The Popperville Town Hall

Originally posted 7/12/2013

July 17:

This is my bridge angel picture that got me in so much trouble in Hinsdale. I am the bridge angel, an emissary from god...who is warning all the poor souls that a imminent bridge and large loss of human life is right around the corner.

July 16:

I mean, it gets boring sitting on a island all by myself except the cars whizzing past me at 60mph.

So I though I’d walk around the bridge walkway like I am a bridge angel warning the community of big trouble…I stood in the middle with my waving wind silhouette sheet. Had lot of fun with that and it made a lot of people smile…they got it.

Did I tell you its boring. Got a nice tan and little sunburn.

So I went to the Brattleboro side. That is where I got into trouble. I said its summer time…I begin thinking about our summer local fairs and the Eastern States Exposition. You know, the parking attendants in the field waving and directing you to a parking space.

So I think I am the bridge angel…you know, I am god’s summer fair parking lot attendant direction giver. I am god’s parking attendants. I am directing people to the pearly gates parking lot. So I get out my sign paper…write “HEAVEN” in big letters, got a huge arrow below pointing straight ahead indicating this way to the heaven.

You got the picture, I am at the Brattleboro side of the bridge. I got a sign with huge letters saying the way to "Heaven"…my arrow is pointing at the entrance of the route 119 Hinsdale bridge and onto Hinsdale.

So I am in my angel blue uniform…ur sheet, got a huge white halo above my head. I am god’s parking lot attendant and I am directing you to heaven if you go over our rickety bridge. I am standing right across the restaurant in my angel get-up…got one waving arm directing you towards me and the other arm pointing where I want you to go. Just like the county fair.

Pandemonium then broke out in Hinsdale!

I had tons of people taking pictures and videos of me...

...Then my blue angel image with a halo was plastered all over my daughter’s face book!

The problem has become, my wife and daughter think my crazy behavior will stick to them. Outsiders think Mike is crazy and it will reflect badly on them. I didn't think they were this shallow. From my vantage point, I see the vast majority of people on the road think I am a hero for bringing out a issue that nobody else would touch. I do see a significant numbers of people disapprove of my behavior and express to me I am nuts. Calling somebody crazy is such powerful stuff...

I mean, this mental illness sigma is so strong...most people get shamed when not normal behavior is termed in a demeaning way as you are crazy. I know I am anything but nuts.

At the bottom of it, my wife and daughter are fighting this mental illness shame and stigma. That is the problem of being relatively isolated and out in the boonies...if you don't act like your tribe they go directly into shame because and they assume it is mental illness. Right, throw them out of the nest tribe.

I am so disappointed my family is so insecure with themselves and the knowledge of my mental status. Why is other peoples opinions so important them...they hardly even know these people.

Right, imagine if you have a mental illness...image how strong this fear of mental illness is coming from the community at large...this stigma issue must be huge.

...I am just pissed off with the maturity of my wife and daughter....you know mike, throw us your best pitch with the bridge and why are you acting crazy. Right, neither of them have no interest with the condition of the bridge and NH political system. They want me to stop embarrassing them..but not a care with why I am doing it.

July 15:

8 PM: Holy Shit!

I wonder what people will think about my blue halo’d angel getup…that is warning you of a bridge collapse and absolving you of all you sins...before you enter the pearly gate as your kids and your family go into the drink….

If you see a blue angel just before the Brattleboro bridge today it is me?

This is a huge bolt that connects the bridge to the concrete footing on the Brattleboro side...

Photo taken: March 30, 2013

...See, it will be 50 years before they find the state priority to replace our bridge...

If all of Hinsdale went on a "food strike" and refused to feed their kids until an agreement to replace our bride was made...NH would let us all stave to death...

DOT commissioner: State lacks funds to finish Spaulding expansion project

By Paul Briand

news@seacoastonline.com

July 12, 2013 11:06 AM

PORTSMOUTH — N.H. Department of Transportation Commissioner Christopher Clement said Friday the state lacks about $80 million to finish the Little Bay Bridge project to widen the Spaulding Turnpike.

In remarks to the monthly meeting of the Seacoast Board of Realtors, Clement said the Dover end of the project is at risk, including contracts to finish widening the turnpike to eight lanes to the Dover tolls, building soundwalls along a residential corridor just over the new Little Bay Bridge, rebuilding Exit 6, and constructing a roundabout to replace the traffic lights where Route 4 meets Spur Road and Dover Point Road.

Also at risk is a $35 million rehabilitation of the old Gen. Sullivan Bridge, which currently serves as a pedestrian/bicycle path connecting Dover and Newington across Little Bay.

Clement said the state has two options to fund completion of the project, which has an overall price tag of $260 million.

One option, said Clement, is a pay-as-you-go method of taking funds out of the state highway fund to finish various parts of the project as the state can afford it. This would mean extending completion of the Little Bay project beyond its current completion date of 2019....

And I will stipulate to you, very few people in this world have ever seen this severely damage bolt (anchor bolt) and bridge concrete footing before I took the picture of it. It was deep under the belly of this beast.

So I am seeking help from the NH ACLU...

The selectman spoke of, we do things in different way than you, Mike. You are out in the public and I work in the dark labyrinth of the government bureaucracy. He should have all of his activities up on a public blog concerning this bridge and public and economic safety…

I have told them they have to do much more than play selectman…they got to figure out a way to move the hearts of the people of NH and especially the people who use that bridge. And I tell you the truth, the majority of that flow of the traffic is not the citizens of Hinsdale. It is the people outside Hinsdale and all of the people of the states bordering NH and beyond.

So hiding in the dark behind that rat hole just doesn’t cover it.

I told them, all the select board, you guys got to get onto the road with me and make a sink. Create something the people can actually see. I wouldn’t have to go to this. extremes if I had some help.

And now these guys are trying to silly rule me out…

The lot of them including the police should be ashamed with themselves with not getting directly involved with protecting human life and protecting our town…a manner of activity that will actually get something done.

Oh yea, I am desperate as hell!
July 11, 2013:

So I have ramping up my game at the foot of the Brattleboro Route 119 Bridge. The big cross, throwing everyone a blessing before they enter the bridge, my fingers clasped together like I am begging people not to enter the bridge or reminding them they should say a quick prayer. I have been circling my index finger exaggeratingly round the outside of my ear implying somebody in the vicinity of the bridge is crazy…you are crazy if you go over the bridge. I been plastering big signs on the bridges entrance printed in big letters “NEED NEW BRIDGE”. I have been drastically upping my game.

I created a big discussion with all people of Hinsdale…they are all talking about me in town. The kids and teenagers are into this big. Fifty percent greatly admire me and the other half intensely disapprove with what I am doing. It is not a bad place to for a protester…

So I was at the bridge for maybe half hour early this afternoon when the head selectman pulls in. He is kind of young which is good…I like him. He is a bit distant if you know what I meant. He spent a lot of time talking about all the meetings the selectman have had in the last four months over the bridge thing …they spent a lot of time on my bridge issues. He spent a lot of time getting letters from all the business in Brattleboro including the fire, police and ambulance people talking about how dilapidated the bridge is and should be replaced. He said they are getting the USA DOT involved. They are 99% there with getting a new bridge. My assessment is exactly the opposite…we are 50 years away from a new bridge and they are going to shut down the bridge on us when something fails.

He spend some time talking about my signing…says he wanted all my signs taken down when I leave for the day. The selectmen want me to get a sign permit…which I told I am doing nothing commercial. They are going to write me a letter and then the next step is to notify the police. I said you are a nice guy, I heard what you said…but that doesn't mean I am going to comply. We spent about 45 minutes shooting the shit. I told him I have a lot of experience with things like this…there is usually secret agendas and motivation with a town official like you showing up. And I don’t trust that you are telling me the truth. He also spoke, I laughed by his powerlessness, the selectmen going to complain to the NHDOT, it is their property, to make a police complaint about my bridge signing. So he leaves. Right, he left as friends he said, and we are on the same side. He sounds like he is my competitor.

I think the close timing with the head selectman and the police site visit was farcical and little league-ish…it certainly wasn’t just a coincidence.

Less than an hour later a police cruiser shows up. She come out really pushy… we got a lots of calls complaining about you this morning. The complaint are you are protesting out the road and one lady said you flipped your middle finger at a tractor trailer…plus you slowing down traffic when you walking across the road.

So I said, look at all my signs, my backpack and my shovel…it takes me more many trips to get my junk across the road. Plus everyone is speeding going through the turn. I was in that process just a little while ago. It basically sounded like anonymous phone complaint…none of what you told me is true. I bless the truck drivers like this…they usually laugh at me. I told her I irk a lot of people…they are just calling in not true complaints in order to get you to pressure me to stop. She went over sign permit thing…I told her just moments ago the select board head just had a talk with me. She mumble, they haven’t made a request out the police department to put this to stop.

