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Near Infrared: Abandoned Infrastructure

Just a couple typical compositions of abandoned infrastructure, but I hope the choice of wavelength might make them worth sharing. The first is converted to b&w while the second is more or less out-of-the-box tobacco brown. Comments are appreciated, as always.

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Iowa Interstate Railroad in Bureau County, Illinois

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Hennepin Canal in Bureau County, Illinois​

The canal was obsolete shortly after it was completed, but methods of construction originally established here were used later in the building the Panama Canal. The railway was later built along the south edge of the canal. The rails are now rusty, and the poles no longer carry wire.
 

Ruben Alfu

New member
Hello Tom, sorry I cannot comment on the technical side, but I find these two photos very interesting. The first one is so harmonious, and the sinuous railway gives a strong sense of movement. The second one is of special interest for me because the Panama Canal history is a subject that fascinates me, thanks for sharing this important fact.
 
Hello Ruben,

Thank you for your kind comments.

I wish I knew which features here were incorporated in the design of the Panama Canal. No two locks along the length of the Hennepin were quite the same, and some were radically different with various designs of up and downstream gates. It is quite evident that the engineers recognized a great opportunity for experimentation.

There is some variation as well with the design of navigation dams at Midwest rivers:

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Roller gates, typically used along the Mississippi River

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Tainter gates, typically used along the Illinois River​

Regards,

Tom
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Tom,

Lovely shots.

I'm a little confused - the gate shown in the first shot looks to me like a Tainter gate, not a roller gate. Is it possible that this is a roller dam with Tainter gates?

There is often confusion here, since "roller" in "roller dam" has a completely different meaning than "roller" in "roller gate", a problem that is exacerbated since roller dams often (but not always) have roller gates!

Best regards,

Doug
 
Hi Doug,

You may very well be correct. I certainly don't know enough to argue roller vs tainter. Regardless, their outward appearance is certainly different. Mississippi dams rotate something that looks like huge drums, while Illinois River dams rotate something that looks like a simple gate. The distinction may lie below the water.

Do these views help?

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Illinois River dam

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Mississippi River dam​

Tom
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Tom,

Hi Doug,

You may very well be correct. I certainly don't know enough to argue roller vs tainter. Regardless, their outward appearance is certainly different. Mississippi dams rotate something that looks like huge drums, while Illinois River dams rotate something that looks like a simple gate. The distinction may lie below the water.

Looking more closely at the first shot reveals the crux of my confusion.

Traditional roller gates are are cylinders, and are not on pivoting arms, but roll up or down in a "channel" in the abutments.

I can now see in your first shot that, although the gate is on a pivot arm, the gate itself is a cylinder, not a curved shell (as in a Tainter gate).

So the gate is a "roller" (that is, is a cylinder), but it does not "roll". So I guess it is half entitled to be called a "roller gate", and probably has come to be called that by workers in the field,

I don't work in this field at all, so I'm not at all familiar with actual practice.

Best regards,

Doug
 
Hi Doug,

The confusion is likely due to my focus on composition instead of documentation. Sometimes the two work in concert, and sometimes they don't. This is a good example of the latter.

Tom
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Tom,

The confusion is likely due to my focus on composition instead of documentation. Sometimes the two work in concert, and sometimes they don't. This is a good example of the latter.
Well, none of what I said in any way detracts from these wondrous images.

And fortunately neither of us are really qualified to prepare an encyclopedia of dam gate technology!

Best regards,

Doug
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I wonder which, if any of these massive structures dates back to the original mararia-plagued canal dig?

Asher
 
Thanks Asher,

Northwest Illinois is off most folk's path. The area supports agribusiness, namely corn and beef, but the population per square mile is very low compared with the rest of the state. The glaciers of the last ice age were diverted from the region for some reason, so the topography is unique. The result is a beautiful landscape, but one with fairly modest returns on agribusiness investments.

In other words, there's little reason to visit, unless you've got a camera.

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One Lane Bridge​

Timbers bounce as vehicles pass over this old iron and wood bridge spanning two lane stretch of railroad cut into the land early in the previous century. The road connects one rural section with another, but it serves no other purpose.

Tom
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thanks Asher,

Northwest Illinois is off most folk's path. The area supports agribusiness, namely corn and beef, but the population per square mile is very low compared with the rest of the state. The glaciers of the last ice age were diverted from the region for some reason, so the topography is unique. The result is a beautiful landscape, but one with fairly modest returns on agribusiness investments.

In other words, there's little reason to visit, unless you've got a camera.Timbers bounce as vehicles pass over this old iron and wood bridge spanning two lane stretch of railroad cut into the land early in the previous century. The road connects one rural section with another, but it serves no other purpose.


127255396.jpg


Tom Robbins: One Lane Bridge

Tom,

A perfect setting for photography indeed. That bridge works so well in black and white. There's still a lot of detail in the distant sky and curving landscape and doubtless the blacks will be excelent printed.

This certainly seems an interesting place for nature lovers as a lot of otherwise endangered species would vanish there too. I'd think that there are few domestic mice and field mice thrive and so do the raptors. But what about woodpeckers and other birds?

Is this a place where one could hide or the sheriff would notice immediately any stranger or new car! Who does the logging? Is it a seasonal crew and do they replant?

What about wildlife?

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
99202171.jpg

Mississippi River dam​

Tom,

I just like the massive steel forms. Have you converted any of these two B&W? It would seem to be a good candidate. But is there enough structure/texture outside of the steel to make it work? Likely there's more to be revealed in the dark portion of the image.

Asher
 
Asher and John,

Thank you for viewing the bridge and taking the time to comment. This was very much appreciated.

Asher,

I don't believe there's any logging going on in the Northwest corner of Illinois. There may be some selective cutting of the native hardwoods for woodworking and such, but certainly no large scale efforts. With the rolling terrain, cattle is the major concern.

The one lane bridge spanned a deep cut for a railway. The woods along both edges of the cut grow along railroad property, and they aren't particularly deep. They support the usual population of jays, robins, downies, and etc., but are too narrow for others such as pileated woodpeckers. I suspect the area would be great for spring and fall migrating warblers, though I haven't yet been there at those times of the year.

Thanks for the suggestion of b&w versions of the steel structures of the Mississippi River dams. The shadow region in the photo above will be open to direct light during the autumn and winter months, so I'll put your idea on the to-do list.

Tom
 
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