Week 8 - more ideas

This has been a week of more trials and an exciting visit - you might not think so, but I went on a behind the scenes tour of the A465 road works between Gilwern and Brynmawr? The engineering is fantastic as is the attention to detail - the use of corten steel on the bridge structures, reminding us of the iron industry that used to occupy this valley. Then there is the fantastic limestone stonework linking the new road to the quarries high up on the hillsides; they have even used dark mortar in the sections by "Black Rock Quarry"!

The textures, the contrasts as the metal sits next to polished concrete, the piles of materials waiting to be used that look just like the piles of old metalwork at Big Pit! Then there is the respect that modern day engineers have for the engineers of the past - there are spots where you can see 3 layers of bridges, and the new road runs alongside the canal, an incredible construction created over 200 years ago.

I don't know how this visit will fit into my work, but the understanding of what is being created, as well as the connections that there are between modern day engineering and the past have given me many new threads to explore!