July 5, 2009
BOOK NOTES: 'Crossings' WV Bridge Book Deserves Wider Circulation; Tamarack, Anyone?
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor/Book Critic
I'm poring over "Crossings: Bridge Building in West Virginia," an oversized, coffee-table book focusing on the bridge building efforts in the Mountain State. It has just received a Crystal Award for Special Publications - Books from the West Virginia-Public Relations Society of America -- deservedly so.
It's a magnificent tribute to the engineering and artistic contributions of the bridge builders in West Virginia. Like architecture, bridge building is a fusion of art and engineering and West Virginia has long been in the vanguard of bridge pioneering. A good example is the Wheeling Suspension bridge, completed in 1849 and rebuilt in 1860 after it collapsed in a May 17, 1854 storm. The bridge furthered the career of John A. Roebling, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge; Roebling correctly analyzed the structure faults of the Wheeling bridge, designed by his rival Charles Ellet Jr.
"Crossings" -- along with the companion hour-long television documentary -- was funded through an FHWA TEA-21 grant, engineered by Terry Lively, a 25-plus year veteran of the West Virginia Department of Transportation's Office of Communications and adjunct professor in the Communications Department at WVSU. It was written by Carol Melling, retired director of public affairs for the WV Division of Highways. Gov. Joe Manchin contributes an introduction.
"This book was a labor of love," said Melling. "It summarizes Highways’ greatest achievements over the 35 years I was privileged to learn from some of the country’s top bridge engineers and historic experts."
Terry Lively and Randall Nichols II edited the book, illustrated by photography by Eric Steele, David Bowen and Lively. The majority of photographs were made by WVDOT photographer, Eric Steele (professional photographers don't TAKE photos; they MAKE them). With over twenty years in photography, Steele brings to life the breathtaking vistas of some of the State’s most monumental bridges discussed in the book. The publisher is listed as Four-Colour Imports Ltd., Louisville, KY, but don't call them for information about buying a copy.
Terry Lively told me the book was distributed to high school libraries throughout the state, but there are no plans to market the book to the general public. I'd like to see the book on the shelves at Tamarack in Beckley, the state's premier tourism gift and art outlet. Maybe a major industry or business in the state could underwrite the cost of printing more copies for sale to the public. It's worth a try. I'm guessing the beautifully printed book would fly off the shelves at Tamarack and other tourism outlets in the state.
Back to the book. It covers all 17 covered bridges in the state -- including the magnificent Philippi structure, a 286-foot, double-barreled bridge built in 1852 for less than $20,000 that was restored in 1991. It spans the Tygart Valley River and the book devotes a lot of coverage to what is probably the best covered bridge in the nation. I've been a fan of covered bridges since I first visited the covered bridge festival in Rockville, Indiana in the early 1960s.
If West Virginia wasn't called the Mountain State, it could easily handle the moniker the Bridge State. The centerpiece, of course, would be the New River Gorge Bridge, the highest in the state, carrying U.S. Highway 19 over the New River.
In addition to extensive coverage of the New River bridge, including photos of Bridge Day, "Crossings" also describes the state's two cable-stayed bridges, the East Huntington Bridge and the Veterans Memorial/Weirton-Steubenville Bridge, both spanning the Ohio River. I can't think of any state that has TWO cable-stayed bridges, a distinctive design that also makes these structures outstanding works of art. (For a comprehensive look at cable-stayed bridges, click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable-stayed_bridge).
The Silver Bridge, crossing the Ohio River and linking Point Pleasant, WV and Gallipolis, OH, is also featured in the book. The work recounts the collapse of the original Silver Bridge on Dec. 15, 1967, which resulted in the deaths of 46 people. The replacement Silver Memorial Bridge was opened two years to the day of the collapse, on Dec. 15, 1969.
"Crossings" has a chapter on temporary bridges and recycled bridges and a progress report on the state's most expensive bridge, the soon-to-be-completed $135 million Blennerhassett Bridge that will carry Corridor D (U.S. 50) across the Ohio River at Parkersburg.
The book has a bibliography and a glossary of bridge-building terminology. If you're a bridge fan like me, this book will send shivers up your spine. Let's hope it will get general audience circulation. At the very least, it should be distributed to all the state's public libraries.
