I-195 Bridge Closure, R.I. 10

[Sym P. le]

"Critical failure" closes I-195 west on Washington Bridge in Providence, Rhode Island - CBS

Casey Jones - Youtube has already done a review - Why does it take three days to close a bridge?

The failed anchor rod is part of the center span. I don't know which pier is involved. There is an east and west span so it will be interesting to learn if deterioration is similar on the alternate span.

Google Street View

 

[Pud]

Our local council have just started repairs on a local bridge. (Northumberland, UK).
It's only 400 yrs old this year.

https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/N...r-Berwick-bridge-starting-ahead-of-400th.aspx

Politicians like to panic, they need activity. It is their substitute for achievement.

 

[IRstuff]

A design, however good, or bad, is ultimately limited by maintenance; the Golden Gate bridge essentially has continuous maintenance, had the maintenance lapsed, it would have rusted and corroded and collapsed by now. This effect is easily seen in houses, where two houses, built exactly the same, can show differences in wear and tear, based on whether the homeowners protected exposed wood, etc.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[dik]

Neglect is a whole other issue. With proper care, the lifetime can be greatly extended.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Murph 9000]

There are now allegations and an investigation of possible fraud around "construction, inspection, and/or repair" of the bridge, from the US Department of Justice.

Casey Jones - Was this Bridge Closed because of Fraud?

 

[Sym P. le]

The Findout meter be goin' Ding Ding Ding .....

 

[dik]

Part of the letter includes:

Any time I've provided forensic reports, I've completed them on my laptop... and with technincal material, there may be more than half a dozen drafts. Once I've completed the report, I then uploaded it to the project file (This occasionally would irritate IT guys, but I could accommodate that). Most medium or large companies with an IT have a server system that automatically provided a daily (or whatever) backup. My approach only left one copy.

I do that with all reports that I've prepared for other companies.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Cool_Controls]

There is a rather unfortunate practice in some government agencies that when a consultant tells you his report is going to bare bad news, you tell the consultant to submit a draft copy (and never ask for a final copy) This is done because many FOIA laws exempt drafts. I worked for a state agency for a time and saw this practice first hand.

 

[dik]

Sometimes it cannot be avoided such as, "...including all drafts." That's pretty specific. If required to provide a 'draft' I would only copy it from lawyer to lawyer to maintain attorney-client priviledge.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Sym P. le]

I spent some time on this weeks ago and couldn't make much sense of it. I guess that was by design, a design better than the structural one.

 

[FacEngrPE]

Part of the back story

https://www.wpri.com/target-12/legal-battles-and-delays-why-washington-bridge-repairs-have-taken-so-long/[/URL]]State highway officials were well aware five years ago that the westbound side of the Washington Bridge was in bad shape.

NBC 10 I-Team: Draft report analyzes Washington Bridge, but makes no recommendation. by NBC 10 NEWSThu,port which is att February 22nd 2024 at 3:56 PM Updated Thu, February 22nd 2024 at 6:42 PM
This report included a draft copy of the engineering report, which is planned to be released in a few weeks. Copy attached to this message.

 

[Sym P. le]

Thx. Looks bad.

 

[FacEngrPE]

Video just out. A review of the draft report.
Why I think the Washington Bridge W.B. Lanes Must be Replaced NOW! - Casey Jones PE

 

[FacEngrPE]

More drama. Real progress comes later?

https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/briefs/feds-extend-deadline-for-ridot-to-turn-over-washington-bridge-records/[/URL]]The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) has an extra three weeks to deliver documents and records related to the partial Washington Bridge closure to the federal government.

New date is March 18 2024.

https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2024/03/01/east-bay-lawmakers-want-monthly-updates-from-ridot-on-washington-bridge-closure/[/URL]]An East Bay lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) to produce a monthly public report with updates on the response to the partial closure of the Washington Bridge.

It seems that it is not just the FEDS that have a trust problem with RDOT.
Reciently published - Travel Time Dashboard seems useful.

MAP: Here are the structurally deficient bridges in RI by: Eli Sherman, Tim White; Target 12 The number of bridges reported as "Poor" is 14% of the total.

 

[Sym P. le]

The bridges are so bad it's beyond laughable. Why aren't the voters holding their governments to account?

Google Maps

 

[Cool_Controls]

There is nothing more permanent than a temporary fix that works.

 

[MTNClimber]

Sym P. le - FWIW, That's the Route 37 overpass. They are currently working on replacing all of the bridges along Route 37. This temporary shoring was done as part of the work to hold off on replacing this span until later in the project schedule. The contractor that initially won the job recently went out of business, which may explain why this bridge section hasn't been replaced yet. They dragged their feet on that job hoping for a miracle to save their butt. The new contractor that took over seems to be working slightly faster than the previous one.

Ironically, that contractor went out of business shortly after losing the bid to do work on the Washington Bridge. Here's the owner's middle finger to RIDOT as his company was falling into the grave.

 

[3DDave]

Is someone in RIDOT going to prison? I'm thinking someone should be going to prison. No idea on the direct evidence, but the circumstantial evidence that suggests fraud is rather large.

 

[bugbus]

I don't know if this particular bridge failure is road salt-related, but it always blows my mind that road authorities in North America still allow this.

It would almost be more cost-effective in the long term to install hydronic heating in the deck, rather than have to replace bridges a good 50 years sooner than designed for.

 

[Murph 9000]

The energy costs to heat all that concrete above freezing are not insignificant. The Hammersmith flyover in London was built with electric heating elements in the deck, with an annual cost equivalent to £100,000 in 2021 for the electricity. There's also the question of longevity of the heating elements, with the system failing a "long time" before 2000 (the structure was built in 1961). More than a decade of using road salt then critically damaged the structure by 2011, with the posttensioning tendons severely corroded.

I guess the economics would more or less work out on it, as the repairs and creation of a new post-tensioning system around the structure have cost £100 million, so roughly 1000 years of the running cost of the electric de-icing system. Some of that repair cost would likely have been necessary even if the electric system had not failed, so it's not a direct comparison between the two costs.

 

[dik]

Salt deicing is common in colder NA climates...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik