A huge, tarp-like containment being used by a painting crew on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge caused the westbound span to move in an unusual manner, prompting its closure.
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, workers carrying out a routine inspection of the bridge noticed "unusual, vertical movement," says Harold Bartlett, executive secretary of the Maryland Transportation Authority.
"I guess the best way to describe it is that tarp acted kind of sail-like, and created some motion on the bridge," he says. "The bridge is designed to move somewhat, but this was a little bit more unusual."
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Yeah right!
ReplyDelete@9:30 PM
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't surprise that it was the cause.
The movement of that bridge is amplified when the wind is blowing at a give speed from a given direction, add the tarps to the equation and there are likely more and or different wind speeds and directions that will amplify the movement.
Went over the south span this evening and noticed that all of the tarps had been rolled up.
About a two weeks ago half the bridge was enclosed with the tarps. Middle of last week about 3/4 of the span over the shipping channel was enclosed, the tarps between the west anchorage and the west tower had been removed as the painting on that part of the bridge was done.
Sand Box John
ReplyDeleteYes! if it blows down, leave it down.
uh....we're not buying this excuse.
ReplyDelete