I'm going to tell you, this was one busy weekend. On Saturday, we spent the day baking in the hot sun in Indianapolis. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting. And if that was not punishment enough, we travel south of where I live to Louisville, Kentucky. This would be my first trip to the bridge as it was just completed a few years ago and I work too much. So on this Sunday, July 24, 2016, we make our way to Jeffersonville Indiana to walk across the bridge into Louisville.
The Big Four was originally built in 1895 to serve as a railroad bridge, and was in operation until the 1960's when it was decommissioned. At this time, the ramps were removed and the bridge was left to waste away. In the early 1990's, plans were drawn up called the Waterfront Master Plan to develop property along the Ohio river on the Louisville side into a park with the Big Four bridge tuned into a walking bridge. Phase 1 of the project was completed in 1999 with the Big Four Lawn, and was completed with the walking bridge in Phase 3 of the project. The city is currently working on Phase 4, which is expanding the park along the Ohio on the Louisville side.
So we wait until late afternoon to travel to Jeffersonville because it was so incredibly hot on that day. We left our house at around 4 pm and arrive on the Jeffersonville's side of the bridge at 5 pm. It was still way too hot to take a 2 mile round trip by foot, so we decided to rest at the park. As you can see in the video, the park has a nice setup with picnic tables being placed under a large canopy that provides lots of shade. We stayed here for about one hour where I took the time-lapse and we ventured on into Louisville.
The view from the bridge is spectacular, even though there is still much construction taking place. The development going on in this area is the most I have seen in my lifetime. I have been to other countries that have more development projects taking place, such as the building taking place in Manila, Philippines, but still the infrastructure projects currently taking place is amazing. It gives me great hope for the future of the region.
As we make our way from the Jeffersonville, IN side, we stop many times along the way to take in the scenery. The views of the new Lincoln Memorial bridge and the views of the river were breathtaking, as you can see in the video. The project designers for the bridge smartly placed park benches along the sides of the walking path so people can stop to rest and take in the views. These spots were where we shot most of our pictures and video. One could spend an entire day just sitting there, looking out.
We make it to the Louisville side of the bridge and the design of the ramp is an engineering feet. It is an elliptical spiral ramp that connects perfectly to the bridge. At first glance, one would think that it would take forever to make it from the top of the ramp to the bottom, but we quickly traverse it, stopping to take pictures along the way.
Waterfront Park is a large area along the Ohio River and one of the features of the park is a water park, and as you can see in the video, it is a large Waterpark for kids to play in. There are picnic tables placed around it, and just sitting close to the Waterpark, one can feel the coolness of the water. Since we were overheated from the walk, we decided to spend some time there to cool off and relax. After about a half-hour of rest, we move on through the park to find an unoccupied swinging chair, where we spend another half-hour or so just resting and watching the river. This is where I shoot many of the pictures featured in the video.
After spending some time in Waterfront Park, we make our way back to the Indiana side of the walking bridge. Again we stop many times along the way to take pictures and video, and also to enjoy the breeze that flows along the river. We stay on the bridge until the sun started to set on the horizon, which cast a lovely shade of orange across the Lincoln Memorial Bridge, and start walking down the ramp in Jeffersonville. We stop to take more pictures and video of the park on this side of the bride and make our way to our car right at dusk.
As we were leaving, the lights on the bridge came on and this is a beautiful display of colors. I do regret not staying there just a little longer to take some pictures of the lights, but there is always a next time. Thank you for reading and have a great day.
Pictures of our trip *From our Facebook Page
Equipment
What I currently use
A good starter kit
What I would like to have in the future
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