New Inspections

After finishing an inspection report, I moved onto setting up two new inspection assignments for RIDOT. Assignment #13 has 20 bridges that will be inspected sometime in March and April. Assignment #14 has 13 bridges that will begin in May. A few of the bridges I have actually inspected in the past and look forward to see how my inspections skills have changed (for the better hopefully).

Survived Skiing, Christmas, Family and a Blizzard

It's been a full week since I was last night the office, I lost a beard, gained a couple pounds and some bruises and missed a day snowed in down in Plympton MA with snow falling up to 18 inches in areas of Mass. Today I'm back in the swing of things and working on the Point Street Bridge fracture critical inspection report.

The Blizzard of 2010 has certainly effected my commute and added on a seconds with the classic marking your spot with random objects.

If you somehow did not hear about the blizzard or didn't see any pictures check it out.

Storm before the calm?

Today has been very productive and I've been busy trying to help out with markups to drawing and updating estimate quantities. Tomorrow I leave at 5am for Sunday River for three days full of skiing. Working none stop starts to take its tolls, luckily I've been shaving off time by not shaving.

Sunday River even has a daily report that I've been checking out each day to see the conditions and the number of trails open.
http://www.sundayriver.com/

Point Street Bridge

Today we begin the fracture critical inspection of the Point Street Bridge which spans over the Providence River in Providence RI. The bridge was built in 1927 as a swing bridge to allow larger boats upstream but the bridge is no longer has the motors to turn the four gears below. The inspection started with preparing for the 20 degree weather that was made even worse by the gusts of wind off the water. Before I could inspect the upper portion of the truss I first had to clean out 6" of ice from the inside of the bucket while the other part of the inspection team awaited the arrival of the safety boat and barge.

At first site the small barge seemed funny and misplaced among the large tug boats and other barges but the light weight barge was easy to maneuver and made for efficient inspection of the lower cord. The tide made the inspection slightly more difficult at certain times, at one point you were standing to see the lower portions of the cord and other times laying down to since there was only a foot or so of clearance.

  

 The upper portion of the truss reached up to about 75 feet about the water level and even with several layers of clothing I was still freezing.

Chester / Becket MA Designs

With the submittal date soon approaching for the Becket and Chester bridges, I gave up my free time after work to stay late and assist with markups and specifications. I don't know if I was having fun but it never seems that there is enough time when its a late Monday night.

The designs which are currently at 25% completion and the designs will replace the existing superstrucutres which currently date back to the early 1900's with new CONTECH arch systems or curved steel girders.

MassDOT currently has information about the designs on their site (http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/ProjectInfo/Main.asp?ACTION=ViewProject&PROJECT_NO=605440)

CONTECH is a great design solution for the modern engineer
http://www.contech-cpi.com/

Chruch Street Truss

Today I did the fracture critical inspection of the Church Street bridge in Cumberland RI which intersects the Providence & Worcester Railroad. Two years ago I also conducted the inspection but last time we only used a fiberglass ladder and this year we used a rail mounted elliot.

The inspection took a three man crew and was delayed while we waited for a P&W flagmen to arrive on site. While waiting we were able to complete the top cord and diagonals and take typical photos of the bridge.

After a couple hours the flagman was finally able to find the site and we were able to gain access to the tracks. The 60 foot rail mounted Elliot was able to get on the tracks in just a few minutes while we held traffic near the Ann & Hope Outlet store. 

Before we could start the inspection of the lower cord we had to wait for a light engine to be moved to providence. After the engine passed we were able to inspect the truss and confirm the condition that were noted in the last inspection. 

We found section loss to the lower cord but the state added repair plates to allow the bridge not to be posted.

Rope Access

Today was my first experience with a rope access inspection down in Cumberland RI on a pedestrian bridge. The bridge was part of our fracture critical inspection assignment and would have been $30,000 to rig. Using rope access saved the state money and time. Three RIDOT bridge group members even came to the bridge to see this in action.

