Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/07/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I went and looked at some pictures - amazing stuff. What interests me in this, and what caught my eye in Graham's picture (why I asked the date) is how well structures from the early days of modular iron construction (pre-steel) have held up, not just as feats of engineering, but in the beauty of the design esthetic. It looks very different from everything that came afterward. --- Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin@optonline.net> wrote: > > On Jul 10, 2007, at 6:30 AM, H. Ball Arche wrote: > > > 200 years? Not that big a deal. > > Check out Pont du Gard: > > http://tinyurl.com/3xqhnl > > Obviously the Romans were better engineers than the > Brits. > > But given early 1800's technology, Thomas Telford > was a pretty > remarkable builder. Many of his structures are still > in regular use > today carrying modern traffic. A couple of blocks > away from my house > in Wales, the Telford constructed Menai Bridge spans > the Menai > Strait. The bridge was the world's first major > suspension bridge and > offered a land route from the port where the Irish > ferries docked to > England. The bridge was designed when horseback, > wagons, and shoe > leather were the major forms of transportation. It > is still one of > only two bridges crossing the Menai Strait and is in > regular use for > cars, trucks and town busses. I commuted to work > over it every day. > Most of Telford's old structures have outlasted > their contemporary > rivals. > > Sad to say, that may be true of photographic > equipment too. They > don't build them like they used to. Maybe if the > Romans had invented > photography we might still be using their concrete > cameras. As it is, > my favorite Leica is a mere 70 years old. My first > digital Leica > failed after three years. > > Larry Z > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for > more information > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545469