Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Bridge Update

For those of you who do not live withing 25 yards of the Henley St. bridge, I would like to give you an update.

First, I would like to thank Britton Bridge Company and TDOT for stopping overnight construction. My life, my wife's life, and my dogs life have been much better since then so thank you.

Second, I would just like to say...

OMG WTF?!?!



If you haven't seen it recently the bridge has no accessible end remaining and is now being chopped apart in the middle. I am so very confused by this process, and it looks so counter-intuitive, that I crave some reasonable explanation so as to not sound too unintelligent to people when the look upon with stupefied wonder at the seeming ineptitude that is taking place in my back yard.

I know, I have a history degree and sell insurance, I should just trust the experts. Well bridge experts have been known to give us jewels like this:



So perhaps it won't be that bad but please, how can cutting the ground out from underneath the guys jack-hammering make sense? How will that last section get removed without some amazingly complicated fete?

Oh well, I doubt anyone at the bridge company reads this blog, since they can't be bothered to even set up a website.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you bitch anymore?

Robert said...

i noticed that yesterday ... so weird that they left the middle portion. also ... history degree = not qualified to weigh in

Anonymous said...

Of course! When in doubt please consider GAME DAY!
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/dec/08/firm-seeks-bridge-change-britton-bridge-llc-/

radioactivegan said...

I walk through Volunteer Landing on my way to work every day, and I was wondering the exact same thing. I'm an engineer ... it's nothing to do with your credentials; it just doesn't make much sense. I am really glad to hear they've stopped overnight construction, though.

regi said...

oh snap! pun intended.

Temple House said...

Engineering has come a long way since the Tacoma Bridge...so I wouldn't worry about that. Plus they are simply rebuilding what was there but with more sophisticated concrete mixes...plus the extra un-needed lane of course.

I must admit also living next to the bridge that the earth shattering jack hammering at four in the morning has subsided! It's wonderful. TDOT/Britton either heard us and respected a communities right to sleep or they happened to finish the job at hand. Either way it's nice now and I appreciate it a great deal.