Posted on 12/22/2022 8:40:28 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Eleven months after a catastrophic collapse into a Frick Park ravine, a new Fern Hollow Bridge was celebrated Wednesday as a model of unprecedented intergovernmental cooperation and an engineering marvel, completed in the fraction of the time needed for similar projects.
Final railing installation work continued as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and other elected officials gathered in the cold sunshine for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the four-lane Forbes Avenue span, which links Regent Square and surrounding neighborhoods to Squirrel Hill. The bridge could be open for traffic as early as Thursday, but the completion date PennDOT officials have given is before the end of the year.
“We looked in horror at what happened at this bridge,” Mr. Wolf told several dozen people on hand for the ceremony. “I saw the damage. This is the power of government that works for people.”
The bridge collapse was also a “visceral reminder in a race to repair our infrastructure,” he said.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald echoed the sentiment, saying, “Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure — we got to make sure we invest in infrastructure.”
Pennsylvania is in line for $1.6 billion in bridge repair money, state Secretary of Transportation Yassmin Gramian said. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which earmarked $350 billion for highway repairs through 2026, has already helped fix 2,400 Pennsylvania bridges this year.
“We were all in this together,” she said, adding that the new bridge marked a “major milestone in the wake of a tragic accident.”
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Well, that’s one bridge I will avoid.
Glowing, gushing exultation over man’s achievements is a certain way to curse them.
Wow. PPG never fails with the hyperbole. View the video at the link to see what PPG considers an engineering marvel. It’s a true masterpiece of civil engineering🤣🤣🤣
Yup. Ought to be rated R: Lots of self-gratification going on...
Seriously: I wanted to see this ‘engineering marvel’.
Then I found a pic of the bridge. ROFLMAO
Worse, NTSB still lists NO CAUSE of the collapse after almost a YEAR.
On another matter what happens when an EV catches fire in parking garage with prestressed planks? Just throwing that out there.
Almost like the newspaper didn't have any interns to send out on a cold, icy day to snap a pic.
The bridge opened with a single lane of traffic in each direction. The shared-use path on the southern side of the span is open to bicycles and pedestrians.
Looks like any of thousands of other concrete quick build bridges to me. As part of a $1.3 BILLION dollar political payoff.
There was a bridge replaced near me.
It was an old wooden single lane structure from the 20’s/30’s.
They local town has been trying to get it replaced for at least 10 years could be 20 time fly’s.
Good infrastructure makes this country great.
Saves me an extra 4 miles each trip.
Increases the value of my property and the timber on it.
I am sure the people that use the new bridge here and there really like it.
Buying votes could be, seeing the need could be.
Don’t like paying for roads don’t drive don’t buy fuel.
The gas tax that pays for most of these projects is a user tax.
Don’t use them don’t pay.
Florida put entire causeways up in a matter of days after this latest hurricane. I’m not seeing an engineering marvel. Typical hyperbole from DemocRats. If they did it, it must be the best thing since sliced bread.
I stopped reading at that point.
The real marvel is how the bridge just happened to collapse only hours before Brandon came to town to push the infrastructure bill.
The city ignored the obvious deterioration and spent the money on “more worthwhile” political projects.
There’s nothing particularly innovative about the new bridge.
They used very long precast beams which are a common construction technique.
I saw Fetterman speak on the TV at the VA the day of the collapse. It was obvious then he wasn’t suitable for political office.
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Cause of collapse - background for Biden photo op.
Video of walking across bridge makes it seem very bouncy. Also it doesn’t look like four lanes.
And that is a marvel on engineering?????????????
They made it wide enough to have four lanes … but added one bike lane (maybe a second?) and spend more time patting themselves on the back rather than solving traffic problems.
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