How about forever?
Love locks on the Two Cent Bridge
This week we visited Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where David gave a math talk. On our first night in town, after dinner at Mainely Brews (ha ha!), we took a walk and discovered the Ticonic Footbridge (a.k.a. the Two Cent Bridge), a pedestrian walkway over the Kennebec River, which was constructed in 1901 to connect workers living in town with the mills on the other side of the water. The toll for crossing was initially one cent, but when the first bridge washed out within a year and needed to be rebuilt, the toll became two cents and remained that way for decades. Today, it is still referred to as the Two Cent Bridge even though it is free to cross.
The bridge has been structurally reinforced a number of times over the years. In its current iteration, it’s become a popular spot for hanging locks to symbolize love or friendship. For example, I’m thinking this might have been the site of a marriage proposal:
When I consider memorialization, I think about both the satisfaction it brings to those doing the memorializing and the hope that accompanies it of prolonging time to obscurity. Love locks exemplify this. A couple or a group of friends can symbolically illustrate their lasting commitment and others will be able to observe their vow as long as the bridge holds and the locks remain intact.
But locks exposed to natural elements will decay, and if too many people hang locks, they can present a risk to the integrity of the bridge. In Paris, the Pont des Arts became such a popular tourist spot for hanging locks that eventually the city had to take action to deter people from adding more. In addition to removing existing locks and installing panels covering the areas where locks could be hung, they initiated a #lovewithoutlocks campaign asking people to take selfies and post them on social media instead of putting another lock on the bridge.
This is an example of the tragedy of the commons principle in economics, which basically states that when a resource is freely available, people can overuse it and diminish its value. A love lock bridge is sweet, but too many locks, and they’ll all be swimming in the Seine.
Memorialization is an attempt to prolong obscurity, but like Guns N’ Roses taught us, nothing lasts forever. Does it make sense to delay the inevitable?
Here are some more of the locks from the Two Cent Bridge.
Great read!! Did not realize this