Posted on 12/10/2004 7:37:09 AM PST by SmithL
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is expected to scrap the costly signature design for the Bay Bridge's new eastern span and will instead recommend building a simple skyway, sources close to the negotiations said Thursday.
The shift away from a single-tower suspension span to a viaduct, similar in concept to the San Mateo and Dumbarton bridges, is expected to be announced today at a press conference in San Francisco, sources in state and local government said on condition they not be identified.
The decision to go with a skyway brings the state all the way back to the original design for the eastern span proposed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson in 1997. At the time, Bay Area leaders rejected it as unworthy of the region's splendor.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Sign near bridge
Note to dog owners:
Northern California gets very hot in the summer.
The bridge surface is too hot for dogs to walk on.
Also remember not to leave your dogs or pets in the vehicle.
Heat can kill.
The architect, Santiago Calatrava, is the same guy who was hired to build the structures for the Athens Olympics. That means the bridge gets worldwide recognition as a thing of beauty, and Redding with it. Plaudits have come from around the world, and that means tourism, unlike merely doubling the acreage in the park. If you do a Google Search on "Turtle Bay" + "Sundial Bridge" you'll get over 1,100 references, for "Sundial Bridge" alone there are over 3,300. I guess the word is getting out.
It's all part of Redding becoming a city, something that doesn't thrill me but is part of having a growing population. Museum attendance was nearly 53,000 people in its first five months. It takes time, but such things usually do pretty well for a community over the long run.
Time will tell, but if I were you and I cared about Redding, I'd stop slamming the thing and start looking for opportunities instead of dumping mindless bitching with no understanding of economics. That this thing is inducing over one third its cost in new investment in its first year is quite promising.
Oh, the Athens that wondered where all the money went?
Why? You said you lived 300 miles away and didn't go to Redding.
...if anybody actually wanted to stay in Redding for any length of time. Which they don't. ;)
Projects like Sundial are why CA has an enormous debt and recalled GDavis.
$3? big deal. the Verrazano bridge in NYC is going to $9 in a few months.
Uh, your right. I always do a google search on "Turtle Bay"+"Sundial Bridge" before I plan my vacation. I am sure everyone else does also.
Local attractions should be paid for by local money. If the benefit can't be seen there then the project should'nt be funded.
The bay bridge should be funded by the state in a minimalist fashion (keeping 80 running is'nt local). Making it a tourist attraction is up to the locals.
The foundation has since indulged every whim for the sculptor and engineer. When Calatrava changed his mind - twice - about rounding off a corner of a plaza wall, the foundation didn't blink at the $11,000 cost to replace and then re-replace the section.
Calatrava doesn't like exposed concrete, so even rarely seen portions of the bridge and its abutments are shielded by broken Spanish tile. Structural pipes came from Spain, cables from England, the three-layer laminated glass bridge deck from Canada, patio stone from Italy and Mexico.
"We were able to go as wild as you can imagine. You could never do this with just regular government spending," Warren said."
You could never do this with just regular government spending," Warren said.
That last sentence says it all. Elites gone wild with the taxpayers money!
That's true .. it's the salty air - it "scrubs" the bridge of paint and they have to repaint it. IIRC it takes 3 years to go from one end to the next. Then .. they just start over again.
They shouldn't.
Local attractions should be paid for by local money. If the benefit can't be seen there then the project should'nt be funded.
Please re-read Post 13 before you misconstrue what I have written:
I can't for the life of me see how you would disagree with that.
BS. You might as well similarly deride the Golden Gate Bridge.
I agree completely.
Funny you have such a different opinion when "Redding" replaces "Bay".
I accept the fact that you don't like the bridge (which says more about you than it does about the bridge). It's already paying over a third of its construction cost with new investment in the first year. A bigger park would never have done that. Find me another public works project with that kind of return.
You miss the point. The Elites in Redding gave him a blank check and used our tax money to pay for their boondoggle.
I am an Engineer and know that it is totally unreasonable to give blank checks to the builder. This probably violated several CA laws but G. Davis was in office so the liberal democrats could do whatever they wanted to with our tax money.
How would you like to get an estimate of $1000 for a new driveway and when it was finished get billed for $10,000?
No proof the bridge did that. Besides, with the 20,000 million you could have built three hotels.
they should build it to be functional, safe, and earthquake-proof. If you'd seen the sections of bridges felled and the many overpasses damaged beyond repair during the World Series quake, you'd rethink the meaning of cheap.
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