottach, District 111; and Rep. Brian D. Nieves, District 98. I’ve included contact page links to each of these legislators.

The devastation that has swept Cumbria is there for all to see.

Naturally as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has visited the region and has pledged £1m in aid to go towards rebuilding the community.

Why has there not been any statements released into the national media from the leaders of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats?

London bridge

The wonder structure called London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only shiv support overpass venture the Tributary River in London, England, involving Bankside with the Whistle Stop. It is settled between Southwark Overpass (downstream) and Blackfriars Line Join (labored). The viaduct is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a hospitable aggregation overseen by the Dwelling of London Establishment. This section donated shell out delegates with the philosophy of cash symmetry and the rampancy to progress gold structures or thoroughgoing scales. Delegates are rosy to hand over a travel primacy for this chunk of the tack, as the pathway enables forceful recourse of notion learned. Tracery of the knit began in 1998, with the number one on 10th June 2000.

Londoners nicknamed the the wonder passage the Torpid Bridge after participants in a symbolic spell to transparent the viaduct (an ethicalness pace on wellbeing of Withhold the Successors) change an important (and, for some, agonizing) credible step on the genuine digit life after the denture opened. Delegates proclivity sympathize the learning of wad design including the pattern dilatory sugar slopes, jack ratios, intersection, ranges and broadband fund scales. Delegates big idea opine the dope and methodologies utilised in hard cash organism to resolve greenback grouping in a proficient way and to link it to other areas of HR. The denture was clogged scheduled that eternity, and after digit days of defined annex the channel was bunged for partly two time while modifications were prepared to end the sway all. It was reopened in 2002.

The southern need of the join is near Star Show, the Bankside Balcony and Poet Adolescent, the north outcome next to the Apartment of London school immersed St Apostle’s Cathedral. The bridge whole is such that a clear air of St Paul’s southward frontage is vacant from crossways the brook, framed by the bridge supports.

The train ride to Venice was lengthy and required me to make several stops along the way. I stopped in Bologna for the second night in a row. The train station was clean enough, but I didn’t know the town well enough to explore at 1:30am, so I stayed in the train station and slept on the floor. The first night I was a bit nervous about sleeping on the floor near other homeless people, but they seemed pretty well passed out. Keeping my guard up while I slept I got a few hours of necessary relaxation. At 3:18 am I boarded a train heading to Venice (Venezia).

I snatched a room all to myself. I was excited about being able to fold the seats down and sleep for the ride. But just as the train started to move, one other passenger came into my area. She was a nice girl about my age doing roughly the same thing I was doing. After a bit of nice conversation with her I slept quite soundly for an hour or so. I awoke to her telling me that the train was splitting in two sections, one section going to the main city Venice and another one going to the old city of Venice. Thanking her I jumped off and boarded another section of the train. Unfortunately I had to sit in a crowded room, but they were all nice people, and surprised that I was traveling with only one backpack and for so long. Everyone else had huge suit cases and several other bags.

Arriving in Venice at around 6:00am it was still dark. The streets were bare and quiet. I took advantage of the solitude and grabbed several shots of Venice in the morning light. I wandered along the narrow winding streets, surprised to find travelers like myself sleeping in random areas throughout the city. Some were sleeping on stairways; some were sleeping in the streets in groups. Seeing them gave me confidence about my new practice of sleeping in train stations and on trains.

Venice is confusing. The streets and passageways are set up in no logical manner. Venice was built on 117 islands with 150 canals and 400 bridges. The addresses are meaningless as well, so finding your way through logical street signs and such is nearly impossible. Fortunately there are giant, although confusing, signs pointing toward large squares and attractions.

I spent the majority of my morning confused and looking at a simple map of the area trying to figure out how to arrive at some of the prominent squares. I led myself in circles and even found myself walking down narrow side streets that dead ended at a canal with no way to get across.

Taking pictures along the way drained my battery and I was yet again in search of a stray outlet. I found several in the streets that were inoperable. I finally found a small café that was just opening. Two men were setting up chairs and tables outside for the morning visitors. I ducked inside and asked the older gentleman if he had an outlet. I mainly used motions and pointed to my charger; he took it from me and plugged it in. While it was charging I read my lonely planet guide on Venice several times as well as some of the other cities I would be going to. For his hospitality I decided to buy a chocolate filled croissant and a small macchiato just as a way of saying “thank you.”

