Hoquiam's Iconic Riverside Bridge
Yesterday in Hoquiam, Wash., was cloudy and rainy, so I didn't take the camera out for my evening walk as I have been the past few days. Instead, in keeping with the river theme I've developed this week for the Picture a Day community, I dug into the archives for another shot of the Hoquiam River, this time with our iconic Riverside Bridge.
This location on the river is one block from my apartment. It's been a favorite spot of mine for morning coffee (or afternoon Red Bulls) for several years now. And, two months ago, I met my girlfriend for the first time on the bank here while on a midnight stroll, so the spot is definitely growing in importance for me.
There's a great view here (as you can see), and it makes for some dramatic scenes, especially when a cloud bank rings the horizon, as it often does in Hoquiam. Also, the surface of the water never looks the same twice, so there's a myriad of opportunities here for a photographer.
Bridge Notes. Riverside Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge, which means that the span of roadway between the two towers is raised as one piece to allow river traffic to pass. In the photo, you can see the counterweights that perform this task when they are released: they are the smaller blocks hanging below the large rectangles at the top of each tower.
I had never seen a vertical-lift bridge before moving to Hoquiam from Indiana in 2013. The bridge is still a novelty to me, and it is a part of what makes the Pacific Northwest feel like an exotic locale to me.
I call the bridge iconic because it is frequently used in City of Hoquiam promotional materials.
As I write this post this morning, the sun is shining. Maybe by this evening it will still be out, and I'll be able to take some nice golden hour shots along the river.
Have a great day everyone.