I said, I just don’t like this style of police bullying…complaints without merits and illegally crossing a street where everyone else never gets spoken with. I said right, anyways, it not illegal to give somebody a middle finger, besides it was a bystander who reported this. And it not illegal to cross route 119 this year. Right, if this goes to court I need to face my accusers and then we will be talking about reasonable doubt…I am going to have a lot of fun in court with Hinsdale and you. I just want you to remember, the Hinsdale police has passed by me a lot in the last mouth. You can see me way up the Hill, she says she watched me from across river in the parking lot…I am going to ask you in court how come the police have never seen and reported this Mike Mulligan illegality like what has been reported today.

So the question is, what are you going to do if a small amount of bad people keep sending you police falsified reports with the intent of getting you to bully me. I mean, that is my impression, the police are exaggerating the complaints in the hopes of getting me off the bridge.

There is a huge discussion in town and surrounding about the meaning of mike mulligan and these obsolete and dangerous bridges as of late, and and all this upping my game. I am getting a tremendous amount of public approvals with this and I am certain they’d be pissed if they knew the police were try to bully me. I get a tremendous amount of thumbs up, hunking horns and loads verbal thank yous. I know the vast amount of the public totally approves of my behavior. This has gotten extremely controversial and everyone is talking about me and my job.

Originally publish on 6/24.

July 4:

Finially the rain stopped. Want to see my new prop? Catch that 1921 on the NHDOT directional sign. That is when the bridge built...

My take about the situation with our bridge crisis...for the impacted businesses and concerned citizens...is to start making a lot bigger stink with advocating for the state to replace this bridge in a emergency manner. We are in a emergency!

Wake up! Wake up....WAKE UP! Get out of your pajamas!

You know what I want for Christmas? I'd like a high amp boom box with a loop sound recording of crashing and collapsing concrete, iron beams and huge buildings.

Right, I’d be booming that full blast at all the cars passing me.

I am working on a new surprise project I am going to roll out tomorrow or so…

WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

The greatest weapon against wrong-doing on the planet is creativity and imagination...

Right, more traffic across the bridge...

Again, I am hearing persistent rumors from Wal-Mart employees Market Basket is building a supermarket in Hinsdale. It is going in the old Walmart building property with a new building. They generally have weekly, monthly and whole store and shift meetings with senior managers keeping the employees up to date on local current events. I am certain regional Walmart executives pay investigators making big bucks to keep them up to date with local and future competitor yearnings.

But I am surprised Walmart doesn't have a contract with the owners of the property where they get to veto future competitors from this property.

June 28:

So these are the new Brat/Hinsdale severely corroded and undersized bridge gussets plates I spoke of in the below discussion? The wood planks on the right are the bridge pedestrian walkway. No 1921 bridge designer would ever over-design for this kind of damage...

NTSB On The I 35 Bridge Collapse:

"Gusset plate: A metal plate used to unite multiple structural members of a truss."

The below middle rivet head is almost corroded away... The rusted plate seen next to the river water is supposed to be a solid metal .5 inch. It looks like it is split right down the middle...or more, rusted away half of the thickness of the metal. The plate swells out to half its thickness with layers of rust?

NTSB 21: Because visual bridge inspections alone, regardless of their frequency, are inadequate to always detect corrosion on gusset plates or to accurately assess the extent or progression of that corrosion, inspectors should employ appropriate nondestructive evaluation technologies when evaluating gusset plates.

So this is a Hinsdale bridge gusset (2nd picture). It is .5 inch thick, as was the I 35 bridge, which was the cause of the collapse. It is dangerously undersized and severely corroded. There is enormous uncertainty with knowing the actual thickness of this plate and any hidden cracking. A failure of this gusset would immediately doom the bridge to a immediate collapse. How much good metal is hidden under the severely rusted metal plate?

Remember, the unsupported span of our bridge is 340 feet, while the I 35 bridge is 266 feet. There are more lanes in the I 35 bridge: 140,000 vehicles per day versus 10,000 vpd with our bridge. So there are engineering scalability issues with the enormous 8 or 10 lane Minneapolis I 35 bridge and the tiny barely 2 lane Hinsdale bride...

***Correction: the longest and failed span is 465 feet, duh, the upper Mississippi River.

Basically from 1976 to 2004 the traffic growth double on the I 35 bridge. I wonder how the traffic growth fared with the Hinsdale bridge from its conception? I wonder how the traffic growth compared over the life of the both bridge?

