Milton Madison Bridge

Last month I was down in Kentucky and was part of the team which inspected the bridge after the bearing dislodged. The bridge has now been repaired and slid into its final location.

Here are some videos of the bridges construction and moves:

Bridge phase animation

Ramp demo

Center span demo

Bridge lifted into place

Approach span slide

Bridge slide

Bird Problems

I know most bridges I have worked on have problems with pigeons or even a falcon but this one is new to me. Caltrans is having trouble demolishing the old bay bridge since cormorants are nesting at the eastern end.

Full article here

Overhead Tunnel Inspection

A few weeks ago we started the inspection of Tip O'Neill Tunnel in Boston. All of the work is conducted at night when the state is able to close down portions or all of the lanes in the tunnel.

The work from the bucket truck is pretty easy and clean. Mainly we have just had to worry about dressing warm since a few nights have dropped to 10°F (-12°C). 

The dirty work is having to inspect the exhaust plenums which are considered to be permit required confined space. Much like their name suggests they are full of exhaust and caked with soot.