Double Helix bridge by night

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Beer Sheva's new Double Helix bridge is especially beautiful at night!

Once you get yourself or your bicycle up the tall escalator . . .

you can go over to the growing Advanced Technologies Park.

The bridge spans the railroad tracks.
The big building is Beer Sheva North/Ben Gurion University train station.
(Central Station is the other train terminal in Beer Sheva.)

More about the Double Helix in my earlier posts.
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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Double Helix bridges the gap

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Beer Sheva's new Double Helix bridge was officially opened last week!
Half a year ago train traffic was shut down for one weekend so giant cranes could lift the bridge parts into place.

The small pedestrian bridge on the left lets students walk from the train and bus stations over to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The new big bridge lets people walk over to the growing Advanced Technologies Park.

Trains go under (it's less than an hour to Tel Aviv).

And people go over.

The view from the bridge: Ramot, a new neighborhood of Beer Sheva.

The train station and bus stops.
And a parking lot for the Park and Ride folks. 

Some escalator repair was still needed last Thursday.

There are two flights of escalators up to the top and also an elevator.

All the photos can be much enlarged with a click or two.
Here is a bit more information:
Double Helix Bridge Connecting ATP to Train Station Dedicated
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(Linking to OurWorld Tuesday.)
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UPDATE: A nice article about how Beer Sheva is growing, with a photo of the bridge when it was still lying on the earth in two big sections.
UPDATE Oct. 2, 2017:  The bridge won an international award!  Here is the announcement with a beautiful little video:  http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/bridge_award.aspx
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Double Helix bridge officially opened!

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Last June I showed you the new pedestrian bridge that had just been lifted and placed over the railroad tracks in Beer Sheva.
This week it was officially opened so I stopped by to go up and check it out.
The escalator repair man was also up on the bridge, checking out why one of the escalators was not moving.
His yellow sign said "ELEVATOR [sic] UNDER SERVICE.  PLEASE KEEP DISTANCE" but I could not resist going near to take this sweet picture!

It's quite a climb if the stairs are not rolling.
I will post more bridge pictures in the next few days.
It is in the form of a double helix and is quite beautiful!

Here is an article about the ribbon-cutting ceremony: http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/news/helix_bridge.aspx

P.S.  Yesterday's blog photo was taken from the bridge.
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Sydney reflections

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The flag and beautiful Sydney reflected today in the facade of the Australian National Maritime Museum.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge reflected in a building in Milsons Point.
From the museum at Darling Harbor I took a ferry to Milsons Point (home of the Luna Park) in order to catch a train to the North Shore suburb where I'm staying with family this month.
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(Linking to Weekend Reflections.)
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Sunrise in Sydney

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Guess what!  I landed in Sydney at sunrise this morning after 35 hours on the way!

Daughter Naomi picked me up at the airport and we drove to their new house over the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

So I hope you don't mind hearing about Australia for the next four weeks.  :)
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For ABC Wednesday F is for finally here!
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The other Calatrava bridge

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For ABC Wednesday we have benches on a busy bridge.
Note the glass-paved deck.

The pedestrian Y-bridge by Santiago Calatrava spans busy Jabotinsky Road in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv.
It was built in 2005, before his more famous Bridge of Strings in Jerusalem.

The view from the bridge: an urban park and a residential area.
On the other side of the road is Rabin Medical Center/Beilinson Hospital, which has grown immensely since I worked there years ago.
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(Linking to Wordless Wednesday, my first time.)
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New bridge in Beer Sheva

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Just my luck that when I wanted to take the train from Beer Sheva to Tel Aviv last Friday, that line was closed for the weekend.
The reason: two huge cranes were maneuvering a new bridge into place above the railroad tracks at the Beer Sheva North/University station. 

In this shot from the bus taken today you can see the whole length of the pedestrian bridge, which will allow access to the new high-tech business park being constructed north of the station.

It will look nice once they take down the construction hording and fix up the base.
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And I made it to Tel Aviv on the bus in only an hour and twenty minutes on Friday afternoon, before Shabbat, when buses and trains stop running until the end of the Sabbath on Saturday night.
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(Linking to OurWorld Tuesday.)
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BridgeClimb pics for AUSTRALIA DAY!

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Happy AUSTRALIA DAY to my family in Sydney and to all the Aussie blog-friends! 

As soon as grandson Dean turned ten, the minimum age for BridgeClimb, he and his father climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

What a view, eh?!