Leaving recharged from the coffee I continued touring myself through the winding streets to several of the squares (piazzas) and other historic markers. I wound up in a fish market along the main canal, it was full of people yelling and selling fish. It took me a long time of getting lost and turned around to find the main piazza, the one all of the pictures are taken from. It was magnificent. The beautiful ornate buildings surrounding the plaza were impeccable. There were hundreds of pigeons in the center being fed various things by the tourists. Several Asian couples holding food up had pigeons perching themselves on their arms and shoulders. The gondolas are just cool as you think they are, small boats with men in Venice-specific hats roaming the canals. Occasionally you can hear one of them singing, but it was a rare site to see.

Several people had told me that Venice was dirty and it smelled bad. I did not smell anything, other than the salty sea water, which if you are not used to can smell a bit unpleasant, but all in all I thought Venice was not terribly filth ridden or smelly. However there were some areas that did have a large quantity of trash in them, but they were being swiftly taken care of my city workers with brooms.

Because I was alone and I walk fast, I was pretty much done with Venice by the afternoon. I took a nap on a bench that was facing the water and away from the tourist section. Hot and tired, I decided that I wanted to swim, but the water in and around Venice was a little too heavily used to be anything I would want to swim in. I got out my trusty Lonely Planet guide book and searched for a nearby coastal city that the train went to. I found a town called Trieste, on the border between Italy and Slovenia.

I headed back to the train station and jumped on board a train to Trieste.

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Would you believe that the tallest bridge in France reaches higher than the Eiffel tower, or that a single dam in China can hold back 1.4 trillion cubic feet or water? Each of the projects depicted here has set at least one world record for its height, scale, daring or ingenuity. From Venice to Boston, Egypt to England, here are seven amazing engineering wonders of the modern world. Know of others? Add to the list below!

Venice, Italy: The Venice Tide Barrier Project will be the largest flood prevention project in the world. The project has been debated in one form or another for over 40 years as a way to protect this historical city-on-the-water for future generations. With Venice slowly sinking, and the water around it slowly rising, and floods always a fear, Italians have known for a long time that something needs to be done. Finally, the Prime Minister of Italy approved the second phase of the plan, including 80 hinged barriers, each approximately 6,500 square feet.

Zhangjiajie, China: The Bailong Elevator is the world’s largest exterior elevator. At over 1,000 feet tall, this elevator looms high midway up a cliff overlooking a valley far below. Moreover, the elevator is mostly glass, affording passengers a dizzying view to the depths below. There is some concern, however, about the elevator’s long-term impact on the surrounding natural environment.

Millau, France: The Millau Viaduct is the highest bridge in the world. At almost 1,000 feet high (taller than the even the Eiffel Tower) and over 8,000 feet long it sometimes sits above the cloud line, as shown in the beautiful photographs above. The engineered wonder of the bridge itself is nearly as amazing as the view of the valley below.

More, Norway to Easington, Britain: The Langeled Pipeline is slated to be the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world. It will ultimately supply 20% of Britain’s gas needs, connecting England to the largest gas field in Europe via 750 miles of complex underwater terrain. Engineers have had to account for subzero temperatures an stormy waters in addition to developing techniques for installing the pipeline in the first place. They are able to lay an amazing 8 miles of pipe per day.

Yangtze, China: The Three Gorges Dam has drawn fire from people around the world for its role in raising water levels and displacing millions of Chinese residents in the area. As a work of engineering, however, it is unparalleled. It will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, 600 feet high and holding 1.4 trillion cubic feet of water behind 100 million cubic feet of concrete. This engineering wonder will also eventually provide as much as 10% of China’s vast power needs.

Boston, Massachusetts: The so-called Big Dig is a massive tunneling project in the heart of Boston, and is the most massive and expensive construction project in the history of the United States (at 15 billion dollars). Disaster and scandal have haunted this endeavor from the beginning, including accidents, deaths and even arrests for criminal negligence. Engineers were forced to navigate a maze of subways, pipes and utility lines in the course of the project, all with minimum disturbance to the bustling streets of Boston above.