As with the concrete deck on the Hinsdale bridge and other structural beam add ons in ours...what is the dead weight of the add on concrete deck and their new support metal structure? The concrete deck is dead weight and provides no increase structural integrity...it is just aesthetics.

On November 13, 2008, the NTSB released the findings of its investigation. The primary cause was the under-sized gusset plates, at 0.5 inches (13 mm) thick. Contributing to that design or construction error was the fact that 2 inches (51 mm) of concrete were added to the road surface over the years, increasing the dead load by 20%

***Image how my blog would devastate the credibility of the state if our bridge failed with fatalities on a cracked and corroded gusset...state officials would go to jail.

So I think the bridge collapse would go like this. A train or traffic light problem in Brattleboro obstructing traffic…bumper to bumper car and truck traffic on the west side of the bridge. Probably a traffic light issue in Brattleboro. Then something obstructing traffic on the other side, such as to get bumper to bumper stopped traffic on the west side. So we will have fully loaded bridge with bumper to bumper cars and trucks on both sides. I believe this is a very rare event!

The NTSB emplies the most stress on a trust bridge is on the hotter day of the year and the road bed being the hottest. So it will be deep into summer?

Here below is the .5 inch thick damaged gusset before the Minneapolis 1967 bridge collapsed from the NTSB...the next "rusted" picture is one from our 1921 bridge gusset. You catch the decent paint job and rust condition on the deceased I 35 bridge and the 94 year old horrendous rust cancer on the Hinsdale bridge.

Basically the below vertical rusted line next to the white background...the white is the Connecticut River...is the gussel plate that is supposed to be .5 inches thick. I didn't notice my camera being on the wrong setting...that why it looks our of focus and off color. I will get better pictures!

I 35: "At 6:05 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, with rush hour bridge traffic moving slowly through the limited number of lanes, the central span of the bridge suddenly gave way, followed by the adjoining spans."...

June 27:

NH house and senate passes 10.7 billion dollar budget. The NH budget trend is the transportation needs are never going to be enough of priority before the Hinsdale/Brat collapses.

Sen. David Pierce, D-Etna, said the bipartisan budget contained many good things, but warned that it fails to deal with deteriorating highways, forces $10 million in cuts to state employees and $7 million in cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services and does not guarantee Medicaid expansion. He called on his colleagues to work next year to address the issues.

...But there are aspects of what didn’t get into the budget that Hassan doesn’t like very much, as expressed in past statements.

A big one was the lack of a licensing fee worth $80 million to the budget when the House refused to go along with the Senate in the passage of a bill (SB 152) that would have allowed one casino in the state. She described a path made “more difficult” by the lack of the money.

One effect of this (and the fact that the Legislature didn’t increase the gas tax) is that the New Hampshire Department of Transportation has precious little money to repair and maintain the transportation infrastructure of roads and bridges.
NH DOT Commissioner Chris Clement told a House committee the other day: “We are going to have more poor roads.”

We know my bridge has frozen roller bearings and one is crooked. The condition of our bridge "bearing" are horrendous compared to the collapsed Minneapolis bridge.

Messerly said they have photographic evidence that the state and URS knew the roller bearings where the bridge sat on its concrete supports were corroded and couldn't move.

For now, Messerly said, the survivors and attorneys are calling for a nationwide inspection of roller bearings on all similarly designed bridges, and that any roller bearings found to be frozen should be fixed.

I 35 bridge collapse!

Lawyer Chris Messerly of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi represents the consortium. He said that engineers concluded that the starting point for the collapse was not a faulty gusset plate, as the NTSB found, but a horizontal steel beam called a chord.

Bridge collapse dispute

Construction materials on the bridge at the time of the collapse put too much stress on the bridge, he said. Messerly said the bridge's roller bearings were frozen, so it couldn't shift to relieve the stress.

"That was well known by the consulting agency hired by the state, and because the bridge would not expand and move with the heat, it caused this catastrophic failure," Messerly said.

Instead of shifting with the heat and weight, the beams took on the pressure, and eventually one of them, the "L9-L11 west," fractured.
Trust was .5 inches and too small.

...I 35 Each was 266 feet (81 m) in length, and was connected to the approach spans by a 38 foot..

The brat bridge span is 340 feet...

So the unsupported length of the brat bridge (footing to footing) is 74 feet longer than the collapsed I 35 bride.

