Rumors of the Bridge of Strings completion were greatly exaggerated

Upon the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1884, circus showman P.T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants across the bridge to demonstrate its safety and to instill confidence in the people of New York. Yesterday at the official ribbon cutting ceremony of Jerusalem's Santiago Calatrava's Bridge of Strings, the municipality might have considered a herd of camels, but instead paraded over 20 journalists across the pedestrian walkway to show off Jerusalem's greatest architectural marvel since Herod's reign.

Construction was still being performed on the bridge, but the vast majority is clearly complete, with only a few cracks here and there that still need to be filled.

From the pedestrian walkway side of the bridge you can only see into Jerusalem, which is unfortunate, since the most beautiful view is certainly in the opposite direction. I guess we'll have to wait at least two years when the light rail is scheduled to begin operating in order to see the majestic view of the Jerusalem hills.

The ribbon cutting ceremony, using a pair of scissors made of gold (where does one buy gold scissors?) featuring Mayor Uri Lupolianski and Santiago Calatrava was anti-climatic, but the tension in the air was palpable as we all held our breaths and let out a collective sigh of relief as the bridge held when the ribbon was cut.

The general public was invited to celebrate the dedication of the bridge last night with much fanfare. Jerusalemite will bring you the details later today.

You can find previous Jerusalemite coverage of the Bridge of Strings here.

Photos of Santiago Calatrava's Bridge of Strings by Harry Rubenstein for Jerusalemite.