Bruce Jackson: The lost bridges of the Hydraulics

Bruce Jackson, the American folklorist, documentary photographer and filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor at SUNY-Buffalo, offers up an amazing series on the lost bridges of the Hydraulics.

  
In 1997 the Seneca Street and Hamburg Street bridges were demolished by the City of Buffalo and replaced by modern concrete bridges (here) of the standard DOT variety. The bridges were visual symbols of the Hydraulics since their erection by the American Bridge Company in 1920.

  
Jackson's striking images, taken between 1995 and 1997, represent the best available public reminiscenses of the spans during the final years of their existence. From Jackson:

The two bridges in this series were in Buffalo's Hydraulics District from 1920 to 1997. The Seneca street bridge was a single truss crossing the railroad tracks. The Hamburg street bridge was more complex: four trusses, three of them abutting one another, the fourth separated by a flat section supported by the inside end of the single truss and the free end of the third truss. Each of the bridges offered interesting views of the other, the railroad tracks, and parts of Buffalo. They offered a gorgeous visual geometry.

Most people think of bridges as structures that cross water—and, indeed, the most dramatic bridges are just that. But cities are full of bridges that let roads get over things: railroad tracks, other roads, gullies, even other bridges. We hardly notice them, they are perhaps the most invisible kind of public architecture, but they are nonetheless part of our sense of place. The fact that we hardly notice them doesn't mean we don't sense their presence. They are part of our urban landscape and, if they are the kind of bridge that is supported by cables or trusses, they are frames through which we see the landscape in which they are situated. (Read the rest here.)

Be sure to check out Bruce Jackson's stunning slide show here.

  
Special thanks goes to Bruce Jackson for sharing his work with the Hydraulics Press.

Comments

[mary beyer]

Absolutely beautiful photographs! I remember these bridges.

[George Thomas Apfel]

NOW I know what's missing in this area, all those bridges which I remember as a kid, they fascinated me.