Bridge Pedestal.

A bridge pedestal, or bearing plate, is an iron or steel casting that supports one corner of the bridge superstructure. The pedestal itself sits upon the abutment or a pier. This bridge is an abandoned single-track railroad bridge of the through-truss type (Whipple) built, by my estimation, sometime around 1890-1910 by the Chicago & NorthWestern on the now-abandoned line from Elgin north to Crystal Lake. It is part of a multi-span crossing of the Fox River at Carpentersville, Illinois, north of Dundee. The truss here spans from the eastern shore to a central island, and is supported by heavy timber pilings (visible at the bottom of the frame). The rails have been removed, but the deck cross-beams are mostly intact, allowing the intrepid (or foolish) photographer to traverse the entire structure. (The bridge is only a few feet above the water, which is only a few feet deep; not too dangerous, except to risk dunking my camera!) One of a group of shots for a study in textures.
The location of the bridge can be seen here [link]
Camera: Canon AE-1 SLR (35mm)
Lens: Canon type FD (fixed, 50mm)
Film: Kodak Tri-X silver-halide Pure Monochrome (ASA 400)
Exposure: f11 at 1/125.
Paper: Ilford MultiGrade IV RC (8"x10")
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