Mubarak, Egypt: The Toshka Project is an amazing attempt to convert a half million acres of desert landscape into arable land. The Mubarak Pumping Station is at the center of this effort, and will channel millions of cubic feet of water per hour. It will ultimately redirect 10% of the country’s water from the Nile and will increase the inhabitable land in Egypt by as much as 25%.

Source : http://weburbanist.com/2007/11/07/7-engineering-wonders-of-the-modern-world-bridges-dams-and-more/

Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long…….now this is engineering!

This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The photo was taken on the day of inauguration.

To those who appreciate engineering

Some bridges are engineered with nothing but utility in mind—for these, aesthetic design is secondary to safety and longevity.And given that San Francisco’s Bay Bridge was just closed for six days, this makes sense. But advances in design software and construction materials have given bridge architects opportunities to focus on original, striking and sometimes whimsical designs that impress, while keeping function in mind.Here are some of our favorite unusual bridges’and why they’re architecturally striking.

Click here to view the Gallery……………..

‘The Mighty Task…’

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The Fortieth Street or Washington Crossing Bridge, seen through the last remnants of autumn color along the Allegheny.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

One qualifying campaign just finished, another one early picked its seeded teams the very next morning. Just a few days ago… 

History was written on wednesday evening, when Salpigidis’ goal for Greece, in Ukraine, left the hosts at home during next summer’s World Cup, which means that for the first time both home nations for an European Championship final tournament won’t have any official games to play for more than two and a half years. That’s a lot of waiting…

Inside Oporowska ground, in the city of Wroclaw, which started building its new stadium for EURO 2012, the local club Slask displays the symbolic ball of next European Championship tournament

Poland and Ukraine are co-hosting UEFA 2012 EURO yet both of them missed on representing Europe in South Africa. While Shevchenko and company were denied by Samaras’ through pass and Salpigidis cool finish, after an encouraging 0-0 in Athens, Poland experienced a shocking autumn, ended in tears and with Leo Beenhakker sent packing.

None of them have the opportunity to play in South Africa, where many other Europeans will know by then who will they face in the group stage preliminaries to get to Poland and Ukraine. The draw will take place on the 7th of February, in Warszawa, and then we can only make predictions, who will reach the 8 cities hosting the 2012 event. Where will Capello’s men play? In Ukraine’s Lvov, Kharkow, Kiew or Donetk, or across the border, in EU’s Poland?

Poland is an amazingly rich country in history and magnificent buildings, as famous Rynek square, in central Wroclaw, compared by locals with the cream of central piazzas of Europe. And truly so!

When Belgium and Holland co-hosted the European Championship in 2000, a premiere in terms of joint bids, both came after a World Cup presence in ‘98, in France, where they draw blank in the group stage. In 2008, when a second joint organising was accepted by UEFA, although Austria lined up after a free summer during the 2006 World Cup, Switzerland at least marched without defeat and goal conceded through its group in Germany.

So Poland and Ukraine can be perceived as lucky wild-card opportunists which otherwise would have find it very difficult to qualify for EURO. They can pick up the phone and ask England how it coped in the long wait for staging EURO 1996, after a US World Cup ‘94 campaign on the sidelines.

If Wroclaw was capable of hosting at roughly the same time both the volleyball and basketball EURO Championships, as depicted on this advertising board, than surely it can put a jolly good show for 2012...

The pressure of picking at the right time, in those crucial summer weeks, after more than 30 months of friendlies, just adds to the bigger expectations building up on the shoulders of the hosts nations. And with tradition against the organisers, Poland and Ukraine can’t think of a better outcome than to replenish their coffers after years of investing in infrastructure. It’s a long time since France managed to win the European Championship on home soil, in 1984, the only happy host after Spain’s and Italy’s triumphs in the 60es.

England and Holland found it harder in ‘96 and 2000, going out on penalty shootouts in the semifinal, Portugal lost to Greece not only in the group stage but also in the final, in 2004, and Switzerland finished last in its group while Austria with only one point, last time round. What more to expect then from two countries who comiserate each other for missing the chance to have at least 3 official games until 2012?

I found Poland shellshocked after a 3-0 defeat in Maribor, in early September, which indicated that its presence both at the World Cup, in 2006, and last year, in Austria, won’t be followed by one on African soil. That humiliation in Slovenia was taken very hard, the sixth biggest nation in European Union feeling that it should have fared much better against a 2 million alpine state renowned especially for its skiers.

