Random Thoughts....

xicedlovexoxo said:
The I-5 freeway bridge over the Skagit River just south of here collapsed last night. Incredible. I had a friend who got stuck in the traffic aftermath...just glad he wasn't on the bridge when it went.

Just earlier this year the Nooksack River bridge by my house got creamed by a truck that was too big and got itself stuck, and that's happened once before on our bridge...apparently, a truck was the catalyst for the Skagit bridge too, but he didn't get stuck. Now they're saying evidence has been discovered that the bridge wasn't even structurally sound to begin with, which is worrying...as they're also saying other bridges in the state are in the same boat.

Also, I hope they just take this opportunity and rebuild the whole dang thing. This is going to mess with the state's economy pretty badly, and that portion of I-5 will likely be closed for probably the rest of the year I imagine...but rebuilding the bridge with up-to-date design specs will probably be better in the end, or so I would hope.
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http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/bridges/

Our bridges are in a sorry state of repairs and it is just going to get worse because we barely spend enough money to maintain them as it is.
 
I know - something I find myself thinking about every time I'm stuck in traffic on one of the bridges across the Merrimack River here.
 
I'm supposed to be terrified of the Tappan Zee, and I went over that twice last Thursday. Don't look forward to the next time I go over it.
 
Oh, like High Speed 2 over here - Dr Beeching closed a similar link in the early 1960s. Now we are going to spend billions on a different route through the heart of the best bits of the English countryside to get to Birmingham 30 - 40 mins quicker. ...
 
We have a bridge here in town over the rail yard which connects the east and west sides of town. Several years ago it had a safety inspection and scored a 9. Out of 100. It's amazing how bad our bridges are in this country.
 
I know bridges are suppose to flex a little but, I hate being stuck in traffic on them and feeling it flex. :|
 
Nabster said:
We have a bridge here in town over the rail yard which connects the east and west sides of town. Several years ago it had a safety inspection and scored a 9. Out of 100. It's amazing how bad our bridges are in this country.
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9.

9?

9!?

How is that even possible?

From a news story back in 2007 here on Channel 10:

The three worst bridges are located in Cuyahoga and Lake counties, according to the database. Out of those, the Interstate 90 Innerbelt Bridge, located near Jacobs Field, has a sufficiency rating of 51.

How in the name of all that's Holy can a bridge get a 9? Is it upside down, on fire and being attacked by ninja tigers?


 
It's made of rope and planks of wood, and a few of the planks are broken in the middle.
 
Nah, it's just a big tree trunk. That's it - nothing securing it there, just a tree lying across the gap.
 
That American Girl said:
The three worst bridges are located in Cuyahoga and Lake counties, according to the database. Out of those, the Interstate 90 Innerbelt Bridge, located near Jacobs Field, has a sufficiency rating of 51.
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The Innerbelt Bridge?

On I-90?

In Cleveland?

I CROSSED THAT BRIDGE!!!! :shock:

I better not ask Nabster the condition of the bridge on I-80 crossing the Laramie River. (Although the Laramie is more like a creek compared to rivers like the North Platte.)
 
Given todays colder than usual weather, I decided to turn the heat back on in my apartment. Fan turned on but would not blow warm air. Either the apt complex turned off the heaters for the summer or something is broken on my end. Either way it's freezing in my apartment...
 
Emarline said:
Nah, it's just a big tree trunk. That's it - nothing securing it there, just a tree lying across the gap.
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I'm guessing a tree would get at least an 11...

Seriously..if we have all this money to send overseas...why in the hell can't we make our bridges safer? (Yes, I know...this isn't the politics thread, but DAYYYM!)


The bridge over the Scioto river downtown on Broad Street rated about a 60 something I think before it was torn down for the new one a few years back. I just cannot get my head around a bridge that rates a 9!
 
It's bad enough I can feel the tiniest movements (or think I feel movements, it might be the vertigo too) when I'm on the upper floors of a large building. Being stuck on bridges? I'd rather just park my car, get out and swim. And I can't swim. But that's marginally less scary for me than the possibility of being on the bridge if it collapses.

In other news, I saw Star Trek Into Darkness for the second time today. In IMAX 3D, no less. :mrgreen: I'm still not sure if I'm going to survive the withdrawals until it is released on DVD and I can watch it as many times as I want....
 
Today is ballsack.
 
Couple of things;

1) I'm back! Not that anyone cares but my exams are over now. Going back to Kent for a week tomorrow so will have the car from then on... :D

2) It feels weird that technically speaking now I am a bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. Fuck...yeah?

3) This just isn't the same anymore. Never thought I'd say it but the lack of Drew does actually make a huge difference...
[video=youtube;nZqk-WL7N1w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqk-WL7N1w[/video]
 
That American Girl said:
9.

9?

9!?

How is that even possible?

From a news story back in 2007 here on Channel 10:

The three worst bridges are located in Cuyahoga and Lake counties, according to the database. Out of those, the Interstate 90 Innerbelt Bridge, located near Jacobs Field, has a sufficiency rating of 51.

How in the name of all that's Holy can a bridge get a 9? Is it upside down, on fire and being attacked by ninja tigers?
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Well, the curbs on it along the road surface have eroded away multiple times and usually are crumbling off at any given time. There are generally multiple holes on the road surface you can look down through and see the railroad tracks below. It's also old and heavily traveled so it gets lots of wear. Technically speaking it's still safe for travel as the superstructure underneath and concrete and asphalt is fine, it's just a dump cosmetically and in constant repairs. The city has been waffling on and coming up with a plan to put up a new viaduct bridge to replace it since about 2007, but they're changing the location and necessitating some eminent domain issues with some properties in the proposed new location. There's also the issue of it crossing over a major railroad yard, I think it crosses over top of 13 different sets of tracks so all the railroads have to cooperate with construction as well.

There was another evaluation of the bridge 3 years ago, I'm assuming similar to the one you're quoting, that gives it a sufficiency rating of 43. Different type of rating but I distinctly remember being flabbergasted at the 9 the bridge got in when reading a newspaper article about it years ago.

This is the bridge in question.

CAPT_Howdy said:
I better not ask Nabster the condition of the bridge on I-80 crossing the Laramie River. (Although the Laramie is more like a creek compared to rivers like the North Platte.)
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The I80 bridges over the Laramie river are fine, a bit of research shows those rated at 97 going east and 96 going west. In town we like to live dangerously, but the interstates we take seriously.
 
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You know how a little while ago there was the Zooey Deschanel without bangs post? Well, here she is without makeup:

9qeIadh.jpg


For once, she actually looks her age! And that's not a bad thing. It's nice to see her looking more grown-up for once.
 
Went through security in the airport. It was the millimeter wave thing. They said "you're good, you just had a shiny spot on your head".

Oh you mean... MY HEAD? :mad: :p
 
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