Loop 360 Bridge

At the time of the WWP shoot, I was visiting Austin for the first time, I asked a local resident about bridges to photograph and he said, "go to the Loop 360 bridge". Given good directions, I followed the Loop 360 highway north to the river and drove down to the boat ramp under the bridge. I tried to capture the bold arches and clear definition of forms and functions. I wonder if the engineering is as good as it looks. In any case, the name "Loop 360" works panoramically.

The highway and the bridge seem to have several names. The boat access area has a welcome sign, declaring it to be the Loop 360 Boat Ramp. On a map, the highway was labeled 360 and also N Capital of Texas. The highway actually goes about 180° around the west side of downtown.

The bridge is called the Lake Austin bridge with reference to the water under the bridge.The Colorado River formerly flooded often. A series of flood-control dams created a string of lakes. Lake Austin looks like a river to me as it winds through the city. The bridge is officially named the Pennybacker bridge in honor of a TxDOT engineer. The bridge was opened December 3, 1982.

This website tells the history (see items f, g, and h): http://www.texasfreeway.com/Austin/photos/360/360.shtml

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USA-Canada / USA-Texas

Lat: 30° 20' 54.6" N
Long: 98° 48' 49.2" W

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Taken with a Canon 300D (Digital Rebel) digital SLR, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm (equivalent to 28mm film camera), ISO 100, f.8 at 1/160 second. Hand held. Stitched with Apple's QuickTime VR Authoring Studio 1.01. Graphic modifications in Adobe Photoshop CS.