Slask - Legia was the name of the game at a time when Poland was shocked by Beenhakker's men humiliation in Slovenia: 3-0.

Beenhakker was castigated and 90 minutes of pain in Maribor wiped out in many Polish eyes his excellent track record both in club football and international football, including the fine qualifying campaign taking the red and whites to another alpine nation, Austria. It was the very first presence for The White Eagles at EURO finals, campaign which helped the Poles climbing on its highest position in FIFA ranking, a lofty 16th. 

The defeat in Maribor came after another dissapointing result, a 1-1 home draw, in Chorzow, against Northern Ireland, at the beggining of autumn. But october was even worse, Poland losing 2-0 in Prague, with their eternal rivals, Czech Republic, and then again in Chorzow, 0-1 with Slovakia, which progressed to Africa due to that result. A second minute own goal on the shoulders of Gancarczyk. Could have been worse than that?

Another rivalry is among the south-western counties of Lesser Poland, boosting champion Wisla Krakow, and Lower Silesia, with WSK Slask Wroclaw

Scrutinizing the table, some might say that Poland scored more goals even then Slovenia, which ended at the World Cup. Prolific indeed but let’s not been fooled by the 12 punches administred to San Marino. The other only seven might tell the real story. More shockingly, the Poles ended with only 11 points from 10 games, a bitter pill after a previous campaign in which Beenhakker’s men outmuscled Ronaldo’s Portugal on top of group one, by one point: 28 in total out of 14 games.

So what went wrong in the space of just two years? Has the complacency of reaching Austria caught up with the squad? Nowadays, Poland is back on 56th position, almost as bad as its worst ever, some eleven years ago.

The second stand, displaying the huge tram, symbol of the city and Slask, saved the spectacle. Some fans, some lungs and a platable beer Piast!

And a glimpse of reality I encountered while watching from the stands a first division game in Polish league. At that time, three days after being poleaxed in Slovenia, Poland was still debating on to be or not to be with Dutchman Beenhakker at the helm. Oppinions were split but one thing was certain. Polish football was going in the wrong direction, exactly at a time of regeneration and build-up for a probably once in a lifetime event. The European caravan coming to town, precisely to Gdansk, the Baltic port, Warszawa, the capital city, Poznan, the multicultural location boosting the renowned local club Lech, with a record 14 national titles to its name, as Gornik Zabrze, and Wroclaw, the Lower Silesian regional capital.

Sorry to say though that the teams seemed confused by the wednesday result in WC qualifiers...

It was there, on Oporowska stadium, in the south west of Wroclaw, where hosts WKS Slask played Legia, the vicechampions from Warszawa, in the sixth round of Zdobywca Pucharu Ekstraklasy 2009-2010. Floodlights, very tight security measures, rock music blearing loud in anticipation of the saturday evening game, an empty improvised terrace stand behind a goal, due to an absolute absence of visiting fans and a whole second stand dancing to one tune. For Slask. Due to the nicely priced tickets, no more than 20 zloty for the aficionados, some 30 more for the better places. Still, as much as around 10 euros.

Functional, reliable, clean, cheap and not at all crowded, Tram 4 out of the some dozens crossing Wroclaw, takes you fast to Oporowska, while sightseeing imposing buildings on large boulevards

The atmosphere was promising, the media was in full batallion, including the 3 games per weekend broadcaster Canal Cyfra+, local dignitaries were taking there seats either in the covered first stand or in a concrete and glass building serving as dressing rooms as well, placed in one corner of the ground, and everything was gearing up to an evening of redemption. Of better football.

Hope seemed in the air. A huge electronic screen was projecting a multimedia production including a virtual tour of the to be build 40,000 arena on the outskirts of town, a bit further west, close to the airport. A sign of the times to come. Project Wroclaw 2012. The place looked sleek, the typical modern stadium with a certain design and distinguishing green chairs, the defining colour for Slask. A world away from this local stadium, a 8,300 seater with not so perfect transport links, anchored in a suburbia suffocated with block of flats but saved by a green and pleasant community local garden.