NTSB Investigation: The I-35W bridge was designed and built before metal fatigue cracking in bridges was a well-understood phenomenon. In the late 1970s, when a

better understanding of metal fatigue cracking was established within the

industry, deck truss bridges such as the I-35W bridge were recognized as being

“non-load-path-redundant”—hat is, if certain main truss members (termed

“fracture-critical”) failed, the bridge would collapse. According to Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) 2007 data, of the 600,000 bridges in the National Bridge

Inventory, 19,273 are considered non-load-path-redundant. About 465 bridges
within the inventory have a main span that is a steel deck truss.

Like, did NH do a gussets inspection with my bridge per the NTSB?

Want to see my picture of their frozen ugly and rusted bearings...

What I see at the footing of the bridge from the way media portrays it with the people who talk to me..they see it as the "dead mouse" is slowly moving through the body of the snake. NH is preparing to replace the bridge. Right, this is just the mode of our local media...we got to frame everything as the touristy happy-land and the yellow brick road.They don't want to make a judgement about our painful future...some fucked up process is always moving the mouse lump through the snake's body even if the process is so irrational.

I guess what I am saying, most people make a assumption the bridge is being replaced...when nothing could be farther from the truth.

It is you that is the lump in the snake's body and the monster is constipated...

So stop the the bs...tell and estimate to us when the bridge can be replaced within the current system....

The state doesn't care about the enormous hardships and direct community safety issues of a closed bridge (ambulances, fire and police mutual aid...economic and enormous public daily disruption)?

“If they are unsafe, we will close them,” he said."

They are all clowns

"The Senate killed the gas tax bill, and the House rejected the casino measure.

"Because virtually all state road and bridge work is paid with federal grants'...these Republican state always want to turn over their responsibilities to the feds.

"The only way to reduce it is through cuts of the department’s workforce of 1,750 employees, because virtually all state road and bridge work is paid with federal grants and, by law, the state has to give 12 percent of the proceeds from the gas tax to cities and towns."

Haven't had money to paint our bridge for years...that is maintenance negligence and it's a bridge destroyer!

Without the anticipated gambling revenue, the state is hard pressed to come up with the money needed to fund any transportation improvements, Morse said. The proposed DOT budget is a bare-bones plan, he said.

"All efforts are being made to keep aging bridges and roads maintained and open" including falsification.

"Twenty bridges in the state have been closed because they were unsafe, he said, including 12 last year alone. All efforts are being made to keep aging bridges and roads maintained and open for travel — to a point, Boynton said."

June 26:

What Does A "Black Hole" Organization Look Like?

Anyone with half a brain knows we are in irreversible Daddy, Mommy or children bridge killer scenario. We are within a black hole organizations…an organization without a bit of a conscience. Basically very little light or transparency escapes from this organization…all information released from the system is for self-interest of the system. The system is the NHDOT organization and our state political system.

Science, professionalism and engineering are corrupted in all black hole organization as with any truth and honesty…

Right, we are irreversible heading for a Hinsdale/ Brattleboro bridge and economic collapse. We are not on the ten year plan. We are years away from the bridge being red listed with a long waiting list…we are off on the time horizon of plus 20 years with out even thinking about replacing these bridges. Think about it, there are tons of more important (rich and populated) areas with red listed bridges and bad roads…we and many New Hampshire areas are on the infinite repair or upgrade list. When is our Bridges going to be fixed? It is on the far side of the infinite date.

So the bridge collapse has already happened 1, 5, 10, 20 or 50 years in the future though population indifference…it is irreversible…we are just waiting for time to catch up to the dead people and area economic programs. The replacement of the 1921 bridge is many decades away…but the DOT would not be able to catch the failure because of political interference with engineering. They will say they just never seen it coming…

This is a Big Dig black hole scenario…it is where the southeastern NH I 93, other southeastern Interstate projects and other similar road and bridge projects suck the vast amount of state resources away from the other 85% of the square miles of a state. In many other states, the vast low population areas of the state house and senate congressional politicians have ganged up on the big city areas. The figure where their needs are… jobs, schools and roads…then dictated state budges with a huge block of votes. Why don't we organize around these themes?

"Massive NHDOT layoff"...there is not one state engineer who will tell the truth under such a draconian environment. They will just say anything to keep feeding their families until the other side of 2015. The whole bunch of the NHDOT regular employees and management are disillusioned with this nearly dead state agency...

Yea, I get it, just play the game...

Why don't the Feds help us out...say they will hold up our federal highway funding until NH gets their budgeting issues fixed.

Massive DOT layoffs, worsening road conditions in NH could come in 2015 if revenue continues declineBy KEVIN

Posted on June 26, 2013

by Susan Reing

CONCORD — State transportation officials say they may have to lay off more than a third of their workforce starting in October 2015 to cope with declining revenues.

