Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Hoan Bridge is Falling Down, My Fair Doylie!

Good ol' Jimbo. A legacy of fallen bridges to go with theft-by-fraud from the highway "trust" fund and from the State's doctors.

Small pieces of concrete have fallen from the Hoan Bridge, a Wisconsin Department of Transportation official said, prompting a plan to hang a net beneath the Milwaukee structure.

...Although the bridge is structurally sound, cracking concrete is another sign the span needs to be rebuilt or redecked, said Patricia Jursik, a Milwaukee County supervisor who has pressured WisDOT to engineer the project for more than a year.

“It’s well beyond its life expectancy, and everybody knows that,” Jursik said. “This thing was supposed to be redecked at the last budget cycle, but it wasn’t.

The next Governor, Scott Walker, will undoubtedly be forced to include the re-decking in his next budget--assuming that OTHER bridges don't simply collapse due to Doyle's malfeasance.

Given that water seepage is the problem, Walker could take a look at this:

Materials researchers have found ways to extend pavement life to more than a century. Konstantin Sobolev, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee associate professor, is trying to build on that success and to further improve concrete’s ability to withstand water damage.

It will NOT come as a surprise to learn that the RoadBuilder Lobby is not enthused about Sobolev's research. But objections about route- or capacity-changes don't really apply to the Hoan, and should NEVER apply to that corridor.

8 comments:

Tim Morrissey said...

Extend pavement life a century? What? And put all those construction workers out of a job? Where's "Concrete Clete" Vandereparren when you need him?

capper said...

Or they could do the fiscally responsible thing and just tear the dumb thing down.

Dad29 said...

Annoucement:

Capper Joins MMAC's Capitalist Pig Developer Group.

Story to follow at 6:00 PM.

Amy said...

Except that lots of people use the bridge, and the 794 parkway, to get to/from work and the South Shore.

Anonymous said...

The best option is redeck. The land ::cannot:: be redeveloped, by federal law, because it is land reclaimed from the lake. The lobbies/builders know this. It would require law changes in DC that would affect nationwide, and environuts won`t let that happen.

Unknown said...

So they should sell Helmets instead of T-shirts at Summerfest this year.

Disgruntled Car Salesman said...

Absolutely friggin MINT!

Libenthal, you are a scream, aren't you?

capper said...

No, they are selling the helmets at the courthouse,

Amy, there is I-94 for for the southsiders to use. Everyone else in the county manages without their own special bridge, I'm sure they can as well.