There’s always something there to remind me…

There are certain places where danger is mostly unexpected but yet attempts have been clearly made to guard against said hazards. Worse yet, is when such a hazard is purposefully not spoken of nor even acknowledged. A large fearsome looking dog wearing a muzzle (or being kept behind a tall and sturdy fence) is quite obvious on the face of it. No one would question why such protective measures have been implemented. That such an animal presents a potential hazard would be unlikely to be hidden or not mentioned (unless of course the owner is unaware or unconcerned and fails to properly confine the dog). But what about other sorts of non-living dangerous entities that have been “muzzled”, “chained”, barred and fenced off? As I’ve noted, such heavily restrictive measures can be the mark of a dangerous killer, like the example of the human prisoner in cuffs and leg irons. The sight of such measures totally gives me the creeps and a stirs up deeply uncomfortable feeling in my gut. This is because I know the “why” as to the presence of such. That is the mark of a monster that became so deadly that it had to be caged. One that took victim after victim over the years, presiding over a reign of death and destruction. I do not know which I find more disturbing – the sight of an unfettered killer, or one that has been bound and chained. In some ways I think the latter is more unnerving, as its deadly history cannot be obscured, as is the case with those not so restricted.

There seem to be two ways in which such deadly things are handled. The first way is to hide the carnage; to pretend that it does not exist. The second way, which is often turned to once the first way no longer suffices, is to bind the killer. When I visited the New River Gorge Bridge last summer, I was well aware of its lethal status. It is a beast that is unchained, so to speak. There is nothing to stop a victim from climbing over its chest-high edge wall and plummeting almost 900 feet to the river below. Since I made that visit, I have no doubt that this massive bridge has facilitated the loss of at least one life, and possibly more (based upon its history). That is a rather disturbing thought for sure. But there are other monsters that I find to be just as unnerving because they have been bound in such a way as to prevent any more lives from being lost. Tampa’s steel and concrete demon is one of these, as is the famous reddish orange metal monster of San Francisco. The orange monster has a net strung beneath its deck on both sides, and the appearance of which lends an ultra creepy vibe to that monumental structure. The Tampa demon likewise has a length of very high chain link fencing along each of its side barriers, and that too is very unsettling. I doubt I’ll ever get back to California, at least not to where I’d be able to visit the orange metal monster. But doing a 10K over the Tampa monster is on my bucket list. I don’t know which I’d find more creepy – the monster itself or the way in which it has been chained. The West Virginia Gorge metal monster is, I think, less anxiety provoking simply because one can continue on either in ignorance or denial as to its lethal legacy. It is possible to not think about that issue, but not so with the other two (or those like them). Anyone who takes a walk across the San Francisco monster and happens to look down over the edge will be forced to confront that sickening reality. As will anyone who drives across the Tampa monster. It is a direct reference to an all too common tragedy of which no one wants to think about or talk about. The darkness is there on full display, impossible to ignore. When I look at pictures and videos of these latter monsters, I much prefer those that were taken in earlier times, because in those I can appreciate those structures without having a glaring reminder of their dark past. They were utterly deadly then, yes, but neither I nor most anyone else had to be made aware of their bloody histories.

Of course, like the shackled prisoner and muzzled dog, there is a necessary life-saving reason for such measures. Yet such a bridge can never be just a bridge in my mind because of these latter “additions” that compel morbid thoughts as to why they are there. But recently I’ve noticed that this “mark of a killer” has been applied to a structure which has hasn’t even opened for business. This monumental edifice has yet to be associated with any deaths, thus far not even of any of the workers that are building it. The Gordie Howe International Bridge is currently under construction and expected to open later this year. It spans the Detroit river from that city of the same name to Windsor, Ontario. I have been following its construction online as I have been curious as to how the new Key Bridge might come together. This Detroit monster (and yes, in my opinion it is one!) has a pedestrian pathway along one side. But all along each side of the bridge these massive steel bars are being installed, looking for all the world like something found around a low security prison or mental hospital. While it’s difficult to estimate the height of this draconian barrier, I’d figure it at ten feet or more, looking at workers nearby. And unlike the Skyway monster’s chain link wall, it extends far beyond the usual area (the main span) where such monsters claim their victims. Now, I’m not totally up on (or even much aware of) building codes for bridges, but as far as I know, the only requirement (in the US at least) is a 42 inch tall railing. Despite the fact that no one has died there, it is still most creepy that this newly constructed monster has already been bound in this way. That in and of itself tells me that its designers and builders have expected it to become a monster!

The responsible dog owner buys a puppy of a particular breed which are known to be aggressive towards people or other animals. And then said owner builds a tall and sturdy fence around the property to safely confine the animal and protect the public. Such a dog, because of its breed history, might have such dangerous tendencies (or not). But its owner expects that it could and takes no chances. Personally I think that the Gordie Howe bridge will have little chance to claim lives simply because of its use as a very secure modern border crossing. In order to even access it, all must first pass thru a customs checkpoint. Such restrictions will have the effect of weeding out most of the typical victims of metal monsters. By contrast, anyone can access the San Francisco monster and the Tampa demon. However, this Detroit bridge is indeed a monster simply because its designers have made the assumption that it *might* become lethal. I suppose taking a walk on that bridge (which I doubt I’ll ever do) would still be somewhat unnerving and creepy because of the jail yard fencing. But those feelings would be tempered by the notion that it is a monster that has claimed very few (or no) victims. Still, though, it is obvious that the monster’s designers thought about its potential as a killer, and again, to see that intimidating looking barricade forces some of us to face the reason for its existence. In many ways it is far easier to look upon a bridge, even if it is a deadly site, without the existence of something that confirms that. Oh, for those innocent days when the Key Bridge was scary but blameless, and the Bay Bridge was nothing more than a welcoming milepost on the way to the beach. And back in my California days, when the Golden Gate Bridge was a beautiful architectural and engineering marvel, an icon of San Francisco and nothing more. And in the days when the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was unknown to me, even though I wasn’t far from it when I visited Busch Gardens in 2008.