Rope access is used in many countries but is still not common in the United States. Since rope access does not have regulations like many other forms of inspection techniques, it is important to be properly trained and to have redundant safety measures like having SPRAT certified technicians.

Rope access was used for most of the bridge but some parts were inspected from the ground. The ends of the bridge were fairly close to the ground which allowed the use of ladders.

Unfortunately the ends of the bridge were also guarded by two horrible smells. The West end of the bridge was located close to a sewer line and happened to be near a manhole. The East end smelt of a skunk, fortunately we were not able to confirm if there was a skunk there or not.

I-Way Ramp Inventory Inspection

Over the past couple weeks I have been inspecting I-Way Ramp in Providence RI. The painted steel plate girder bridge spans over Ramps SE and SES which branch off from I-95 South. While construction still continues we have inspected all four spans with nightly lane closures and finishing the rest during the day.

Railroad Bridge Inspection

Last week I inspected the Pontiac Branch Railroad bridge portion that intersects I-95 South and North located in Cranston. The bridge is currently not in service and is planned to carry a bike path at some point in the future.

The inspection took place at night since we had to shut down lanes of traffic and would not be safe during the day.

The bridge is part of our fracture critical inspection and consists of four simple span thru girders. 

When we arrived at the bridge we were surprised to find the streets pavement completely removed and graders out leveling the surface. With the with the assistance to the PM on site we were able to finish our inspection efficiently and not disturb the on going construction.

Culvert Inspection

Down in Cumberland RI while inspecting a culvert for an upcoming rating we found this little guy and by little I mean a 2.5" wide spider. We also saw a few chipmunks just downstream with cheeks full of food.

Out to lunch

After taking a few typical photos of an I-Way ramp, I headed over to Spikes Junkyard Hotdogs in Providence to grab lunch and saw a mounted police officer crossing the street.

I-Way Fracture Critical Inspection

This I-Way bridge was unlike most fracture critical bridges that I have inspected in the past. Most consist of either some type of truss or a through girder system but this bridge's superstructure has two steel box girders and a concrete deck. At one end of the bridge there is a curved section which required a deep concrete counter weight. Unfortunately for me I was given the task of crawling into the narrow corrugated pipe to check the bearing connection at the end.

Chicopee EAP

Today I started working on an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for a bridge design out in Chicopee MA. The EAP is plan to help assist the city if there is a failure in the storm barriers. The EAP tells the city who to contact and what routes they should use in this emergency.

Rigid Frame Rating

Started working on my second rigid frame rating, this frame is located in Brimfield MA just minutes away from my Charlton office. The two span frame sports a large amount of fill which will help distribute the live load. This bridge should rate out very high since it was probably design for constructability without fill present.

Rolled Steel Beam Rating

Started a new rating today for a rolled steel beam bridge in Providence RI. The bridge consists of twenty two rolled steel beams with cover plates and has two simple spans with a 7" composite concrete deck. Even though the bridge has a gap between I-95 Southbound and Northbound the structure is still considered one bridge.

The rating of the steel beams will be performed using the software BRASS for the LRFR method outlined in the 2008 AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation. The bridge deck will not be rated in accordance with Section 6A.1.8.1 of the 2008 AASHTO Manual for Bridge Evaluation.

The dead load of the wearing surface, bridge railing and safety walk will be distributed equally to the beams. The dead load of the diaphragms will be based on their reactions to the respective beam and uniformly distributed along the entire length.

Rolled Steel Beam Bridge Inspection

Today I inspected a two simple span rolled steel beam bridge in Providence. The bridge had section loss to the beam ends and several areas of spalling concrete. 

The spalls to the deck were so severe that we had to hold traffic while we removed incipient spalls that could fall onto the traffic below.

The deteriorated expansion joint over the pier continues to cause trouble for the steel beams and pier cap below.