still not dead yet
on 06/24/2013 at 02:44 PM
Back to bed four eyes,we need a healthy bridge spotter, not the memory of one.
Take it easy - getting well is job one.
I did not really realize how many really OLD bridge structures were still working here in the Beaver state (Beaver State,Sounds dirty kinda Huh).But look at this old 1931 piece of Highway 101 still keeping pace with the 21st century;
http://bridgehunter.com/or/lincoln/bh45442/
There Drew, not you can sleep in peace for another day.I have a childhood memory of this span as back in 63 we were on our way up to Walla Walla to see relatives ,which meant travelling east on I-84. As it happens that was during the years the I-84 freeway was all new and we were constantly slowed by construction (bridges/exit ramps etc). So on this trip low and behold the span in this article at Bridgehunter was sitting neatly in a twisted pile at the bottom of the ravine ( this as before the John Day dam was backflooded).The engineers had miscalculated the load requirements and used beams of inferior capability and the center spans failed catastrophically. No one died and most curious I can’t find information on the failure anywhere so far.Anyway, Mom had to navigate a torturous dirt detour ODOT had arranged while the new span was rebuilt.Somewhere in her old ceder chest are pics we took from the bottom of the ravine but I haven’t thought to dig em out( Note to self).From above its as forgettable as any overpass but you really got a sense of the scope of this structure from waaay down at the bottom.
http://bridgehunter.com/or/gilliam/108B00211455/Take care....
On the glasses… I have a pair of wire frames from America’s Best… (2 pair for $70) I fell asleep in them and damaged the part where the upper and lower frames screw together. Stripped the threads. What I did was to wrap the joint with some fine monofilament fishing line and seal it with glue. Looks ugly, but it works.
On bridges… This one in Michigan isn’t nearly as old as those on the East Coast, but it’s scenic.
http://www.historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=truss/us2/There’s a Tolkeinesque wooden door underneath leading into the abutment. Last time I was up there, someone had painted “T. Troll” on it. I guess the highway department must have given up on cleaning it off and now has a brass plate reading “T. Troll” on that door.
