The shape of things to come?

Last night I was scanning my news feed on my phone and I saw a tantalizing link that really piqued my curiosity. I clicked on it but to my dismay I was unable to open the page and view it. However, I knew that I could do a search on my computer and hopefully come up with this news article that way. And so I did just that, and I was quickly able to find what I had been looking for. I found this one picture by doing an image search, but there were some other things I discovered that I also found to be most curious. The imagine in question wasn’t really what I had thought it might be, though considering the expected time scale I would have been surprised if it was. This was a drawing of the proposed new Key Bridge, complete with dimensions. It was overlaid on to an image of the old bridge to show the difference in size between the two spans. Naturally this was nothing more than speculation, presented by the state, although the dimensions of the new monster will be very close to what is proposed. Given that the contractor that has been hired to replace the bridge has yet to even begin demolishing the remains of the fallen one, I expect it will be sometime before they come up with a design proposal. Even so, this preliminary sketch does show how the new span will exceed its predecessor in length and height. These figures would make it one of the tallest bridges to be found in any US port, even surpassing the Golden Gate Bridge by a few feet.

However eye catching this rendering initially was to me, it was actually some other images that caught my attention. If you do a search for “Francis Scott Key Bridge” you will get plenty of pictures of the wreckage, and some of the bridge before it was destroyed, as well as various photos from news articles. But there were other images of all sorts of merchandise, such as t-shirts, depicting the metal monster in all of its former glory. Most were accompanied by the phrase “Baltimore Strong” as well as other text. While I’ve never (save for that Key Bridge bumper sticker with the same phrase I saw here in town this past summer) seen anyone displaying or wearing such designs, I would imagine that some of this gear must be selling as there appears to be even more of it available now.

It is this aspect of such a bridge that fascinates me to no end, perhaps even more so than the mysteries and motivations of those who jump. Logically a bridge should be no more significant than any other stretch of road, as the Key Bridge formed only a small portion of the Baltimore Beltway. But yet it seems that for many people, the Key Bridge was much more than that. For them it was a landmark, a fixture of that part of the city, a familiar part of commuting and an iconic part of the skyline. I have a hard time relating, as it was something I had first feared and then reviled. In the course of my exploration of this subject I’ve seen where people have actually shed tears and suffer from a sense of emptiness over the fallen iron monster. The skyline is all wrong, they say, without the arching form of the Key Bridge soaring majestically across the Patapsco River. Yet I must admit that I also came under a similar spell once I saw the state’s recent notice asking for input on a new Bay Bridge. The idea of the current bridge being demolished to make room for a new one brought forth a sadness in my heart, and a feeling of eventual loss. Even the fall of the Key Bridge stirred within me many emotions. Although I didn’t have a very favorable opinion of it, it was still most shocking to see and know that it was gone forever. In some ways, it was very much a sense of emptiness. But why? For me, the Bay Bridge is firmly ensconced within fond memories of my youth. Memories of vacations, summer, the beach and all that went along with those idyllic trips. The Key Bridge, however, was much like that old dead tree that lurked deep in the woods and mesmerized me as a child. It was creepy, it was sinister and it lorded over a foreboding and mysterious realm where I was warned not to enter. The tree was in a wooded area across the street behind a neighbor’s house, and the bridge was in the southern part of Baltimore. Both were in locations from where I was repeatedly remanded to stay away. But I was saddened and even somewhat upset when I discovered that tree had fallen in a wind storm, and oddly enough I felt a remarkably similar emotion in reaction to the fall of the bridge.

Here is a link to the rendering showing the planned dimensions of the new Key Bridge span, for anyone who might be interested:

New Key Bridge