Wikipedia explains: 

Since 1998, BridgeClimb has made it possible for tourists to legally climb the southern half of the bridge. Tours run throughout the day, from dawn to night, and are only cancelled for electrical storms or high wind.
Groups of climbers are provided with protective clothing appropriate to the prevailing weather conditions, and are given an orientation briefing before climbing. During the climb, attendees are secured to the bridge by a wire lifeline. . . . Each climb takes three and a half hours, including the preparations.

See BridgeClimb website, "for the climb of your life."
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Cross this bridge and live!

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Tired from cleaning and cooking all day, I needed to get out of the house and commune with nature a bit just before sunset.
Meitar's Olive Tree Garden is just a few blocks away.
I discovered that the little bridge over the most-of-the-time dry wadi actually has a name!

Gesher arichut hachaim  the sign says.  
    Longevity Bridge.

Here's to long life!  Lechaim!
And Shabbat shalom.
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Greenpeace in action!

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(All photos can be much enlarged. Click once, and then again.)

Greenpeace strikes again!

 I first saw the climbers on Jerusalem's Bridge of Strings at 7:45 this morning.
I hear they started their surprise action already at dawn.

This is not the first time Greenpeace has used Calatrava's bridge to protest.

By 1:30 the hot sun was beating down on the five.
Greenpeace Israel on Facebook is now saying the activists were hanging up there for about TEN hours!

The view from across the street, near Binyanei HaUma, where President Obama would come at 5:00 to give his keynote speech to Israeli students.
The trams kept going over the bridge.
Some of the car drivers on the busy road tooted their encouragement to the protesters.

The police waited below, snapping photos.
Our media was not mentioning the event all day.
Only now, at 7:00 pm,  I hear on the radio that when the climbers finally came down four were arrested.
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Whether you agree with the tactics and ideas of Greenpeace or not, you had to admire the strength, determination, idealism, and courage of these young people up in the air today.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Balloons on the bridge cables

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Hey, who tied those pretty balloons to Jerusalem's Bridge of Strings?!
How?
When?  Why?
What would Calatrava say?
How long did they remain? 
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I think it was a happy little addition to the all-white bridge that  carries the light rail  up and over a busy intersection.
Pedestrians too can walk across on the bridge. 

I followed the exciting construction that began in 2007,  and then the bridge's festive dedication,  and then trial runs of the tram.
See some of the 18 posts.
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This post is for SkyWatch Friday.
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A most modest Bailey bridge

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The annual Jerusalem Houses from Within weekend was Nov. 4-5.
However, buses stop running for the Sabbath; in fact, in my little village the last bus comes through at 2:30 pm Friday and the next one is not until Sunday morning.

So, not having a car, I decided to walk to the Shabbat guided tours in the nearest place, Ein Kerem.
Counting the getting there and back and the walking inside Ein Kerem, I clocked 7.5 hours on my feet.

The best way to go is a lonely path through the woods.
Here is the trailhead for the Hadassah Trail.
The signs in the photo indicate that part of the way, it is also the Jerusalem Trail.
You can see it is pretty rough, especially after a recent rainfall that brought loose stones.

Shvil Hadassah has signs telling you what you are looking at or where you are.
Dial the number, press 14, and you get a recorded explanation of site #14.
Hmm, too bad I don't have a cell phone.

The Hebrew on the sign has no vowels so I had to guess what it said.
Gesher Bali -- the Bali Bridge?
But wait, we're not in Bali and I don't see any bridge.

Then I figured out that it probably meant to say Bailey bridge !

Oh, OK! Right under my feet!
A little Bailey bridge sitting on the ground, a gishron.

To the left was a gully leading down from the Hadassah nurses' and students' residences up on top of the mountain, so I imagine run-off during rainy season necessitated the "bridge."
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Finally, something (albeit small) to contribute to Sunday Bridges!
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Above the traffic

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The new tram goes up and over the new bridge!

Calatrava's Bridge of Strings was built to carry Jerusalem's first light rail and also pedestrians.
It is the world's first curved suspended train-bearing bridge; and it works, so far at least!

The exciting view of the cables from the tram window!

The view from below.
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Click on my label "Calatrava" for more about the bridge and its construction.
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A post for Sunday Bridges meme.
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The unique retaining/acoustic walls explained

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Photo by Gash Bridge & Building Engineering Ltd.

Readers were so interested in Begin Expressway's unique acoustic walls that appeared in yesterday's post (in my photo facing the opposite direction from this photo by the builders).
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So I kept digging and finally found some answers to your questions.
The Gash website has close-ups of the combined retaining/acoustic walls. Take a look.
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The engineers explain:

Begin Road connects Jerusalem's entrance coming from 443 highway and its south-west neighborhoods.
Gash engineers designed a three-span bridge and acoustic walls with unique architectural cross-sections.

