Whistleblowing can be used as a potent creative tool to help your bureaucracy evolve towards a more enlightened organization.
Phone: 1-603-209-4206 steamshovel2002@yahoo.com
Note: I constantly update my articles.
Comments at the bottom of the article are always welcome!!!
Mike Mulligan, Hinsdale, NH
Update The NHDOT gets a grade of "A" plus with getting their new inspection report on the internet in quick time. Remember though, I pushed them to do it. It wasn't purely self directed... I have zero confidence this inspection was accurate. You can expect a mass causality event and body recovery at any moment.
Hinsdale-Brattleboro bridges land on state's red list after recent inspection
By Meg McIntyre Sentinel Staff 17 min ago
HINSDALE — With a couple of years left before they’re scheduled to be replaced, the two bridges connecting the town to Brattleboro have been put on the state’s red list.
The downgrade comes after N.H. Department of Transportation
The multi-grade...fair to poor...down grade downgrade is proof they have been falsifying these bridge inspections. Inspections like this can be grossly inaccurate. They can't see everything...some areas are totally covered by layers of rust and other critical areas are not inspectable.
officials reclassified the bridges from fair to poor condition following a routine inspection last month that identified further deterioration of the nearly 100-year-old spans.
The state’s red list comprises bridges classified as being in poor or worse condition. Bridges on the list are inspected twice yearly to check for any rapid changes. State highway officials previously classified the narrow bridges as functionally obsolete, which means they’re outdated, don’t meet current design standards or have height and weight restrictions.
The bridges, named after Charles Dana and Anna Hunt Marsh, are Pennsylvania truss-style structures built in the 1920s and rehabilitated in 1988. They link Route 119 from Hinsdale to Brattleboro via Hinsdale Island, and are set to be replaced with a new bridge several hundred feet downstream, with construction scheduled to begin in 2019.
A project to replace the bridges has been included in the state’s 10-year transportation improvement plan since fiscal year 1994, with its start date being delayed several times. However, it was bumped completely from the 2013-22 plan because of lack of funding before being put back in the 2015-24 plan.
Manchester-based engineering firm Hoyle, Tanner and Associates Inc. completed the recent inspection over the course of five days in late June. Inspectors identified corrosion-related deterioration of both bridges’ trusses and floor system, the resulting report states.
Though both bridges are safe for vehicle and pedestrian traffic, they may require weight limit postings or structural steel repairs in the future, according to an email from the state transportation department’s bridge design team that accompanied the report’s release.
“The ongoing project for the replacement of these two bridges has been largely driven by bridge geometrics and highway obsolescence, however the downgraded condition signifies that the bridges, after nearly 100 years of service, are approaching the end of their expected service lives from a structural standpoint,” the email reads.
Construction on a replacement bridge is scheduled to begin in 2019, according to the state’s most recent 10-year transportation plan. The new bridge will stretch 1,782 feet across the Connecticut River. It will vary in width between 49 feet along the majority of the roadway and 53 feet at the Vermont-side intersection — the slight width increase will accommodate a turning lane where Route 119 intersects Route 142.
That intersection will be controlled with a traffic signal. The plans also call for a 6-foot-wide sidewalk on the bridge’s north side, with a few viewing platforms for pedestrians to take in views of the river.
The state transportation department plans to maintain the existing bridges for bicycle and pedestrian use, officials said at a public hearing in January. The department has applied for a TIGER grant to provide additional funds for the old bridges’ refurbishment, they said.
Michael Darcy, chairman of the Hinsdale Board of Selectmen, said the town is more focused on the construction of the replacement bridge than on the state of the existing bridges.
“It’s concerning in that we have to be aware of the safety of the bridges, but in terms of getting a new bridge or anything, we’ve already done that process,” he said. “So it doesn’t really have any immediate implications.”
After nearly 100 years, the town is excited to finally have a new bridge, he said.
“Maybe the red-listing of the current bridges will goose that ahead a little bit, and maybe there’ll be a little more effort to get the new bridge completed as quickly as they can,” Darcy said.
More information on the bridge replacement project is available at
These guys just got off the worst NRC grade in the nation. What has it been on, the bad boy list some 5 years. It is all wasted money.
The CRS (control room supervisor) who called in sick, sounds like he knew his crew wasn't ready for startup. He probably realized his crew would get into a bad situation...didn't want his reputation to get tarred by the screw-up.
The licensee says all the crew had been properly trained for all situations at the plant. Then they must be just shitty managers. Undoughterly the simulator training is up to the NRC regulation, but it is not sufficient to operate a plant safety.
The contributing cause for this event was determined to be ANO-1 Operations management and crew leaders did not effectively meet expectations of providing optimal crew composition, maintain command and control, and oversee control room evolutions.
The following factors were identified through the various analysis techniques used to be related to the root and contributing causes associated with this event.
• Crew Composition
The scheduled on duty CRS had called in sick prior to the watch and a relief CRS assumed the watch who was subsequently designated as the team lead for placing the MFP in service. A Shift Manager (SM) supporting activities assumed the CRS role for oversight. The SM had not been involved with the Just In Time Training (JITT) for the startup and had not served in the CRS role in approximately one year. In addition, the dayshift Shift Technical Advisor (STA) was relieved at 1600 for personal reasons and was replaced by an STA that had not attended JITT.
