Talk:Government Bridge

Untitled
This is one of a number of articles that refer to Government Bridge as the first span across the Mississippi. However, the opening date reported in this article (22 April 1856)is more than a year later than the opening date for the first Hennepin Avenue Bridge, which spanned the Mississippi between St. Anthony and Minneapolis, Minnesota, and opened on 23 Jan 1855. This date is contained in the Hennepin Avenue Bridge article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Louis_Hennepin_Bridge, and in several other locations. Possibly Government Bridge was the first railroad bridge to span the river?

Incorrect animated image
The animated image showing the bridge opening and closing is incorrect. In fact, the Government Bridge is the only swing-span in the world that completes a circle. There is no backward movement to close. The animated image here simply reversed the opening, which is wrong. The bridge spins clockwise only. 75.121.33.79 (talk) 10:58, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm trying to remember......well I have no reason to doubt you, it's been a long time since I've seen it open, but that animation show no ship going through, so it was obviously animated like you said, I'll remove the image. C T J F 8 3  chat 14:57, 8 September 2010 (UTC)


 * As hashed out in the deletion request discussion, and documented here, the bridge operates in both directions, and it is sometimes opened 90° in one direction and closed in the opposite direction; the animation, while created as described, acurately depicts one of the modes of operation.


 * Be that as it may, I have created a new animation, presented here, that consists of 30 successive frames covering 30 minutes during which a towboat with a small tow traverses the lock. This is superior in that it not only illustrates the operation of the bridge, it illustrates the operation of the lock in lifting traffic to the upstream level, as well as illustrating the reason for the bridge's pivot.  A clockface and timestamp have been added to document the speed at which the operation occurs. A drawback to creating this fuller animation is that it results in a larger file, though that is also attributable to this version having larger dimensions.


 * I will leave it to those more interested in maintaining the article on this subject to determine how best to use either animation. --Kbh3rd talk  23:59, 4 November 2010 (UTC)
 * This is an amazing, great animation! Great job, and thank you very much for creating it. I again apologize if I seemed rude on Commons...thanks again. C T J F 8 3  chat 12:25, 5 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks for this. I wondered if I was interpreting this correctly, and the article text does not give any more details. It appears as if the bridge goes 180 degrees in the animation. Does this mean that it has precise symmetrical construction allowing it to be operated in either direction? Thanks. Group29 (talk) 14:28, 26 December 2017 (UTC)

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