Moments in time

While doing some research on digitisation programs on the Net, I came across a link to a wonderful new book - "Moments in time : the State Records Authority of New South Wales".

State Records NSW holds tens of thousands of archival photographs from the late 19th century through to the present. They are undertaking a digitising program to bring these images to light, you can see the images online at their website, or on their Flickr account, or in their book "Moments in time".

There are beautiful old sepia and glass slide photographs from the grand - the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to the squalid - The Rocks area.

The portico and side galleries, Art Gallery NSW

Cumberland Place, The Rocks, c1901

The book is divided into three broad chapters: Sydney Harbour Bridge, Transport (which begins with the dramatic shot of the steam locomotive half balanced on the cliff edge of the Zig Zag Railway), and Sydney. 

The photographs make ideal subjects for the "Now & Then" project, I know I'll attempt to catch the scene on the front cover. Have already worked on one of the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge "Eastern Footway looking north" taken on 3rd September 1931. Mine wasn't from quite the same angle (had I only known at the time), but it shows the change to the Sydney landscape and skyline, and from the construction workers to the Bridge Climb tourists (they did it without the steps).

Sydney Harbour Bridge - September 1931 & October 2011

Green engineering

Aaahhh bridges and WebUrbanist, a perfect combination in this post -  Living Infrastructure: Grow-it-Yourself Jungle Bridges

The calm pools of water in Nongstoin in Meghalaya, India are the perfect place to bathe or relax, their waters typically shallow enough to stand in. But this peacefulness is rare, this area of India gets an astonishing 49 feet (15 metres) of rain on average each year. Flash floods come quickly and without warning. The locals need bridges that are stronger than steel in order to cross. Their solution? Growing their own. A native species of rubber tree is the ideal medium for living bridges that can withstand rivers that run with deadly force.

For 500 years, they have been manipulating the secondary roots of the ficus elastic (the rubber bush), which grow along the length of the trunk. The roots can be bent, twisted and taught to grow in certain arrangements. Using hollowed-out betel nut trunks as a lightweight skeleton for the bridge, the villagers encourage the roots to grow from one side of the bank to the other, creating a platform. Because the roots are living, they won’t rot, even in the face of constant moisture. 

The bridges can support the weight of up to 50 people at once, and are even built in ‘double-decker’ form. It can take decades for them to stretch across a river or farm, but they continue to grow in strength.