Courtesy Deborah Crawford
I am not actually in Madison this Monday, but I’m still enjoying watching the old Madison-Milton bridge being slowly dismantled. June has been a rather travel-heavy month for me. First Oklahoma and now North Carolina, where I’m perfecting the fine art of sitting on a porch. It’ll take at least a week.
Meanwhile, back in Madison, they’re slowly but surely dismantling the old bridge. If you haven’t checked out the videos, you should. If you’re there, take your binoculars down to the riverside. It’s always fascinating to watch heavy steel beams swinging by a crane above the river. They are the things that have supported us for years as we went back and forth over the bridge, and now there they are, suspended in the air.
As an act of destruction, watching the bridge being taken apart is both exciting and sad. It’s always a little exciting to watch shit be torn apart. We all have that five year old child inside us who squealed with delight at knocking over the pile of blocks. Dismantling the bridge is a little more controlled, but it resonates in the same way.
It’s also a little sad. As they tear up the concrete, the huge jackhammers take the ground out from underneath us. The solid substance that allowed us to cross the river is gone. The new bridge will be better, and in fact, more solid beneath us. But the old bridge was, well, the old bridge. It is a slow saying good-bye, rather than an all at once explosion. Definitely worth watching.
Links to videos of bridge demolition:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=469986349738151
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=470002586403194
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