A CASE OF THE SAGS

A CASE OF THE SAGS

(Green Bay Press Gazette, Scott Cooper Williams)

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lydia Mulvany, Kevin Crow)

(Wisconsin Transportation Department, Will Dorsey, Frazer Chronicle)

Those pesky corroded pilings apparently are at it again, this time in northeastern Wisconsin over the Fox River on the I-43 Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge. Anyways that’s the early verdict that is being floated by the investigation team. A spokesman for the Department of Transportation (DOT) said that the problem was a geotechnical issue.

Further reassuring words came from Kim Rudat, who stated that there was “that they (DOT) didn’t believe that the bridge was in any danger of collapse. “Pilings, which go about a hundred feet below the bridge, don’t usually fail.” There aren’t any bridges that the DOT is aware of where the pilings failed.

I’m gonna tell you, I’ll sleep better tonight knowing that bridge pilings don’t usually fail because they get rusty. I’ve poured enough cement in my lifetime to understand that rebar, or screen, or other such reinforcement materials rarely fail…..it would take water and weather elements, the right and left hand men of Mother Nature to cause such a sagging failure.

I’m not too sure when I’ll be using the Leo Frigo, but I can guarantee you that I won’t be one of the first to traverse the Fox River using that memorial crossing. I’ll be waiting to see if other pilings fail because the reinforcement steel got wet and rusted away.

THE FRIGO…..FORMERLY THE TOWER DRIVE

Some facts about the Leo Frigo/Tower Drive bridge, construction begin 1979, completed and opened in 1981, steel through arch type, 120 feet above Fox River, length of largest span, 450 feet, 2 inches, deck width 80 feet, vertical clearance above deck, 18 feet 8 inches, elevation, 577 feet above sea level, last inspection and grades, (8-2008,) deck condition, 6 out of 9, satisfactory, superstructure 7 out of 9, good, arch conditions, 6 out of 9, satisfactory, sufficiency rating, (91 out of 100.)

Bungee jumping and several suicide jumps have occurred on the structure, the bungee jumpers were fined, and the suicides have been unsuccessful, they needed first aid and rest for their failed attempt. Another accident occurred in 1979 when the bridge was still under construction when the Finnish cargo ship delivered a load of special paper to the Port of Green Bay.

Safety netting was hanging well below the bridge and caught on the superstructure of the freighter, causing extensive damage to the radar. However nobody was injured and the ship was repaired up at Washington Island and there was no damage to the bridge.

Because the bridge’s height and slope, it is prone to being shut down from high winds, heavy fog, icy conditions and snow-storms. Extensive deck restoration had taken place recently, and I’m wondering if there was any additional weight added because of it.

BRIDGE FAILURES

From wood to steel to concrete, bridges in the United States have used all sorts of materials and suffered all kinds of failures. Hundreds of lives have been lost, thousands of injuries have occurred, and millions of dollars in lost revenue and repairs have been incurred.

The Hyatt Regency Walkway in Kansas City, Missouri caused the death of 114 and the injury of 200 in July, 1981. Although the dynamics were the same as an outdoor bridge, the Regency walkway was an indoor facility, overloaded weak joint construction error was the cause, and the same problem has been sited on regular bridge construction.

The Silver Bridge collapse in December of 1967 took 46 lives and injured 9 as the road bridge and chain-link suspension between Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio collapsed destroying the bridge and 37 vehicles, claiming the dubious title as the worst bridge disaster (in terms of lives lost) in the United States.

Bridge disasters are more common here in the United States then one might think, as just in 2013 there have been two major accidents, one in Mount Vernon, Washington where an oversized semi-trailer clipped an overhead steel girder causing 167 feet of the bridge to collapse. No deaths resulted from the mishap although three people were injured.

In Scott City, Missouri a Union Pacific train T-boned a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train outside Scott City, causing numerous rail cars to hit a support pillar of a highway overpass causing two sections of the bridge to collapse leaving two injured.

WITH THE SAGS GONE…..THE FRIGO WILL REOPEN IN TIME FOR PACKERS

Repairs on the Leo Frigo Bridge are done, the bridge construction company, Zenith Tech Inc., is happy and why not, they got a $750,000 bonus for finishing the project early, the bonus on top of the $7.7 million repair contract.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt is happy, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is happy, Will Dorsey, regional director for the state transportation department is happy, the Packers are happy, and dozens of area businesses are happy. Everybody’s happy, happy, happy, so why am I not going to be using the Frigo anytime soon, easy answers…..nobody has pinpointed the cause of the sag.

It isn’t old age, hell the bridge is less than 25 years old, it can’t be the weight, can’t be the weather, and there wasn’t a terrorists bomb. Even the state of Wisconsin is happy, didn’t have to pick up a ton of the cost, estimated at between $18 to $20 million, which will be mostly covered by federal funding…..why am I still not satisfied with a speedy reopening of the Frigo weeks ahead of the scheduled finishing date.

I like all my T’s crossed, and my I’s dotted, whenever something comes in ahead of schedule…..and governmental funds are involved, I kind of worry, so until the final word comes out about exactly why the Frigo got the sags, I’ll hold off judgment on the completion of the project ahead of schedule…..I’ll drive some different way.

HAVE A NICE DAY!