A few bricks, some steel and a well-placed strip of concrete can do some pretty amazing things.

That combination, in the form of the Natchez Trails Project, has managed to take great advantage of one of the city’s best assets — its perch atop of the majestic Mississippi River.

The Natchez Trails bring together young and old, rich and poor, locals and tourists to enjoy the scenery and a nice walk, exploring the beautiful world around us.

We’ve often said everything started in Natchez with the river. Quite literally none of us would be here were it not for the unique position high above the river.

Fortunately, the folks with the Community Alliance have another plan in place to add what is effectively a perch from which to view the river — the Bridge of Sighs.

Sections of the pre-fabricated bridge arrived in Natchez last week and will go up soon, weather permitting.

The bridge improves what is already a great accomplishment. What’s next is anyone’s guess.

Unfortunately, the bluff is mostly owned by the City of Natchez and not controlled with the good minds at the Community Alliance.

The politics of the bluff make things complicated when they don’t need to be. Over the past several years, plans for the bluff have morphed — seemingly on the whims of various developers and occupants of the mayor’s office.

The city has destroyed a Mississippi Landmark — the former Natchez Pecan Company factor — to make way for a condo development, which never occurred.

Shouldn’t the city take a more direct, more measured approach? It would seem — particularly if none exists — prudent to simply create a master plan for what we as a collective community want, and don’t want, on the bluff.

Maybe when the Bridge of Sighs goes up, a few more folks will become inspired to protect the beautiful of the place.