Transportation Commissioner Chris Clement also warned a key House committee Tuesday that state roads in poor shape will get worse, as limited money for repaving will be earmarked for roads in better condition.

“We are going to continue paving the good roads to keep them good,’’ Clement told the House Public Works and Highways Committee. “We are going to have more poor roads.”

There is only enough money to repave 300 miles of state roads in each of the next two years; the state’s goal is to repave at least 500 miles, or 10 percent, in the state highway system.

Committee Chairman David Campbell, D-Nashua, scheduled the briefing for Department of Transportation officials to inform lawmakers of the status of the state highway fund since the Legislature failed to increase revenue this past year.

“We are not here to cry about spilled milk or talk about new revenues,” Campbell said. “We are here to talk about money DOT has and what they plan to do with it.”

Campbell had authored a plan the House tweaked and passed to increase the gasoline tax 12 cents per gallon for drivers over three years and for diesel truck owners over six.

The state Senate countered with a proposal to earmark about $45 million a year for road and bridge improvements with legalizing betting at a single high-end casino.

The Senate killed the gas tax bill, and the House rejected the casino measure.

“We want to know the consequences of that to the roads and bridges in New Hampshire,” Campbell said.

The fund took in $276 million this fiscal year, but that will decline to $248 million in fiscal 2014 and $232 million in fiscal 2016, which begins July 1, 2015.

The shortfall occurs once onetime revenue sources run out. The highway fund collected $120 million over four years by selling a stretch of Interstate 95 in Portsmouth to the turnpike system.

In 2009, the Democratic-led Legislature approved an annual $30 surcharge on the registration of all cars and trucks; voters put Republicans in control of the Legislature in November 2010, and the surcharge was repealed seven months later.

Department Director of Finance Patrick McKenna said, starting in October 2015, the agency will face an annual operating deficit of about $50 million.

The only way to reduce it is through cuts of the department’s workforce of 1,750 employees, because virtually all state road and bridge work is paid with federal grants and, by law, the state has to give 12 percent of the proceeds from the gas tax to cities and towns.

“Those are where the cuts will happen. That is the only part we have discretion over. We’re very much a pass-through agency,” McKenna said. “That’s 600 jobs; that is the cliff we are looking at. That is what we are starting to wonder about.”

As for the widening of Interstate 93, Clement said that project will cease in fall 2015 without the needed $250 million to complete it.

The widening will have been completed from the Massachusetts border to Exit 3 in Windham and a new Exit 5. What is left is widening through Derry and then from Londonderry north to Manchester.

Clement said the I-93 widening is critical to the state remaining competitive in attracting new or expanded businesses.

“This is the road paved with gold. The businesses are waiting for this to finish,” Clement said. “They aren’t going to bring in new business or expand jobs if they can’t afford sitting in traffic for hours.”

"There are more than 500 bridges on the state’s red list, meaning they are a safety risk and urgently need work or replacement"...meaning we got over a 500 bridge waiting list and we aren't even on the red list yet.

"Without gaming revenue or alternative funding sources, bridge and road projects will not get done, he said."

What does this mean: "needs substantial increases in funding to make bridge and road repairs"?

"Clement has made it clear his department needs substantial increases in funding to make bridge and road repairs."

The politicians are playing mutual sabotage and Russian roulette...sep the gun is pointing at Hinsdale. ?

NH Grappling With How To Fund Road and Bridge Projects.

By Doug Irelanddireland@eagletribune.com The Eagle TribuneSun Jun 02, 2013, 12:10 AM EDT

New Hampshire’s roads are crumbling and its bridges becoming dilapidated, but lawmakers are in a quandary over how to fund the repairs.

There are more than 500 bridges on the state’s red list, meaning they are a safety risk and urgently need work or replacement. These include 148 state-owned bridges, according to Transportation Commissioner Christopher Clement.

One-third of state roads are in poor condition and more than $600 million is needed to improve them, he said.

Another major concern is how the state will come up with the additional $250 million required to complete the Interstate 93 widening between Manchester and Salem.

“We have a $250 million bond that has to be funded and there is bridge and roadwork that needs to be done,” said Sen. Chuck Morse, R-Salem, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

But hopes of paying for much of this work and other state budget priorities with more than $100 million in annual casino revenue were dashed two weeks ago when the House of Representatives rejected an expanded gambling bill. The Senate had approved the legislation.

