Interstate 35W Bridge, 3:50 p.m. Tuesday. (Click once or twice for larger view)

Roadguy was out of town over the holiday weekend, but I still wanted to check out the almost-closed gap in the new bridge. Late afternoon wasn’t the best time for photos because the views from the 10th Avenue Bridge are sort of backlit, but in person it was worth seeing. In coming days, the gap will be filled with wooden forms so that the final piece can be poured, so if you’re gap-curious, now is the time to check it out.

I also went upriver, to another notable riverfront cantilever, to take in the view from there:

(If only all our bridges never ended. Alas.)

Compared with the one that collapsed, the new 35W bridge will allow better views of the arches of the 10th Avenue Bridge:

The view will be further improved once all the construction equipment is gone — and that will be mighty soon.

It’s apparently “long form” week here at Roadguy: A correspondent we’ll call Busboy offers us the following 1,300 words about his recent switch to the bus. Check it out, and share your thoughts below.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE

I am 8:49 a.m. attractive: Guys with white t-shirts tucked into khakis.

The earlier you ride the city bus, the more attractive the passengers. I make the cut close to 9 a.m., when I should already be sitting at my desk slouching towards spinal deformity, pecking at my keyboard and menacing sources over the phone. This is one of the many startling lessons I’m learning as a newly christened bus rider. I didn’t particularly like this lesson in vanity, but I certainly couldn’t ignore it either.

I became a bus rider on Friday the 13th when a commercial-size van drove full-speed into the rear end of my 2000 silver Honda Civic about 11 a.m., crushing the trunk flush with the backseat. I knew deep in my heart that the $10,725 car I paid off last October was headed to the big parking lot in the sky, but I dutifully plucked a banana from the shards of glass and strewn miscellany and threw it into a nearby trash can. I didn’t want it smelling like rotten fruit. That’s how much I loved my car. Goodbye, dear friend.

That first Monday post-crash I enthusiastically prepared for my life as a mass-transit taker. I awoke at 7:30 a.m. and was aboard the Number 6 bus by 8:25 a.m., just about the time I usually dragged my carcass out of bed for the breezy 8-minute drive to work. I figured that 35 minutes was plenty of time to get downtown and walk six blocks to the office.

I was starting a new life. I was going to up the ante on my eco-friendliness. I plunked eight quarters into the farebox as savvier riders swiped magical cards past a magical device. Note to self: Get a card and save yourself the manic search for change every morning and the unsightly bulge in your pocket. I took the transfer ticket, knowing full well I wouldn’t use it. A memento by which to remember the dawn of my new life, I thought as I slipped it into my back pocket.

(more…)

This morning, some folks from MN2020 held a news conference at the closed Lowry Avenue Bridge to release the results of a survey of the state’s county engineers, who are worried about funding for deteriorating roads. The full report is available here.

While the think-tankers were sharing their thoughts, Roadguy was quite surprised to see this:

Yes, these pedestrians went over the barricades to cross the bridge. (Click to enlarge to see whether it’s anyone you know.) I also took a picture of how they did it, but I’m keeping that to myself — we don’t want to give alert reader Bonnie, who misses walking her dog across the bridge, any ideas.

It’s not good to have pedestrians on an unsafe bridge, but do we really want to resort to razor wire and 24-hour guards? Share any thoughts or ideas below.

I got the chance to visit the construction site of the new 35W bridge last week, and I have to say that the place feels a bit like the back lot of a movie studio. Let’s have a click-to-enlarge look:

There are mountains of concrete that might have been broken up by Godzilla…

… terraces befitting an adventure movie set in the Andes …

… and a portal straight out of “Battlestar Galactica”:

Sadly, no Hollywood blockbusters are actually being filmed on the site. The broken-up concrete is the old 35W pavement near Washington Aveune, the “terraces” are where the new roadbed is being dug, and the “portal” — on the south end of the bridge — is where Roadguy got to go inside one of the girders that make up the bridge:

It was very “Indiana Jones,” complete with a small pool of murky water to wade through. This view is looking toward the river; the narrow opening where the light is coming from is directly over the pier and required some ladder action:

(So much for using the inside of the girder for an extra lane of traffic.)

Here’s the view looking back toward land from the farthest segment over the water:

The tubes sticking out of the floor are for injecting grout, and if you look closely, you’ll see evidence of recent human activity: some aluminum cans and half an orange.

Back in the cast-in-place girder — the part over West River Parkway — the ceiling has dozens of these:

Each one corresponds to a precast segment being attached over the river. Cables are threaded through:

And secured like this…

…with these:

Outside the bridge, this guy was doing the threading, sending the cables hundreds of feet into the interior:

Inside, it remained quiet:

The trapeze-looking things hanging from the ceiling will eventually hold lights, anti-icing equipment and “smart” technology that will monitor the bridge. The three conduits on each side will hold mega-cables that will run the length of the bridge.

Also happening while I was there: Paint…

… and everybody’s favorite color, “snowbound white,” got everywhere:

And finally, a shot from up on the ever-expanding deck, where there’s no plumbing, but there is…

No, it’s not for a party; it’s for keeping concrete at the right temperature. But even without ice, the tour would have been pretty darn cool.

Four quick things I learned on my Wednesday road trip to Winona:

1) The Giant Eraser has visited Rochester:

2) Greenery sometimes wanders the streets of Winona:

3) Winona’s City Hall has some very nice framed pictures of the now-troubled bridge when it was being built:

4) The bridge is still strong enough to support a portable toilet:

(And if you didn’t see the story I contributed to, it’s here — yes, ferries in Winona.)

The other day, Roadguy went down to the new 35W bridge. As usual, there was plenty to see and photograph, so I tried the Strib’s new photo-sharing application — click on the pic below to check it out.

We’re still kicking the tires on this (I’m hoping for larger displays, for one thing), but what’s handy is that now you, the alert reader, can directly upload your own transportation-related photos and captions to a category called Road pix. Be sure to give me a heads-up if you post something so I can link to it.

In other news, remember the Welcome to Work Pothole? Well, on Monday, I was quite surprised to see that, thanks to a dollop of asphalt, it is no more:

And on Tuesday, of course, I got reassigned to a different parking lot. It’s a better spot, but we’ll see what sort of topographical treats await.