Acoustic barrier semi-roofing shape

The height of the wall and its shape was determined by taking under consideration an acoustic defense line at the edge of the traffic lanes instead of at the margins of the road as usual. As a result the wall's height was lowered from 12-13 meters to 8.5 meters.
Its arch shape was developed in order to reflect the noise sound back to the road.
The structure consists of modules of projecting beams covered with arch-shaped membranes made of 8 cm concrete. The beams also support prefabricated plated serves as a retaining wall for the back landscape's filling.

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A bridge unseen

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I discovered a shortcut, by foot, down to the Hebrew University.
But then I was so excited to be standing on a bridge looking down at Begin Expressway for the first time that I forgot to photograph the bridge itself.
Sorry bloggers at Sunday Bridges, you'll just have to imagine it.
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The photo did, however, catch the early-morning shadows of the median trees for Shadow Shot Sunday.
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Named for the late Menachem Begin, the north-south urban freeway in western Jerusalem is all of 12.2 km or 7.6 miles long.
Many of its sections have these tall acoustic walls.
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IMPORTANT UPDATE! I finally found info on the acoustic walls that everyone is asking about!
Gash engineers designed a three-span bridge and acoustic walls with unique architectural cross-sections.
From the Gash bridge engineering website:

Acoustic barrier semi-roofing shape

The height of the wall and its shape was determined by taking under consideration an acoustic defense line at the edge of the traffic lanes instead of at the margins of the road as usual. As a result the wall's height was lowered from 12-13 meters to 8.5 meters.
Its arch shape was developed in order to reflect the noise sound back to the road.
The structure consists of modules of projecting beams covered with arch-shaped membranes made of 8 cm concrete. The beams also support prefabricated plated serves as a retaining wall for the back landscape's filling.

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The website has close-ups and blueprints in detail.
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An engineering first

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There goes the tram, up and over the curved Calatrava Bridge of Strings!

(Finally, a Jerusalem bridge picture for Sunday Bridges meme.)

In a post of mine from three years ago showing the early stages of the bridge construction an engineering maven said, "The Bridge of Strings will be the first train-carrying curved suspension bridge in the world."

You can see the white mast and the cables of the bridge protruding from behind a tall building.
(Lots more pictures of the whole bridge are under my label "Calatrava.")
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And look! A brand new bench for future tram passengers.
This tram stop is across the street from the Central Bus Station on Jaffa Street.
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We the public were told the light rail would start taking passengers in August, but now that has been delayed again to November.
The reasons, which include a lot of infighting, are explained in the Jerusalem Post.
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Well, at least now we have benches to sit on and watch the empty trams glide by as they are being tested.
It's more like our PATIENCE that is being tested.
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Segways on the bridge

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Summer is for touring Jerusalem on Segways.
These three young people on the bridge were admiring the view to the east just before sunset.
The mountains of Moab in the Kingdom of Jordan, across the Dead Sea, were just visible in the haze.
Mount Zion is on the left in this photo.
Below is Gehinnom, the valley (guy) of Hinnom .

Here is their bridge as seen from the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

I posted here about the Bnai Brith Bridge and its famous handprints in the concrete.
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This post joins others at Robin's Summer Stock Sunday and Louis' Sunday Bridges.
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UPDATE: In response to comments I add some more information:
How does a Segway work?
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Mostly you only see these silent electric vehicles being ridden along the Armon HaNatsiv Promenade. A 1.5 hour guided tour costs $55. See their route on this map.
Me? I'd rather walk.
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Bridge over the river Soreq

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Recently you saw the modern train station in Tel Aviv and also the inside of an Israel Railways train.
Now let's take that train up to Jerusalem.
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When the Tel Aviv-Jaffa to Jerusalem railway was opened in 1892, it saw the Middle East's first train.
The journey of 82 km (50 miles) then took 4 hours.
Today it is "only" about one hour and 45 minutes.
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One single track goes all that way, with a few places where one train can pull over and wait for another train coming from the opposite direction to pass.
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While my train stood off to the side, near the old and now roofless Bar Giora train station, a group of school kids came by, on their spring hike through the Soreq Valley to see the almond trees in bloom.
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A delight to see the kids out in nature!
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But I was overjoyed to see that they were crossing a BRIDGE, something to post for Sunday Bridges meme!
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The metal bridge is narrow, enough for just one person, and appeared to be less than two meters above the fast-flowing Nahal Soreq river.


The Soreq drains the Jerusalem Hills west of Jerusalem and ends in the Mediterranean Sea.
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