“The Senate put its solution forward and it was gaming,”Morse said. “I thought gaming was the solution and the House obviously didn’t agree.”

Now, House and Senate budget negotiators are wrangling over how to fund the state’s expenses without the projected gambling revenue Gov. Maggie Hassan included in her proposed biennial budget.

The House has approved an $11 million plan and the Senate is poised to vote this week on $10.7 billion budget recommended by its Finance Committee.

Without the anticipated gambling revenue, the state is hard pressed to come up with the money needed to fund any transportation improvements, Morse said. The proposed DOT budget is a bare-bones plan, he said.

“It basically funds the work — that’s for operations and betterment only,” Morse said. “As for doing anything new, there are no revenues for that.”

DOT spokesman William Boynton said Thursday his department is waiting to hear what happens in the Legislature before proceeding with future spending plans.

DOT spokesman William Boynton said Thursday his department is waiting to hear what happens in the Legislature before proceeding with future spending plans.

“The budget process is still ongoing and we are waiting for it to play out,” he said. “Certainly, no additional funding would greatly hinder the NHDOT’s efforts to maintain and improve New Hampshire’s transportation system.”

Twenty bridges in the state have been closed because they were unsafe, he said, including 12 last year alone. All efforts are being made to keep aging bridges and roads maintained and open for travel — to a point, Boynton said.

“If they are unsafe, we will close them,” he said.

In the meantime, the DOT is focusing on taking care of its most heavily traveled roads, including I-93, Boynton said.

Clement has made it clear his department needs substantial increases in funding to make bridge and road repairs.

One lawmaker who agrees is Sen. James Rausch, R-Derry, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Clement and Rausch were among the keynote speakers at a public forum on the state’s transportation needs in Derry earlier this spring.

Both pushed for more money for projects at a time when Clement said at least $12 million is needed each year to keep up with roadwork.But reduced funding for the work and a 460 percent cost increase in pavement alone since 1992 have made that difficult, Clement said.

Thirty-seven percent, or 1,565 miles, of New Hampshire’s roadways have been classified as poor under federal standards, he said.

Clement and Rausch say it’s crucial the state finishes the 20-mile widening of I-93 before permits for the $770 million project expire in 2020.

“I think the top priority is completion of I-93,” Rausch said Friday.

Leveral projects between Exit 1 in Salem and Exit 5 in Londonderry are funded and scheduled for this year. But there’s a lot of uncertainty about what will happen beyond 2015.

Rausch said passage of the expanded gambling legislation, Senate Bill 152, would have resolved that dilemma.

The bill earmarked 45 percent of the state casino revenues for transportation needs. One of the proposed locations for a casino was Rockingham Park in Salem.

Approval of casino gambling would have created hundreds of construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs. It would have also attracted more businesses to New Hampshire and stimulated others, including Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, he said.

A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology report says the airport saw a 41 percent decrease in flights from 2007 to 2012 — a trend at small airports that’s occurring nationwide. But deputy airport director Brian O’Neill said the number of passengers at the airport is starting to rise again for the first time in five years.

Rausch said he’s still optimistic expanded gambling will be approved before the legislative session ends.

“I still have a glimmer of hope ....” he said. “It’s a better situation than raising the gas tax.”

Without gaming revenue or alternative funding sources, bridge and road projects will not get done, he said.

“We will struggle with that,” Rausch said. “I think the DOT has to make some (difficult) decisions on how to allocate its revenues.”

The state’s fiscal dilemma in recent years has had a big impact on communities that relied on the DOT’s bridge aid program. The program reimbursed 80 percent of a community’s project costs.

Salem took full advantage of the program, completing eight bridge projects.

But dwindling funding and an increased demand has led to a 10-year waiting list, according to Clement. The state can only fund 10 projects a year and the $6.8 million in annual funding has not been increased in 17 years, he said.

The delay nixed Salem’s plans last year to replace the Town Farm Road bridge over the Spicket River. Town Manager Keith Hickey and selectmen were planning on $800,000 in reimbursement money for the $1 million project.

“The state is not committing any funding,” Hickey said at the time. “They’re not going to commit funds they do not know they have.”

The project has been delayed until next year. It’s one of five red-listed bridge projects the town plans to undertake in the next three years, with Salem taxpayers footing the entire bill.

Selectman Michael Lyons, a member of Salem’s Town Wide Road Stabilization Committee, said the town has been pro-active in taking care of its infrastructure needs in wake of decreased state assistance.

Two weeks ago, the town began work to replace the Bluff Street bridge. Replacement of the Providence Hill Road bridge begins later this month, Hickey said.