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BOOK NOTES: 'Crossings' WV Bridge Book Deserves Wider Circulation; Tamarack, Anyone?
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor/Book Critic
I'm poring over "Crossings: Bridge Building in West Virginia," an oversized, coffee-table book focusing on the bridge building efforts in the Mountain State. It has just received a Crystal Award for Special Publications - Books from the West Virginia-Public Relations Society of America -- deservedly so.
It's a magnificent tribute to the engineering and artistic contributions of the bridge builders in West Virginia. Like architecture, bridge building is a fusion of art and engineering and West Virginia has long been in the vanguard of bridge pioneering. A good example is the Wheeling Suspension bridge, completed in 1849 and rebuilt in 1860 after it collapsed in a May 17, 1854 storm. The bridge furthered the career of John A. Roebling, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge; Roebling correctly analyzed the structure faults of the Wheeling bridge, designed by his rival Charles Ellet Jr.
"Crossings" -- along with the companion hour-long television documentary -- was funded through an FHWA TEA-21 grant, engineered by Terry Lively, a 25-plus year veteran of the West Virginia Department of Transportation's Office of Communications and adjunct professor in the Communications Department at WVSU. It was written by Carol Melling, retired director of public affairs for the WV Division of Highways. Gov. Joe Manchin contributes an introduction.
"This book was a labor of love," said Melling. "It summarizes Highways’ greatest achievements over the 35 years I was privileged to learn from some of the country’s top bridge engineers and historic experts."
Terry Lively and Randall Nichols II edited the book, illustrated by photography by Eric Steele, David Bowen and Lively. The majority of photographs were made by WVDOT photographer, Eric Steele (professional photographers don't TAKE photos; they MAKE them). With over twenty years in photography, Steele brings to life the breathtaking vistas of some of the State’s most monumental bridges discussed in the book. The publisher is listed as Four-Colour Imports Ltd., Louisville, KY, but don't call them for information about buying a copy.
Terry Lively told me the book was distributed to high school libraries throughout the state, but there are no plans to market the book to the general public. I'd like to see the book on the shelves at Tamarack in Beckley, the state's premier tourism gift and art outlet. Maybe a major industry or business in the state could underwrite the cost of printing more copies for sale to the public. It's worth a try. I'm guessing the beautifully printed book would fly off the shelves at Tamarack and other tourism outlets in the state.
Back to the book. It covers all 17 covered bridges in the state -- including the magnificent Philippi structure, a 286-foot, double-barreled bridge built in 1852 for less than $20,000 that was restored in 1991. It spans the Tygart Valley River and the book devotes a lot of coverage to what is probably the best covered bridge in the nation. I've been a fan of covered bridges since I first visited the covered bridge festival in Rockville, Indiana in the early 1960s.
If West Virginia wasn't called the Mountain State, it could easily handle the moniker the Bridge State. The centerpiece, of course, would be the New River Gorge Bridge, the highest in the state, carrying U.S. Highway 19 over the New River.
In addition to extensive coverage of the New River bridge, including photos of Bridge Day, "Crossings" also describes the state's two cable-stayed bridges, the East Huntington Bridge and the Veterans Memorial/Weirton-Steubenville Bridge, both spanning the Ohio River. I can't think of any state that has TWO cable-stayed bridges, a distinctive design that also makes these structures outstanding works of art. (For a comprehensive look at cable-stayed bridges, click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable-stayed_bridge).
The Silver Bridge, crossing the Ohio River and linking Point Pleasant, WV and Gallipolis, OH, is also featured in the book. The work recounts the collapse of the original Silver Bridge on Dec. 15, 1967, which resulted in the deaths of 46 people. The replacement Silver Memorial Bridge was opened two years to the day of the collapse, on Dec. 15, 1969.
"Crossings" has a chapter on temporary bridges and recycled bridges and a progress report on the state's most expensive bridge, the soon-to-be-completed $135 million Blennerhassett Bridge that will carry Corridor D (U.S. 50) across the Ohio River at Parkersburg.
The book has a bibliography and a glossary of bridge-building terminology. If you're a bridge fan like me, this book will send shivers up your spine. Let's hope it will get general audience circulation. At the very least, it should be distributed to all the state's public libraries.
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