Geeks like to know how things work; how they go together. That’s why so many (though not all) of us are engineers or programmers. I’m no different – indeed, I’m a registered Professional Civil Engineer in California. And (IMHO) big civil projects can be some of the coolest examples of human ingenuity and sophisticated engineering you’ll ever see. Which is why the website I’m going to send you to today is so cool.
Here in the SF Bay Area, the Golden Gate bridge gets all the good press – and often gets destroyed (or at least flown under by space ships) in big budget movies. But it’s the Bay Bridge that crosses the water between Oakland and San Francisco that’s more important to the transportation infrastructure. And after over 50+ years of service (including mostly holding up through a major earthquake), part of it is being upgraded. It’s not quite a “Big Dig”-level project, but it’s close, and the final result will elevate it towards being a world-class structure as well.
But most importantly – it has its own Webby award-winning website detailing the entire construction process in stop-motion and 3-d animation. The video below is just one part of Bay Bridge 360, an amazing website detailing the planning and construction of a major bridge project, and it well worth wasting an hour visiting.