June 24, 2013:

I spent a lot of time at the bridges in the last few days. Today I spent a lot of time blessing everyone entering the Brattleboro bridge today. Spent time with my hands in a praying position. I swear, blessed a car full of nuns. One of them smiled at me and she seemed to understand what I was doing. The basic theme I was telling, you are at a higher risk than you think. If the bridge collapses, god has absolved you of all your sins. I am like a modern day “John the Baptist” at the foot of the route 119 Hinsdale bridge.

I am getting a lot more "thank yous" than middle fingers. But no doubt, I offend a lot of people.

I have been expecting a police visit. It occurred today. It was about 3 pm and 94 degrees out. I had reached the limits of the heat. So I am transporting my numerous signs, gear, shovel, hammer and back-pack back to may car. I am on the unsafe side of the guard rail. I am not displaying my signs. I am transporting them. Well, the Hinsdale cop got a cell phone that I was out in the road displaying the signs. He asked me if I have been out in the road displaying the signs.

So I explain am I trying to pack up and head home…I don’t do any signing out in the road. Right, I tell him, it is the deal we made last year and the year before that. Stay on the safe side of the guard rails…and I agree it is more safer for everyone. The cop was nice and respectful to me...but he kept saying over and over again to me I have to stay of the safe side of the guard rails. Jesus, he talks to my like my wife! Do they both think i got hearing problems? I think he thought I was a little foolish doing this at the bridges.

I am just saying, there are a lot of offended people I irritate. If I blow your nose on the side of the road, the offended are making a call to the police to complaint about me. I am looking for my image to stay in the heads of the people who pass by me on these bridges.

I mean, can you imagine if a beam failed, then they had to close the bridge. That is my bet, this bridge could go at any time. My two bridges are constructed in 1921!

Vermont/ NY Champlain Bridge

The bridge opened to traffic on August 26, 1929.^[2]It was one of the first continuous truss road bridges built in the nation, and exhibited characteristics of both a through truss and deck truss design. The bridge was initially tolled;however, the tolls were removed on September 22, 1987.The bridge was rehabilitated in 1991. Work performed at that time included the replacement of the deck and railings, the repainting of the steel trusses, and the repairing of the bridge piers.

However, in 2009, an inspection performed on the bridge as part of the planning process revealed that two of the bridge's support piers were not structurally sound...

Originally posted on 6/8/13:

The Hinsdale NH-Brattleboro Route 119 Bridge Collapsed Today?

Why We Lost The Hinsdale NH Route 119 Bridge!

A Plea To President Obama For A New Bridge

Below: the Spring of 2013 NHDOT bridge inspection and repair gang! Don't make me laugh!

That huge nasty and salty bolt...with the dissolved bridge plate below.

"Entering USA" and "Build New Bridge" signs taped on the bridge. The formerly state of New Hampshire USA is now called the ungovernable free libertarian territory of Guatemala.

The "Dangerous Bridge" sign on my front windshield and trunk. So far. The "shovel" and "hammer" is my trade mark or my symbol. Lets start digging dirt and hammering nails!

Many people look at me like I am nuts with the shovel raised above me head...I get a lot of looks and stares that way. I am aiming for that! I took this last fall. I will be looking for somebody to take my pictures while I am saluting, throwing kisses and other grimaces.

Click on the picture to read the signs...

I usually only do this in the fall...

Click on it once?

My first day on the site was Thursday June 6, 2013. A lot of people were happy to see me and remembered me....lots of smile, salutes and thumbs up. With all the newspaper attention, there is no doubt we are trying to replace this bridge. It is generally a lot more acceptable today doing this than my first week at the footing of the bridge three years ago. Most get it now, it is a amazing change! A few "middle fingers" and "get a job". I am building up my store of signs. 4 hours on the roads.

Another 4 hours aside the road on 6/8 Saturday...lots of positivity. The excitement of the day was a mom and dad on a motorboat in the river with four young teenagers daughters (13 or 14). The four teenagers jumped in the river by my bridge footing and swum to shore. They climbed the riverbank and got onto my side of the bridge...north east side. One by one, they all jumped off the bridge into the river with their young mom and dad near in the boat below. Two kids had to be persuaded...but they jumped off the Brattleboro bridge in the end. I wish I had parents like that.

June 9

The below pictures are my antics at the bridge. I wish I would have thought about tucking in my shirt and pulling up my pants. I am working on in the future of dressing up as a angel.

Call me?