Hovenring, the Floating Circular Cycle Bridge in Eindhoven

You might not be hearing before that; there is a special bridge made for pedestrians, and cyclists in the Dutch City of Eindhoven. The Hovenring cable stayed circular bridge diameter is 72 meters is suspended from a 70-meter pylon situated at the center of the roundabout by 24 cables and seems to float over a big novel junction for motorized traffic.  The bridge is with thin decks and conspicuous lighting, purely amazing landmark in the city. When in night, the slender bike ring lit from below to further enhance that floating effect, similar to flying saucer. The steel bridge hoovers over the Heerbaan-Meerenakkerweg intersection. The bridge is impressive pylon marking the entrance way to the cities of Eindhoven and Veldhoven. There is a level crossing which is local housing estate inquiring changing in order to cope with the growing traffic. As Eindhoven City Council refrains from cyclist underpasses and didn’t want a level crossing roundabout either, they asked Dutch bridge specialist IPV Delft to consider at possible solutions. A circular cable-stayed bridge soon appeared to be the right option. Constructing the circle bridge proved to be more difficult than expectation, because Hovenring Bridge was opened for public in Dec 2011, but closed due to suspension cables vibrated too much, and it has to closed for safety point of view. After some adjustment it was finally opened for public on June 29, 2012.

Glenfinnan Viaduct the West Highland Line¸ Scotland

The beautiful Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct built between July 1897 and Oct 1898 on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. The project cost was around £18,904. It is situated at the top of Loch Shiel in the West Highlands of Scotland, and has been used as location in several films and television series. This project is considered great engineering work of largest concrete without reinforcing built by Sir Robert McAlpine. Sir Robert McAlpine took on a massive civil engineering task with the building of the Mallaig Extension of the West Highland Line from Fort William west to Mallaig, though that was not the originally intended destination. The 21-Arch single track viaduct forms part of the Mallaig extension of the West Highland Railway which was constructed in between 1897 till 1901, which is also built entirely of concrete.

It is a popular tourist event in the area, and the viaduct is one of the major attractions of the line, the lovely viaduct contains of 21 arches, each spanning 15m and has a maximum height of 30m proffering remarkable views down Lochaber’s Loch Shiel. These kinds of projects always offers great scarifications of labour work, and during construction a cart-horse and driver were killed when they fell into one of the piers while dumping their load, and were buried in the concrete. In the latest research has shown that the sad incident happened at Loch Nan Uamh Viaduct, further down the line, near Arisaig, and the driver survived. Memorial plaques are at the latter viaduct and at Glenfinnan Station Museum.

The West Highland railway line connects Fort William and Mallaig, and was a vital vein for the local fishing industry and the highlands economy in general, which suffered extremely after the Highland Clearances of the 1800s. The line is used by passenger trains operated by ScotRail between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig, usually diesel multiple units. The viaduct project was not often appreciated, and several authorities criticized when this viaduct was first proposed. According to them; it would be prove a monstrosity, enough in ugliness to take away all the charm and beauty of natural scenes. Some would endorse this opinion now and wholeheartedly agreed.

Luoping Spring Seasons Yellow Flowers

Luoping is a little countryside in eastern Yunnan situated about 228 KM north east of Kunming China. In the spring, Luoping turns into an ocean of flowers. It is located close to the border of Yunnan with Guizhou and Guangxi provinces. The town was frequently ignored by visitor passing through the region until recently. It had become a Mecca for photographers, who flock to this little county every early spring to capture the wonderful “sea of yellow” of blooming rapeseed flowers. The magnificent photos in turn, draw more and more tourists to this beautiful rural photographic haven. It's that time of the year that the rapeseed flowers or canola are in full bloom. Photographers flock to this beautiful destination to capture the stunning sight rolling hills surrounded by bright yellow flowers as far as the eye can see. The blooming buds fill the air with the refreshing smell of spring that not only is a magnet for human, but also bees. The attractiveness of the yellow sea of rapeseed flowers swaying in slow swirling waves in the gentle breeze is a sight that is out of this world. It is also the period for beekeeping and honey processing. Beekeepers set up base in tents surrounded by the rapeseed farms every spring to keep bees and harvest their honey- the bees feed on the rapeseed flowers. Hence the majority rapeseed farms are also abuzz with bees in the spring and can be a small irritating. These beekeepers move on to other locations within Luoping after the rapeseed season, using wildflowers as feedstock for their bees.