The Condemned Crown Point Bridge by Chris Fastie

Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 AI-s, Nikon...

The Crown Point Bridge was abruptly closed on October 16, 2009 after underwater inspection revealed dramatic deterioration of two support piers. Built in 1929 between Chimney Point, Vermont (right) and Crown Point, New York (left), it is one of only two bridges that cross Lake Champlain. The bridge is not expected to open again soon, if ever, and local businesses and several hundred daily commuters are scrambling to cope.

Update (December 28, 2009): Watch video of the bridge being demolished today: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPNRm4UVRbw 
Update (January 14, 2010): New bridge design chosen today: www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100114/NEWS02/100114023/1007/RSS02 
The shores which so spectacularly narrow the lake here have a long history of human occupation and drama. Ruins of a 1731 French fort and the larger British 1759-1763 Fort Crown Point can be seen under the arched through-truss. On the Vermont side, the Chimney Point Museum occupies a two story 1780s brick tavern where Seth Warner plotted the American capture of Fort Crown Point. In 2000, the bridge made cameo appearances in What Lies Beneath (Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer) and Me, Myself, and Irene (Jim Carrey, Renee Zellweger).

Notes: I used a Nikon D40 with a Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 AI-s lens at f/11, 1/250 second, ISO 200, NEF. 35mm equiv is 450mm, and field of view was set to 3.1 degrees. Focus was manually adjusted many times. Two second shutter delay was initiated by wireless remote. Lightroom was used to remove vignetting and increase exposure and saturation before outputting jpegs for stitching.