The Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge towers 200 feet above the windswept waters of Lakes Huron and Michigan.  “Mighty Mac” extends 5 miles across the Straits of Mackinac to link Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Before the bridge opened in 1957, travelers waited in long lines to cross the channel by ferry or drove all the way around Lake Michigan and through Wisconsin to get to the other side.  The Mackinac Bridge shortened the trip to a ten-minute drive and opened the Upper Peninsula to tourism – adding an estimated $100 million a year to Michigan’s tourist trade.

Bridge designers took special precautions for Michigan’s severe winter weather.  Grated openings between the center lanes improve airflow and prevent the road deck from being pushed up by strong winds.  During high winds, the road deck can also move up to 35 feet from side to side to keep the bridge from buckling.

Some drivers are uncomfortable crossing the Mighty Mac.  Bridge personnel call these commuters “timmies,” because they are too timid to drive across.  The bridge authority provides them with a chauffeur at no extra fee. 

On September 6, 2009, the 150 millionth vehicle crossed the Mackinac Bridge.

Stamp Issue: 2010.02.03

Bixby Creek Bridge

With the blue waters of the Pacific rolling out below and the rugged mountains of Santa Lucia in the background, the Bixby Creek Bridge carries travelers toward their destinations. The California landmark also connects people with nature. 

Completed in 1932, the Bixby Creek Bridge introduced automobile travel to Big Sur, California.  Prior to its opening, travelers endured rough wagon roads.  The 30-mile round-trip journey from Monterey to Big Sur used to take 3 days.  The bridge has improved travel and opened up tourism to the region.  

Bixby Bridge is a tourist destination in itself.  Using Art Deco style, the sweeping arch and slender columns make it appear part of the natural landscape.  Rather than cut through the countryside, Bixby was purposely designed to preserve and complement it.  The two large pillars are set wide apart, allowing Bixby Creek to run its natural course.  The columns are also set directly into the canyon wall, reducing the amount of excavation needed.

Bixby Creek Bridge is one of the most recognizable landmarks in California.  Spanning Rainbow Canyon, the bridge combines art, conservation, and function.  Its beauty is matched only by the ocean waves crashing on the sandy shores below.

Stamp Issue: 2010.02.03

Technical Monuments - Historic bridge in Písek

The Stone Bridge in Písek (also known as the Stag Bridge) is the oldest still-standing stone bridge in Bohemia. The bridge, spanning the Otava river, was the second stone bridge in Bohemia (after the already not existing Judith bridge in Prague). The exact date of its building is unknown, but the style is gothic. It was first mentioned in writing in 1348 when Charles IV ordered the town councilors to use fines collected in the town for the maintenance of the bridge. A couple of gates with towers protected the bridge as well as the present historic town center on either side. The left-hand tower was destroyed by the flood of 1768, and the other one succumbed to wear and tear in 1825. The bridge is adorned by copies of the original, mostly 18th-century baroque sculptures and the Cavalry. The 6.5m wide structure, slightly bulging up the river, consists of six arches spanning 111 meters, built on pillars with an upward save edge. The normal height above the water level is 5.5m. As one of the few medieval bridges, still standing and used in Central Europe, the stone bridge is a unique rarity.

Stamp Issue: 2010.10.20

Technical Monuments - Cable-stayed bridge in Ústí nad Labem

Cable-stayed bridge - Mariánský Bridge in Ústí nad Labem, designed by the renowned architecture studio Roman Koucký, is one of the most distinctive and disputed projects built in the post-November 1989 Czech Republic. Following years of lengthy discussions about the location of the bridge, the city councilors decided to place it under the Mariánská Rock, a site best suited for the bridge's main role, i.e. combining the city's three quarters - the city center, Krásné Březno on the left bank and Střekov on the right bank of the Labe river. The 70m high bridge was built from 1993 to 1998 and became the city's new dominant. The height is not the only feature attracting the attention of people: the impossible-to-overlook system of steel cables suspending the 170m long bridge is similarly provoking. The architect designed the number of cables, and the height and shape of the pylon not only with respect to static but also to his artistic visions. For instance, the height of the pylon was to counterbalance the Mariánská Rock on the other side of the river. It also matches the height of the tower of the gothic church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary nearby.

According to the Structural Engineering International (SEI), Quarterly Journal of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), it is one of the ten most beautiful 1990s world buildings. It has also become the most expensive local project in the area of transport infrastructure since 1948, financed by a city. The city had to postpone the project of reconstruction of Mírové Square and other projects. Last year the bridge changed its owners: it has become the property of the Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic since June 26th, 2008.

Stamp Issue: 2010.10.20

Girder bridge

The next issue of the series “Architectural constructions. Bridges” is devoted to the girder bridges. Bridges with frameworks, the main load-carrying structures of which are beams or girders, are the most widespread in a modern bridge building. They are used in complex road interchanges. Distinctive feature of the girder system is that only vertical loads are transferred from the bridge superstructures to the piers and horizontal one are absent. Load transfer is carried out by a flexural element of a construction. Bridge structure depends on the size of overlapping of superstructures, the load on the bridge and the intensity of movement.

Depicted on the stamps:  

1. Jubilee Bridge over the River Volga in Yaroslavl 
2. Bridge across the Moscow Canal in the village Khlebnikovo Moscow region 
3. Viaduct over the valley of the river Matsesta in Sochi 
4. Bridge across the Kola Bay in Murmansk. 

Stamp Issue: 2010.09.15

750 years of Tczew

Polish Post has issued on the occasion of the 750th value Tczew anniversary of granting civic rights. The first mention of this village date back to the 1198th. Burned down in 1577 the fault of the troops Stefan Batory Foundation, the reconstruction of the effects of the war hit him with Sweden.

In the nineteenth century saw the rapid development of infrastructure. In the interwar period was built the first school in Poland sea. At the moment Tczew has 60,232 people. The biggest attractions include the stamp should be visible on the nineteenth-century bridge over the Vistula River (837 m), the Gothic Church of the Holy Cross in the thirteenth century with a baroque interior, and the neo-Gothic town hall of the early twentieth century (see in the FDC).

Stamp Issue: 2010-05-27
number 4336