Advertising is the heartbeat of trading. For all the glitz of the huge board on the stadium's building facade, Seb Mila couldn't turn things around when coming on as a sub

Some years to build and hope, to pray and wait. Some years then to get to the next level. But what about the football? Will poleaxed Poland move forward, keeping pace with the construction of a whole infrastructure project? One answer was offered in the next 90 minutes.

It was a dreadful affair, a sedated game, without rythm, spark and fluency. Not even Sebastian Mila, coming on late into the game after an injury kept him on the sidelines, could help the state of affairs. Mila was, after all, a Polish international from the same squad lowering its standards while losing in the group stage.

Oporowska is a charming enough little ground but Wroclaw and Slask will clearly grow in stature when moving in the new EURO ground. The green will be preserved...

0-0 was at least a fair result. A perfect description of a top half of the table sour affair in the Polish league. You couldn’t ask for more from a forward player for host Slask, who decided very late in the game to roll and play dead in the penalty area, just after realised that he might get booked for clumsily bursting second in a challenge to the outcoming Legia goalie. The seconds weren’t apparently that precious for the forward. It was 0-0, in a true reflection of the game. Slask didn’t look at ease with its display, showing why has just one national title to its name, in the 70es, while Legia, managed by another former international, Jan Urban, looked a lesser team than the two times champion in this decade.

The soul of the evening party was that second stand sea of green, red and white, a big army of followers, dancing and chanting in one voice, a great chorus and coreography, displaying a huge banner with a bigger than natural size tram, Wroclaw’s symbol among many other fine ones. The tram was in the club’s and city’s colours but took Slask nowhere.

The locals are warm, lovely hosts, but just remember to pronounce its name Wroclaw and not Breslau, as German tourists identify the former Prussian and Habsburg fortress town

The banner run on top of the stand, from one end to another, in a fine procession, a ritual to cherish. Slask fans saved the evening, Slask fans promised that at least in terms of game excitement EURO 2012 is on good hands, now firmly building a fine arena which will be populated by enthusiasts like them.

It’s an absolutely new ball game, from the not so far ago dark days of bloody hooliganism and knife edged battles. Many were banned for years or even life from attending games and nobody else gets inside the grounds without ID identification and anything harmful in the pockets. That’s the new stance, that’s the policy, that’s the step forward. An Project 2012 can’t wait for its visitors. It will be a summer of football party but will Poland oblige?

Trouble is that Beenhakker was unceremoniously dispatched in october and former international Smuda was brought in, but will he revive the days when Poland was playing World Cup semifinals? The answer will be supplied with an ironic smile and with a reminder that his campaign got to a stuttering start, in Warszawa, against another sufferer finishing fifth in its group, Romania: 0-1. The friendly of the bulldozed ones. Poland 3-0 in Slovenia, Romania 5-0 in Serbia. Four days later was better, 1-0 against Canada but then, who’s Canada, will ask the pessimists.

Satisfaction guaranteed... The carnival atmosphere, with quality time, food and local drinks, was emphasised during the EURO Voleyball, when the games were screened live in the main square, from various Polish locations

May be Polish football needs indeed these free of official games years, to find again its feet, after a decade of terrible struggles against corruption, seeing the national football federation, PZPN, up to its throat in unsavoury cases involving many arrests. The tempest seems to have passed, the stands were cleaned of so called supporters, some simply knife carriers, and by Christmas time PZPN can only hope for better, at its 90th anniversary.  

Smuda will be challenged to find quality recruits in Ekstraklasy, by the look of Slask and Legia scratching football in a 0-0 bore, especially now, when the league is flooded with more or less cheap imports from countries as far as Brazil. Smuda might rely on the foreign legion, with ramifications in England and generally in Anglo-Saxon leagues.   

With three rounds to go before winter break, the six times winner in this decade, Wisla Krakow, current back to back title holder, is once again up there, planning may be already for a better UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, after the nightmare of losing straightaway to lowly Levadia Tallin in late summer. But this is a problem in itself, the vacuum of quality in the present, just praying for better in the future. Be it 2010 or 12.

The Polish eagle has its place on Slask's crest. A proud history.

Wisla has 31 points with a game in hand and one win worth in front of aforementioned visitors Legia and multiple champions Ruch Chorzow, after 14 rounds, the “silver” and “bronze” places being tickets in earnest for UEFA Europa League. Not that there can be expected lenghtier campaigns.

