A Child Of Atom

This photo was taken in 1931. It could have been taken yesterday. Well... not yesterday because this bridge was torn down a year or two a go, but it certainly could have been taken during my childhood, which is the point I guess. This bridge crossed Broad River, and connected the two towns on any significance in the county where I grew up. It always seemed an overwhelming structure when I was a kid, so high, and wide, and it marked the mental boundary between home and... out there. Crossing this bridge meant home was near. I've always had a thing for that sort of symbolism. When I lived in Savannah and I would leave town I always went out of my way to cross the Savannah River Bridge on the way back into town, because that meant I was home.

Turns out that this bridge was special after all. It was the last portion of Highway 29 to be built, connecting two major stretches of road. And it was the only bridge in SC built with skewed through truss, an unusual arrangement that you can see in the photo. The amazing things is that this is what it looked like. This photo is such a strong memory trigger for me. You can see more photos of it here. It's gone now, replaced by a simpler, and far less elegant structure, like so much else in the world. But for me, this is what crossing Broad River looks like.