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153 CONCLUDING WORDS More than any other public structure, the bridge is transparent. In the case of most bridges, one can walk or ride over them. Others—railroad freight bridges, for example—can only be viewed. Unlike buildings, whose interiors are often inaccessible except to those who work or conduct business in them, bridges may be observed in their entirety. Especially from a distance, when the perspective of their spans is seen against the landscape, they appear sculptural. As we have seen, they carry symbolic references as well as serve utilitarian purposes. Bridges bind regions politically and economically. A central theme of this book has been the interconnections reflected in bridges, whether a name that reaches back to the Middle Ages, a site that saw action during the American Revolution, or a type of construction that originated in the drawings of a Roman architect. We live in a world of “instant.” Push a button and a picture appears. Hit a key and send an image or message around the world. Buy something, unwrap it, use it up, throw it away, and buy another. We are bombarded by junk mail and spam. No longer do we wait for the news to be delivered at a certain hour; it is available around the clock, and we forget it instantly. We find friendship not in quiet conversation , but vicariously through so-called reality television programming and the lives of celebrities. On a broadly metaphoric level, in photography we are replacing chemicals with photons, moving from the tangible and visible to the intangible and invisible. In short, we have created a temporary world through which we pass fleetingly, our feet barely touching the ground and ourselves barely touching each other. In this world, these great structures of humankind give us a real, physical reminder of what we are, what we have been, and what we might be. In some places, such as Frogner Park, the showcase for the art of Gustav Vigeland in Oslo, Norway, great works of sculpture present humanity in its various permutations and emotions. In other places, singular monuments, such as the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., stand as geometric symbols of something else. Engineering feats, such as the Great Wall of China or the pyramids of Egypt, last through the ages as testament to human vision. The bridge is omnipresent and unique among those feats. Before there is a bridge, there is a vision. It may be a small vision—a small stone arch bridge to traverse a creek—or a large vision—a suspension bridge to cross the Hudson River. In either case, the necessity and vision gave rise to the invention, and the invention became the monument. Bridges are mathematical expressions made tangible. They are among our most noble achievements in the mastery and accommodation of nature. And here in New Jersey, some of the most impressive and significant of these monuments remain to be seen and appreciated. T H E B R I D G E S O F N E W J E R S E Y 154 ...

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