Commute Slideshow

This is still a work in progress. I do not believe that too much of the audio will change, but there will some lower third CG's too accompany the pictures coming soon. But this is what I have for now. Enjoy!

Initially, my intention for this slideshow was to show how I prepare for my commute, getting into my car, driving off, the drive and arriving at school. As I started to work on that idea, I realized that I would not complete my vision that idea in the time which I had to work on this assignment.

So I came up with another idea. I would focus on two or three different, interesting places or buildings that I pass every morning, that would be fun and aesthetically interesting to take pictures of.

I decided that I would stop to take pictures of the Martin Bridge in Marshfield.

This bridge was built by Herman Townsend in 1890 for William Martin Jr. and his first son Harry Martin, who were successful Marshfield farmers. At 44 feet long, the bridge was built solely to provide agricultural access to the Martins' land on the far side of the Winooski River.

The Martin Bridge is the only original covered "farm" bridge left in Vermont.

The agricultural heritage of the Martin Bridge is evident in many ways. The distinctive tall and narrow shape of the bridge, as well as the unuaually short knee braces, is a result of the need to allow for the passage of horse drawn hay wagons piled high with loose hay. Another unique reminder of the long agricultural history of the bridge is the functional cattle gate attached to one of the queenposts.

It is one of the few local covered bridges that survived the famous state-wide flood of 1927 which destroyed over 1200 bridges throughout Vermont.

My next stop was Joe's Pond in West Danville.

Covering 393 acres it's maximum depth is about 100 feet. It is three miles long and at its widest, three-quarters of a mile across.

According to the Vermont Department of Water Resources, the "Joe's Pond Basin" was formed during the Pleistocene glaciations under stagnating ice conditions. Research shows it is likely that before this period, Joe's Pond did not exist and the stream flowed southwesterly to the Winooski Drainage Basin.

As the ice advanced, it scoured deeply into the basin, and stagnating ice blocked a spillway through the ridge where West Danville and the present outlet is now.