Friday, September 27, 2013

Building Bridges With My Boston Globe

I thought I would attempt a more positive relationship and tone with my regional flagshit this morning, and not the daily dose of criticism they earn each day:

"Many US bridges found to be at risk; Some Mass. spans ‘fracture critical’" by Joan Lowy | Associated Press, September 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — An analysis of more than 600,000 bridges in the federal goverrnment’s latest National Bridge Inventory showed that 65,605 were classified as structurally deficient and 20,808 as being at risk of developing a fracture in a crucial component.

Of those, 7,795 were both — a combination of red flags that experts say indicate significant disrepair and risk of collapse, the review by the Associated Press found....

Despite the ominous-sounding classifications, officials say that even bridges that are structurally deficient and fracture critical are not about to collapse....

Many fracture-critical bridges were erected in the 1950s to 1970s during construction of the interstate highway system because they were relatively cheap and easy to build. Now they have exceeded their designed life expectancy but are still carrying traffic.

In Massachusetts, several dozen bridges are deemed fracture critical, according to the AP review.

State Highway Administrator Frank DePaola said Massachusetts is moving to make repairs as quickly as funds allow.

But first they have to pay banks' debt interest, cut corporate welfare checks, fund any other well-connected intere$t, cut their own pay and perks, and then we will see what pile of tax loot is leftover for all the other things. Okay?

Until then, rigorous inspection, interim repairs and steps to protect vulnerable bridge components — such as using barriers to shield them from cars — ensure all the flagged bridges are safe for travel, he said.

RelatedLocal bridges deemed deficient 

But they are making progress on fixing them and there is nothing to worry about. Everything's all right, yes, everthing's fine.

‘‘We have a term for unsafe bridges, and that is ‘closed,’ ’’ DePaola said.

Okay. Drive on over.

In 2008, Massachusetts began an eight-year, $3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program to cut into its backlog of bridges in need of repair and replacement. It has since reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges from 543 to 463, or about 9 percent of the state’s 5,127 bridges, DePaola said.

It's progress!

He said about two-thirds of the fracture-critical bridges in the state are either being repaired, or the review and permitting process to repair them has started. That leaves roughly a third ‘‘waiting for us to have enough funds to replace them.’’

Man, I'm so happy we have such a better government that all other states.

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Related:

"Bay Area’s new $6.4 billion bridge in business; Span opens nearly 24 years after earthquake" by Sudhin Thanawala |  Associated Press, September 04, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO — New bridge, same traffic.

The gleaming white and newly built $6.4 billion eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge handled its first morning commute Tuesday with few problems other than the traffic snarls that were common around the old span.

California Highway Patrol Officer Sam Morgan said traffic heading into San Francisco on the bridge around noon was a little heavier than usual, possibly because of excitement about the new bridge. ‘‘Some are making it a recreational event.’’

I guess the defective rods and bolts would have something to do with the excitement.

And what do you mean a Chinese company built it?

Officers have not encountered any instances of people pulling over to take pictures of the span, Morgan said.

But Officer Daniel Hill told San Jose-based KNTV-TV that some drivers were warned or cited for taking photos and cellphone video while driving.

One person also received a warning for driving and taking pictures on the closed section of the old bridge, Morgan said.

The new, self-anchored suspension span with its single looming white tower opened Monday night, hours after a low-key inaugural ceremony and after years of delays and cost overruns.

It replaces a structure damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The replacement span is designed to withstand the strongest earthquake estimated by seismologists to occur at the site over a 1,500-year period.

The new bridge’s bike and pedestrian path opened Tuesday, although it does not yet run the full length of the span.

I'm so sick of the agenda-pushing on the bike paths!

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan predicted the path itself would become a local attraction.

‘‘Just enjoying that will become an experience that people all over the Bay Area, and probably all over the world, are going to want to have,’’ she said.

You keep peddling that delu$ion.

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Got much more attention in print than the endemic neglect of rotting infrastructure.