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Saturday, October 2, 2010

Scaffolding taking down

On October 1st the contractors removed the scaffolding that has surrounded the Arch since construction started. For the first time, viewers could see the whole arch at once, and previously hidden elments such as the finial shown below.




The Mandarin language characters in the centre panel say Ottawa Chinatown. The removed scaffolding reveals the four mythical beasts -- two at the base of each column -- that guard the Arch. The beasts are a combination of lion and tiger and other ferocious animals. The two guardian lion sculptures have not yet been exposed, they are still covered with protective wood hoarding.




The electrical utility poles at the left are non-functional, ie they do not carry electricity. The electric service stops at the corner of Cambridge. These are left-over poles that haven't been removed because the city-owned utility wants too much money to remove them. Ottawa remains one of the more curious places in the world, in  that it finds overhead wiring inoffensive and indeed features it on otherwise totally rebuilt and landscaped streets.

1 comment:

  1. Great shots, Eric. Shame about the hydro poles, I hadn't realized that they were redundant.

    Grand opening 7 October, 16:00.

    Mar.

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