The Newtown Pentacle

Friday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

As mentioned in prior posts, due to the challenging nature of the terrain here in Pittsburgh it’s best to have a well thought out route in mind if you’re planning on taking a long walk. The hills and valleys often create cul-de-sac areas that you’ve got to be mindful of lest you find yourself having to double back over a steep hill.

This particular walk began at a ‘T Streetcar’ station called ‘Steel Plaza’ in Pittsburgh’s Downtown business district, then led through and into a neighborhood called Uptown, with the ultimate goal of walking over the Birmingham Bridge spanning the Monongahela River governing the route guiding my steps. Said bridge is pictured above, in the left hand section of the shot.

The area pictured above squats upon a considerable prominence which offers a substantial and sheer drop off to a flatter patch of land far below, found along the river. That’s also where speedy and voluminously populated highway roads are found, as well as the waterfront Eliza Furnace Trail – which I’ve mentioned in the past.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Incidentally, I had finished listening to the ‘1984’ radio drama that was playing through my headphones at the start of the walk, and had switched over to enjoying some music instead. This time, it was Husker Du’s 1980’s perfect album ‘Zen Arcade.’ I like light hearted and cheery fare, music wise.

This spot seemed to be fairly industrial in character, but there’s a lot of construction work going on nearby so maybe that’s a temporary thing. Remember that bridge which collapsed about a year ago in Pittsburgh, when the President was in town? That was quite nearby.

The collapse set off a mad dash of engineering inspections city wide, scrutiny of an overpass bridge in this area revealed it was dangerously close to collapse, due to a lack of maintenance and heavy usage. They’ve (as in the local and state Govt.’s) been rebuilding the thing ever since. That’s why you’re starting to see all this construction ‘stuff’ popping up, as I got closer and closer to the Birmingham, which the circumspect overpass bridge overflies a part of. Big project underway, right here.

One wandered down the hill a bit, to get a better look at the bridge project, and see what might be lurking about, on my way to the Birmingham Bridge’s pathway.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Photo Tip: Something I’ve learned over the years – through long trial and years of error – is that you want to place your camera’s focusing point on the post between the windshield and driver’s side window when photographing vehicles, especially when they’re large ones like the truck above. This sort of knowledge really matters when shooting in low light and wide aperture, I’d offer.

The truck was rigged up with – what looked like to me – one of those giant suction pump and pressure cylinder frammistats you’d use to slurp water out of manholes and underground pipery.

A humble narrator always has to repeat a corny joke when witnessing one of these setups – Hey, ya see’s dat truck over dere? yeah? Aww, that truck, it just ‘effin sucks.

I’m here all week, two shows on Saturday…

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Believe it or not, I wasn’t the only pedestrian. Saying that, it wasn’t exactly a well populated path that I was scuttling along. Except for cars, trucks, that sort of thing. I saw zero bicycle enthusiasts.

My plan for the second half of this longish walk would involve crossing the Monongahela River, on the Birmingham Bridge’s pedestrian and bike path. I hadn’t walked that one yet, although one has quite enjoyed several automotive drives across the span, while motoring upon the thing. Sick views, yo.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

It always strikes me, how visually distinct Pittsburgh’s various sections are from each other. There aren’t ‘gradient areas’ between them, due to the geology of the place, I’d reckon. You cross a street with skyscrapers behind you and on the next corner there’s an abandoned Second Empire rooming house or a boarded up terracotta mansion. Off in the distance you see train tracks and highways, and then there’s a band of one family homes set into deep valleys or atop steep ridges. Just beyond that… and then… and then… Pittsburgh is just… fascinating.

Negotiating my steps towards, and finding a path to, the entryway of the Birmingham Bridge was my next move, so off I scuttled.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

That’s the Birmingham Bridge pictured above, and I’ll be taking y’all on a walk high over the Monongahela River upon it – soon.

I’m going to be taking next week off from the normal offerings, and do a week of single images you’ve seen here sometime in the past, (as is my habit) for the holiday interval between Christmas and New Years. We’ll pick up at the Birmingham Bridge for the rest of this walk on the 1st day of 2024, which I’m told will be a Monday.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.

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Buy a book!

“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.