Historic Lamar Boulevard Bridge in Black And White - Austin Texas Hill Country

One of the good things about living in Northwest Houston is the fact that Austin is only 2 hours and 10 minutes away. Yes, there are a lot of things... more

by Silvio Ligutti

Title

Historic Lamar Boulevard Bridge in Black And White - Austin Texas Hill Country

Artist

Silvio Ligutti

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

One of the good things about living in Northwest Houston is the fact that Austin is only 2 hours and 10 minutes away. Yes, there are a lot of things to photograph in my neck of the woods, but when my family and I like to leave the city for a few hours or one day, the Hill Country is just 2 1/2 hours away!
On this occasion I stayed in Austin for a few hours, and I while I waited for the golden hour light of the sunset to arrive, I started walking on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail, which runs along the shore of Lady Bird Lake, (formerly known as Town Lake.) Noticing the striking architecture of the Lamar Boulevard Bridge, (which is itself a National Historical Landmark), I decided to stop and photograph it. This is a 20 second exposure, and for this I used a filter called a "neutral density filter", a very dark one that only lets 5% of the ambient light to go through. Thanks for looking! FAA watermark WILL NOT show on final printed artwork.

Information taken from Wikipedia:

The Lamar Boulevard Bridge is a historic bridge carrying Texas State Highway Loop 343 (Lamar Boulevard) over Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas, United States. The bridge features six open spandrel concrete arches and carries thousands of vehicles daily across the river.[2] Completed in 1942, the Lamar Boulevard Bridge was the second permanent bridge to cross the Colorado River after the Congress Avenue Bridge. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1994.[3]

The Lamar Boulevard bridge that crosses Lady Bird Lake exceeds acceptable daily traffic volumes by more than double, according to a study by the Downtown Austin Alliance. The bridge allows for about 20,000 cars per day, but currently nearly 45,000 vehicles use the bridge everyday.[4]

In the late 20th century, the bridge was notorious for road accidents involving bicycles and pedestrians. The problem was remedied in 2001, when the James D. Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge opened 200 feet (61 m) to the east of the Lamar bridge.[5]

Uploaded

February 5th, 2015