Bridging Tremont

 

© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Image to Enlarge for Slideshow
 

The Cleveland skyline can resemble a string of holiday ornaments even when viewed through a concrete paving machine.  Not long ago this spot was just a mound of fresh dirt.  By late October though traffic will be flowing across this new stretch of I-90 as it bisects Tremont.  This piece of construction equipment is one of many devices being used to build the new Westbound Innerbelt bridge.  
 

Looking East from the Tremont Bluffs on January 10 pier #4 reflects the setting sun on the West bank of the Cuyahoga.  Right behind it you can see pier #5 on the east bank.  It now holds the triangular "delta" steel which is connected to pier #6 behind it.  The delta structures will provide future support of the new roadbed.

This closeup of piers 5 and 6 show detail of the delta steel as it crosses over the Norfolk and Southern rail trestle.

This view shows pier #6 on 10/30/12 with the false ironwork still in place supporting the newly installed delta steel.  The current innerbelt bridge is on the right.

The west end of the bridge will be "landing" in the area previously occupied by Cleveland Cold Storage.  In this 9/7/12 photo you can see the early legs of pier #4 adjacent to the Cuyahoga.  The steel tower at the right marks the Norfolk and Southern RR bridge.

Part of Tremont Bluffs had to be regraded after the Cold Storage foundation was excavated.  Removal of that huge building changed the slope's geography.  It was now possible to create a gentler slope down to the Cuyahoga that would put less pressure on the river bulkheads as well as the bridge piers.

The top pictures shows red sheetpile driven into the earth, almost looking like the back of a pipe organ.  It helps to stabilize the earth around the current Innerbelt bridge.  Drainage was also affected and new sewer conduits were installed as part of the project.

Tremont Bluffs can be seen in the distance through the girders and piers of the current Innerbelt bridge.

Standing at Abbey Avenue you can easily see pier #4 sitting downslope in the foot of the old Cold Storage location.  In this January 2013 picture the pier's top cap forms are still in position.

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church can be seen behind what will become the new I-90 roadway as it comes off the Westbound bridge.

This shot has nothing to do with the Innerbelt Bridge.  I simply post it as a reminder that a wonderful countryside surrounds Cleveland just over the next bridge.  You can see similar views at CVSR's Peninsula railroad station in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Fog On The Cuyahoga - Atmospheric Perspective

© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Images to Enlarge

We get all kinds of weather in Cleveland.  "Lake Effect" can randomly dump snow, deliver rain, and cause fog when least expected.  All this happens downtown and across both eastern and west suburbs.  But the Flats Valley creates it's own atmospheric effects. 

Cold lake water, a warmer river current and Spring showers can create some interesting photo opportunities.  Above, the 620' bulk carrier Mississagi heads out to the lake under a light rain and fog.

Tied up along Columbus Road is the 110' Apalachee.  Built in 1943 she is now a retired U.S. Coast Guard Cutter and one day will become a floating museum.  During her life she performed search and rescue, fire fighting, law enforcement and ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes.  A video of the Apalachee arriving in Cleveland on May 29, 2009 can be seen on Jeff Thoreson's blog here.

I've always tried to imbue my images with a sense of depth.  I want the viewer to feel that the near portions of a landscape are rising up to meet the eye while the far objects are receding into the distance.  This creates the feeling of dimensionality. 

I'm not attempting 3-D or stereoscopic photography. I'm just trying to create a visual experience that goes beyond the flat print hanging on the wall or being viewed on a computer monitor.

The great landscape painters faced a similar challenge long before photography was invented.  How could they represent the real world which has height, width and depth, on a flat two dimensional canvas?  They used a concept we refer to as atmospheric perspective. 

When we gaze out over a landscape, the closer foreground objects are more colorful, sharper in detail and have greater contrast.  Things in the distance are less distinct, fuzzier and the atmosphere may even look hazier.  Our brain and eyes then assemble this information into the three demensional vision of the world we see.

A walk along the Cuyahoga on a foggy day provides great opportunities for this type of photography.  Foreground objects are sharp and bold in their solid relief.  The background fades into a muted distance as colors lose their saturation and become indistinct.  Photographic compostions done under the even lighting of a cloudy day can take on a soft painterly aspect.  This can be a wonderful change from the often razor sharp aspect of today's digital photography.  There are also processing techniques in Photoshop that I use to enhance my artistic interpretations of Flats landmarks. 

A major criticism of digital photography is that often the maker creates photos that are too sharp.  They become harsh in their representation of the world.  This can have it's place depending upon the goal and intent of the photographer.  But too apply this as a broad brush to every image is a mistake.  I use the sharpenning technique sparingly - not every object should jump off the photographic canvas.  I still like to have most of my images look like traditional photographics, pleasing to the eye, and relaxing to view.

Concrete River Bank Anchors on the Cuyahoga

I've often told fellow photographers that much can be learned by walking through a museum's landscape galleries, and studying the great works. Albert Bierstadt is one such artist I've admired. He created such beautiful works as Looking Up Yosemite Valley , Rocky Mountains , and The Oregon Trail . The last is one of my favorites. I've viewed it in the permanent collection of the Butler Institute of American art.  Standing a few feet from this magnificent work it's a sight to behold.

Once the fog burns off you can see an interesting view of the Hart Crane Memorial Park on Columbus Road.  It features interesting metal sculpture inspired by Crane's poetry.  Gene Kangas designed this public art.

This last compostion was made during the 2011 Ingenuity Festival, well above the Cuyahoga.  The weather had been clear and sunny that day in constrast to my fog shrouded compositions. 

The streetcar level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge was open to the public as part of the festival.  I felt the "theater lighting" of the subway arches provided nice framing of the Flat's stacks and other bridgespans against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset.  It's here simply because I feel it's a pretty image.

High Concrete - Capping the Pier

© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Images to Enlarge

Nearly twenty stories up these construction workers don't have time to appreciate the Cleveland skyline.  They are pouring the cap on Pier 5 of the new Innerbelt Bridge. 

Using a hydraulic system they are pumping concrete up into the form that will create the top of the bridge pier.  They must carefully work the concrete into a maze of reinforcing rebar, kneeding and tamping the concrete like a baker, to insure that no air pockets form.  This would weaken cure.

Pier 5 rises from the east bank of the Flats right next to the Cuyahoga.  It's cap is similar to others and will require about 110 truck loads of concrete to fill.  That is 1100 cubic yards.  The black "skirt" hanging from the top cap is an insulation blanket.  It helps the concrete to dry and cure more evenly.

Whenever possible the rebar structures are assembled on the ground.  It's safer and faster to do it this way.  Cranes lift them into the forms.  The workers then anchor them in place and concrete is pumped throughout the structure. 

An extensive array of pipes snakes its way throughout the rebar.  As the concrete is pumped into the form, these pipes will become submerged in that "mud."  Cool water will begin flowing to keep the concrete from getting too hot during the curing process.  After approximately ten days the forms are disassembled and carefully lowered to the ground.

In this picture the Norfolk & Southern railway trestle crosses the river into Tremont on the west bank.  It passes the area previously occupied by Cleveland Cold Storage.

This early morning shot from the west bank shows the hydraulic pump arm injecting concrete into Pier 5.