Redding CA.
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click photo to enlarge |
This is the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding. It is a
unique design in that is does not touch the water so that it does not upset the
spawning grounds of the salmon below the bridge. The tower of the bridge forms
what is called the gnomon of the sundial. The shadow falls on a large sundial
to the north end of the bridge. |
click photo to enlarge |
The bridge is help up by 4,342 feet of cables. What I found interesting is
the cables are so heavy they actually sag under their own weight. The bridge
deck is made of translucent glass and is lit up at night. The bridge spans
the Sacramento river and you can see Mount Shasta to the north. |
click photo to enlarge |
It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2004 at a cost of
$23,500,000. The original budget for the bridge was only $2 million. The
tip of the shadow moves at approximately one foot per minute so that the
Earth's rotation about its axis can be seen with the naked eye |
click photo to enlarge |
click photo to enlarge |
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