Headlines from the last two days:
"Trooper gets eyeful from nude couple in I-90 stop"
"Wheel falls off another semitrailer on I-90"
"Motorcycles clocked at 132 mph on I-90"
UPDATE: Now there's another one!
"French Fries spill onto I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass"
What's going on here?
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 15, 2007 10:33 AM | Email ThisThat might be the 24-pt headline in the daily(ies?) six years from now.
Sound Transit actually wants to grind six inches of concrete off the top of the middle span, lay down stupendously heavy rails, and pour several tons of new concrete over that damage to the existing structure. Then of course a November storm will hit, the newly-unstable structure will develop faults, and the dramatic falling-apart/sinking will be recorded by dozens of videographers.
Posted by: ward cleaver on June 15, 2007 11:18 AMI posted this two years ago, on this thread.
http://www.soundpolitics.com/archives/004927.html
16. The new I-90 bridge when built we were promised it was rail-ready, all the weight and stress issues were engineered in at the beginning.Posted by: JCM on June 15, 2007 12:00 PMOpps.
The bus tunnel had rails pre-installed just cut the wheel flange channel and bingo rail in the tunnel. The forgot to electrically isolate the rails. putting 600VDC in to the rails embedded in the concrete would lead to current flowing into the rebar, causing corrosion of the rebar and weakening and failure of the concrete. The result is the rails in the tunnel have to be dug up an reinstalled correctly for electric rail.
Two planned projects we were told would be rail ready, ARE NOT. It was sold as saving money making the bridge and tunnel rail ready. Now because of the stupidity, negligence, arrogance and criminal conduct of the government planners. It is costing us far more to "correct" their little "uh-oh."
Any F'ng wonder we are a little bent out of shape we the same con artists tell us gives 9.5 cents more and we'll do it right this time.
NO WAY, NO HOW
Posted by: JCM on August 12, 2005 01:59 PM
Even to this day most of Europe and Asia Minor continue to use 2000 year old roman roads.
They've been resurfaced, widened and have had a few nasty spots altered, but if Roman time traveler arrived tomorrow, he'd know what road he was on.
Unfortunately for us in the PNW, we did not have roman here to pre-create our transportation infrastructure.
Also unforatunate is the fact that we have ludites in our planning departments who see traffic congestion as a good thing.
Posted by: deadwood on June 15, 2007 12:28 PMWhile you nailed that whole fiasco on the head it was not because they "forgot" to insulate the rails it was because they decided NOT to insulate the rails in order to save money on the project.
Posted by: Truth Detector on June 15, 2007 01:26 PMThere I times I feel a twinge of nostalgia for how Stalin ran things. The wall and a cigarette.
Posted by: JCM on June 15, 2007 03:13 PMJust because I drive I-90 every day doesn't mean you need to accuse me of this too.
They're completely coincidental...
To handle both buses and trains, the tunnel has to be closed for a retrofit to accommodate the latest light rail technology, which has changed significantly since the tunnel was first designed and constructed in the late 1980s. To take advantage of the new low-floor rail cars, the roadbed in the stations must be lowered and rails replaced. Electrical, mechanical, and safety systems will be upgraded. The closure is also an opportunity to refurbish stations to an extent that wouldn't be possible if it remained open for service.
JCM & Truth, why do you imply this isn't true?
Regardless of the reason, the question is whether they made a reasonable decision when they built the tunnel. Sometimes you make a good decision that, due to unexpected events, has a bad outcome. Other times, of course, people just make bad decisions. I have no idea which is the case here.
Posted by: Bruce on June 15, 2007 04:00 PMWhat's really going on, on I-90? Life.
Posted by: thor on June 15, 2007 08:01 PMwaiting for the next reality show: "Life on the Flip-Flop" by any state trooper--real life stories of amazement--maybe tied into Ripley;s
or, "A day at the orifice" by any ER staffer with their wild tales of human endeavors & drama...
(...and no subtitles in other languages, thank you! English or bust)
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on June 15, 2007 10:37 PM