This 312 foot supply ship struck a local bridge about 8pm last evening. For an undetermined reason it attempted to go under a span too low for it to pass instead of the main shipping channel. The ship remains stuck under the bridge this morning. Fortunately no known deaths or injuries are reported at the present time. Two spans approximately 200 foot of road surface between towers of the bridge were knocked out. Some bridge super structure is reported on local news to be wrapped around the bow.
The Egner Ferry bridge spans Kentucky Lake. It will add about 44 miles to the trip for anyone who needs to drive this stretch of highway by detouring to the next available bridges below Kentucky Dam.
I have some knowledge of the ship specially designed to navigate shallow waters. The ship picks up NASA rocket booster sections built in I believe Decatur Alabama. When I worked as a towboat dispatcher we would have delays at the locks due to this vessel having priority at the locks.
The photos here I took on March 28 2010. The ship was leaving Kentucky Dam Lock.
The weather was much like yesterday when the ship struck the bridge. Rain and foggy haze making for poor visibility. The Egner Ferry bridge opened on March 25, 1932 before the Lake was flooded. The bridge was closed for about 5 months in 1943 to raise the structure to make room for Kentucky Lake according to Wikipedia. A ferry was established to cross the Tennessee river while these repairs were made in 1943. The bridge was slated to be replaced beginning in 2011. Expected completion was planned for 2016.
This is not my normal type post but thought others might be interested in seeing this special built ship. One of a kind that navigates our local waters. It takes an incident such as this to bring the ship and bridge to folks knowledge. I feel sad for those that use this section of road on a regular basis for it will be a long time before this road will once again be connected by a bridge.
Update Note: This post is getting a large response. Links to more info can be found in the comments section.
One joy I have found with digital photography is the ability to mingle images. For a person such as my self, simple of mind, photoshop , even photoshop elements is to complex. I loose the joy working in those programs. There are many image editing programs available. I have not used them all but have dabbled in many. On a recent field trip one member of our photo club stated he enjoyed working with photoshop as much as taking pictures.
I use a french programs “English” version of Photo Filtre 6.4.0. It is free to use if not used commercially. It is priced what I consider reasonably otherwise. They also have a Photo Filtre Studio version for those who enjoy working with layers.
I did not place a link to a download site as the program has been updated I am sure since the version I use. If you are interested do a search for Photo Filtre. I enjoy the speed and ease of making adjustments in the program. If a photo is to dark or light I can click on the gamma correct plus or minus buttons and possibly recover it. If the colors are dull I can click on”filter” at the top drop down to “color”, select “revive” and it does it. After any adjustment I make I can click on “edit” at the top and “redo”, “undo”, or what I enjoy most about the program is choose “fade”. Using the fade slider I can get the image adjusted to suit my eye.
If you have any other questions on the program make a comment and I will try to help. There are tutorials online for specific questions. Then again you might find this program easy enough to use that you can just click around making changes learning as I have done. Whatever program you use to me the idea is to have fun with it. Photoshop may suit you fine. If not perhaps Photo Filtre might be for you. This program does not work with RAW images which works for me too as I shoot 99 percent in jpeg format.
One thing I might note is that over the years I have learned to see subjects that not only please my eye but that I think would make good backgrounds or pieces of an image I might combine later. Adding creating to the joy of digital photography.
At the end of the day yesterday I lost energy and felt a little blue. The “Little Woman” picked up on it immediately when she arrived home. She took me out to dinner and sharing our day with simple conversation washed the blues away.
What is difficult to comprehend is why the blues come over a person. It had been a wonderful day with a bluebird sky. In fact bluebirds flitted in the treetops by the gate where I stop each morning. I was able to capture them flitting and flying. With the bluebird sky as a background it was simple to create a transparent gif of the bluebirds in the treetops. I will use that bluebird image with an interesting cloud background in a fantasy image one day. Here is one shot of the bluebirds in the treetop.
This morning I thought why not create an animation with music to improve my mood when the blues occur. Why not share it with other folks. First I thought of Don’t worry be happy for the music. I created it and it was blocked due to the music being copyrighted so I deleted it. I redid it with part of another song I enjoy. The sweet voice and easy listening tone of Don Williams. Who I would be delighted to advertise for, for free.
Two new kids now four days old. The kid on the left is Curly Pete named that because he has one ear that curls. The other kid is named Prince as he is marked up royally. That makes 5 new kids. It is fascinating to watch the kids play. The smallest of the newborns Cinnamon is already showing his maleness. I watched him curling his lips, which is what a billy does when interested in the scent of a female. It was funny watching him vying for Ruby’s attention. Ruby is the “Little Woman’s nanny that has not kidded yet. Boys will be boys don’t ya know.
We will be needing to find homes for the four new billies. By the way I am still looking for homes for Sassy’s two puppies. So here is a couple of pics of them running up the hill in the yard yesterday.
Little Bear
Rose
I don’t have them completely house trained yet but I am working on it. They are enjoying this warm winter weather. Walking through the fields chasing the big dogs. When at home they get into whatever they can finding interest in any bone, trash or leave that flutters across the yard. Chasing down the sweet gum balls when they roll down the hill. Then carrying them around like a prize possession just as their mother did.
This 312 foot supply ship struck a local bridge about 8pm last evening. For an undetermined reason it attempted to go under a span too low for it to pass instead of the main shipping channel. The ship remains stuck under the bridge this morning. Fortunately no known deaths or injuries are reported at the present time. Two spans approximately 200 foot of road surface between towers of the bridge were knocked out. Some bridge super structure is reported on local news to be wrapped around the bow.
The photos here I took on March 28 2010. The ship was leaving Kentucky Dam Lock.
The weather was much like yesterday when the ship struck the bridge. Rain and foggy haze making for poor visibility. The Egner Ferry bridge opened on March 25, 1932 before the Lake was flooded. The bridge was closed for about 5 months in 1943 to raise the structure to make room for Kentucky Lake according to Wikipedia. A ferry was established to cross the Tennessee river while these repairs were made in 1943. The bridge was slated to be replaced beginning in 2011. Expected completion was planned for 2016.