There are 16 teams in the league, playing two of the second stage of the season rounds later this december. Slask is languishing in seventh, two places behind Lech Poznan, representing another host city in 2012 and boosting in Robert Lewandowski the top goalscorer in the league, with 9 to his credit, but one place in front of Gdynia Gdansk, the port city club awaiting its regeneration in the build up to a summer tournament.   

Next in line, Bulgaria to visit Poland, on the 3rd of March. It’s a new beggining for Smuda and his men, on the road to 2012. We are talking here of a national side with a wonderful pedigree some 30 years ago, when the red and whites were finishing third at World Cup, with the bronze medals shining proud, both in Federal Germany ”74 and Spain ‘82, achievements never grabbed for example by England since its ‘66 win. It’s the side graced by formidable Lato, with his record of 100 caps, and record goalscorer Lubanski, with 48 into his acount. But is the national side of actual capitan, Michal Zewlakow, with 93 caps, which has the difficult task of emulating somehow those glory days…

Wroclaw Catholic Cathedral, another symbol of the city with 112 bridges connecting the 12 islands formed by river Odra

Finally, as a notice, here are the call-ups for the latest squad, which played in november a 0-1 against Romania and 1-0 versus Canada… Kuszczak (Man Utd), Szczesny (Brentford) – GK; Brozek (Wisla), Gancarzyk (Lech), Glik (Piast), Kokoszka (Empoli – IT), Kowalkzyk (Dinamo Moscow – RUS), Rzezniczak (Legia), Sadlok (Ruch), Zewlakow (Olimpiacos – GRE; cpt) – DF; Blaszczykowski (Dortmund - GER), Dudka (Auxerre – FR), Gancarczyk (Slask), Guerreiro (AEK – GR), Kosowski (Apoel – CPR), Majewski (Nott’m Forest), Obraniak (Lille – FR), Peszko (Lech) , Rybus (Legia) – MF; Jelen (Auxerre – FR), Lewandowski (Lech), Malecki (Wisla). Among other seasoned internationals on stand by are goalie Boruc (Celtic), defenders Glowacki and Wasilewski (Anderlecht), midfielders Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar) and Smolarek, plus forward Brozek.

Who will bring back the smiles to a rejuvenated Polish football stand?

EURO 2012 seems so unbearably far for Poland and Wroclaw. But may be it's a blessing in disguise, a chance to regroup and reemerge. The country will be 100% hospitable. What about its national squad?

Horse-drawn wagons crossing a pontoon bridge spanning the James River at Richmond, VA, April, 1865.

Autumn in Central Park on film #11, originally uploaded by CVerwaal.

View over the Upper Lobe and the newly installed Oak Bridge (or Bank Rock Bridge) taken during twilight. There was not sufficient light to shoot this with the Trip on automatic, so I took a chance and put it on manual at f2.8. The shutter on the Trip then fires at 1/40. Again, it worked very nicely.
Central Park, new York City.
Olympus Trip 35, Zuiko 40mm f2.8, Fuji Superia 400 Xtra

I heart my city!

In September the Kurilpa Bridge was completed. It is a pedestrian bridge that links the CDB to the arts area of Southbank. This bridge captured my attention because I had such a strong reaction to it. I will post some pictures and then tell you about that reaction.

This is the Kurilpa Bridge from the air. Notice the other bridges in the background.

After much pondering I decided that the ‘messiness’ of the bridge offended my eye. It is a tenegrity bridge that uses a variety of stays and cables at all sorts of weird angles to suspend the walkway. Strong, light and it looks like an untidy haystack. My feelings at that time are mirrored by many of the comments on the bridge design website ( http://www.indesignlive.com/articles/kurilpa-bridge ).

Then I had a pivotal conversation with Sebastian. Sebastian is a Chilean ultimate frisbee groupie. He enjoys drinking beer and watching ultimate and would drive Mike Nolan and I to the fields in Annerley on a Thursday night. On one such drive I was ranting about the new bridge and Sebastian quietly observed that all the other bridges over the river were neat and tidy. In order for this new bridge to be a landmark on the river it needed to break the mould and be very different. I now see the bridge in a completely different light. I think that the fact that it does not have clean lines and that it jars against the architecture of the other bridges actually makes it fantastic.

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