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One bridge that isn’t going anywhere soon
The new Memorial Bridge really is cool, despite not having a walkway on the north side for people who want to enjoy the view. However, with the old Memorial Bridge going bye-bye for good, we have only the Northern Pacific bridge to grace the river with its historic appearance and arched spans. Perhaps the sentimentality local residents showed toward the Memorial Bridge will shift toward the NP bridge, although most of Bismarck-Mandan’s citizens have never crossed it. We do love our landmarks, don’t we?
Boom goes the dynamite
The west span came down in a blaze of glory today, being cut into pieces by shaped charges, and dropped into the drink in 26 large chunks (plus assorted debris).
I staked out a place on the fake riverboat at Steamboat Park early this morning. At 7:30 people were already parked and waiting. I got a great spot, met lots of really neat people, and got some great photos and video. Click below to watch the big bang, both in real-time and slow motion. You’ll hear my camera shutter going mad in the background.
Notice how the camera shook from the shock wave. I don’t think anybody, myself included, expected such an enormous BOOM from those charges!
I have more photos from the event, but those will have to come later. I have to get back to work. Span #2 will come down in a week or so, and I’m hoping to be there as well!
Discovery in reverse
This plane is painted in official USA colors, similar to Air Force One. That’s what caught my eye. Of course, this was one of the few times I didn’t have my camera with me, so I had to use my cellphone. I showed PJ the plane, we watched a Basin Electric jet land and taxi, and then it was time to go home and get mommy for a stroller walk to the park.
At home I saw a portion of the local news, and it all clicked into place: the First Lady was in town! Aha. Her upcoming visit was not announced, so most people (like me) found out about it after the fact. Rather than go look for the plane after learning of the visit, I found the plane and then learned that the First Lady was in town. Discovery in reverse!
Span number one – coming down Monday
In addition, the navigable river channel will be closed for 24 hours, from around 9:30 am Monday until mid-morning Tuesday. I don’t know the boundaries, but I would expect them to be from the Grant Marsh or NP bridge to the Expressway Bridge. The good rule of thumb is to just stay clear.
Only the west span is coming down Monday; The additional spans will come down later this month. When these demolitions occur, of course the new bridge will be closed (see the map). Plan accordingly. Road closures will be from around 9:45am until 10:30am.
Want resources? Mike Kopp at the ND DOT was gracious enough to pass them along:
A large copy of the above map, in PDF format so it can be printed;
Construction Update (Word DOC) containing work details;
The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about the bridge demolition process (Word DOC).
You can expect plenty of photos and perhaps even video here after I get a chance to parse Monday’s results. After that, we still have two spans to go!
I’ve also heard that a fantastic vantage point is near/in/on the new Energy Center up on BSC hill. I have friends who work in that building who will be glued to the windows when this takes place! I suppose that fancy new building is going to have a lot of noseprints on the inside of its glass exterior.
Animals enjoying new “Little Boy” exhibit at Dakota Zoo
My youngest boy is standing now, which gives him the opportunity to get out of the stroller and look in certain places. This is one. He stood forever looking at the prairie dogs, until they finally started staring back! The Dakota Zoo has a lot more in store for him, and as soon as he starts walking, his zoo experience will get even more exciting.
I wish this month had 31 days…
Proverbs 31 is my favorite because it describes my wife, pictured above with little Sparky. The latter portion describes the virtuous woman, whose price “is far above rubies.” Here are some of my favorite verses:
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
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27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
I have a sweet, beautiful, hard working wife…a woman of integrity and character. She’s such an amazing mommy for our two little guys, and makes our house a home. She brought the little fellas to the shop to visit me today, so I got to run around with them for a few minutes before tucking them back into the truck.
I like to tell her on the 31st of the month, “I read about you today.” After posting this, I’ll read ahead a chapter, since tomorrow brings chapter one. She stepped out for a bit so I got the dishes done, house tidied up, and little boys tucked snugly into bed. This isn’t the only day I try to show my appreciation, but it is somewhat special I suppose. Next month, when most people are celebrating Halloween, I’ll be celebrating my wife again!
Ransom County Road
We were a little bummed that the fall colors hadn’t fully arrived, and many of the trees whose leaves had turned were already barren. We did our best to have fun and hunted around for whatever we could find. One weird thing about this Byway is that it’s quite lovely…but I didn’t really find a whole lot of interesting photo opportunities! We found a few, but they were far between.
I ended up with some weird sort of infection Friday night that started in my lower sinuses and the roof of my mouth. By mid-day Saturday I was in such pain that I couldn’t swallow, even though my throat was fine. It was bizarre. We cut the trip short and I headed off to the clinic. I was prescribed some antibiotics and other nasty drugs and crawled back home for a couple day’s bed rest. Yuck.
Seems everything is a commodity these days, especially tires
I was videotaping at a mining operation (not local) and one of the guys mentioned that they had placed a huge equipment order. When the time came for delivery, the manufacturer called to say that the equipment was ready to ship, but that there were no tires. No tires? Yes, the industrialization of other parts of the world had put a strain on the supply of tires for heavy equipment.
To my recollection, they had to cancel the order; you can’t have millions of dollars of big equipment show up and not be able to put it into service; at that point it’s costing money, not making money. I talked to another fella at a different mining operation who said that they have to try to stretch the tires on their big haulers a little further, and try to buy in advance, because they’re hard to come by. If they can’t operate their equipment, they can’t produce their product.
I don’t know if that’s the case with this loader. I don’t think they ship them without tires normally, but perhaps that’s the case. I used to have a desk facing the dock where Caterpillar equipment would come off the train cars, and I don’t recall seeing any without tires; of course, this is a truck, and it has to fit under the overpasses.
Whether this loader being hauled without tires is an illustration or not, I’m told the problem exists. I found out more anecdotal evidence when I replaced the tires on my truck. The model of truck I drive came stock with oversized tires, so that’s the kind of replacements I have to buy. Tires that cost $400 a few years ago cost $700 now. Ouch!
Race tires for the motorcycle were around $350-400 when I last raced, ($300 EACH if you order from the catalog) and they’re good for a couple of days if ridden hard. When it comes to the cost of tires and fuel, that’s the only reason I am glad haven’t gone racing lately!
Spot something goofy in this “antique” picture
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Case in point: we just got our first fancy new high-definition video camera last week. I opened up the operations manual from Sony and…yep! Typo! I guess it’s a good thing that my spelling and grammatical “spider sense” still works.
I experimented with giving this photo the faded look of an old print by desaturating it and giving it a slightly different gamma curve. I love playing in Photoshop and haven’t really had much to do with it lately. Time to step it up, I think…those skills can get rusty when not used!