• Command and Control
The CRS did not challenge the basis of why the procedurally identified computer points were out of band or the ATC’s alternate monitoring method of using the OIT discharge pressure while manually operating the MFP.
The ATC extrapolated the differences between the two indications and assumed that as long as the monitored indications remained constant then discharge pressure was being controlled within the appropriate band per the earlier identified OIT indication.
The ATC did not communicate with the CRS or anyone on the crew that the computer display would be monitored to ensure that the discharge pressure remained within the acceptable band.
The Control Board Operator – Turbine (CBOT) performed a component verification versus a peer check as required by ANO Operations standards. • Procedure use and Adherence / Procedure Compliance Throughout the course of the shift, there were multiple examples of the ANO-1 Control Room team failing to implement administrative procedural requirements outlined in station and fleet procedure intended to minimize the potential for human error. • Formal Operations Communications Crew members (other than the ATC) were unaware of the failed pressure instrument which impacted the team’s ability to challenge pressure monitoring and control. The CRS did not request updates from the ATC during the evolution regarding MFP discharge pressure.
• Operator Knowledge and Training ATC operator did not identify that the setback feature was active which led to the raising of MFP speed to “control” RCS pressure. As stated previously, several members of the crew did not attend JITT.
A performance analysis was conducted for the conceptual error on the part of the ATC regarding system operation. Based on the review in the analysis, no training weaknesses were identified. The evaluation determined that the evolution had been correctly performed in the past without identifying MFP discharge pressure as a critical parameter, the activity was not overly complex, and successful performance was within the fundamental skills and knowledge of a typical ATC.
So now we are on the vaulted red list. From a fair to a poor grade. You know, why didn't the state give the Brattleboro Reformer a link to the report so everyone can read it. They could put the link in the article. A sign of terrible corruption is a lack of transparency...these guys got that disease bad.
"Has anyone asked why this bridge wasn't on the NH red list. This is how they apportion bridge funding to communities mostly. They were falsifying inspection. So mike, why didn't it get on the red list. Because they would have no bases that any changes occurred. It would illuminate their systemic bridge inspections falsification game. Just like today, if they shutdown the bridge. I could ask the NHDOT what changes occurred on this new inspection compared to the last inspection. They-we wouldn't find any significant changes from the last inspection. The game would be up!!!"
You can get the rate of increase with corrosion in this inspection report. I assume the last inspection was two or three years ago. The rating on this guy drastically declined from the last inspection. This guy is going to drastically decline to at least three grades past poor before the new bridge is operational. The certainty of capturing the true condition of the bridge I'd put at about 60%. There is massive corrosion on the bridge obscuring damage visibility and many critical areas don't allow for any inspections.
Mr. Landry is deep in "normalization of deviance with these stone age bridges. This kind of damage is normal for age of these bridges. He is crazy?
It was probably my work that got this abysmal worsening downgrade to poor. Honestly the downgrade to poor is proof they are falsifying bridge inspection. The trend with corrosion rate has probably been stable for decades. But got them to go down more than on grade. If these bridges had a regular painting job cycle the corrosion would be minimal.
The name of the island is not "The Island". It's official name is Island Park. It was a ball park and Brattleboro they had ball room dancing and big bands there. Crowds listened to politicians of the day also.
The power of the Reformer and NHDOT to control their story is amazing. You don't have a completing viewpoint to contradict NHDOT. Just from a single source and a totally complaint newspaper.
"Brattleboro Reformer: NH Bridges Downgraded to Poor"
July 21-22 2018 (sorry, I forgot to include page 1. This whole article wasn't on their internet site. It is interesting. Why did Audette write this article? Why not a regular reporter?
So are the rocker or rolling bearings functional. As with the stationary bearings. These are critical for bridge safety. One is blocked by the new footing and the other one is terribly bend.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it was starting an investigation into uranium imports, potentially opening another front in an expansive trade war that has shaken alliances with countries around the world.
Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, said the department would investigate whether imported uranium ore and related products — key ingredients in America’s nuclear arsenal, and used in power production and nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers — threatened national security.
Uranium produced domestically now fills only 5 percent of America’s needs, Mr. Ross said, down from half in 1987.
The uranium inquiry is the latest of several trade-related steps the Trump administration has taken with an eye toward imposing stiff tariffs on imports. Levies have already been placed on washing machines, solar-power products, steel and aluminum from overseas, and on an array of Chinese goods. The administration is also considering whether to impose tariffs on imported cars and car parts.
The investigation announced on Wednesday was requested by two American uranium mining companies, UR-Energy and Energy Fuels. The firms say low-priced imports, especially those from competitors supported by foreign government subsidies, had caused them to slash jobs in recent years. Nuclear power producers have responded by warning that sharp restrictions on uranium imports could lead to the closure of plants.
“Despite uranium’s critical role in supporting clean electricity and national defense, imports of cheap, foreign state-subsidized uranium have swelled,” the companies wrote in a petition in January. Shares of both companies rose on Wednesday.
The uranium imported into the United States now comes
I wonder why the NYTs went with the order of the counties in the sentence? The assumption is Australia exports the most uranium to the USA. I get it now, they went by alphabetical order. It this order really fair? Russia exports the most uranium into the USA. Do you really think our nuclear plants are really powered by American uranium? This is a shot at Russia. Some high 90% of the uranium powering our nuclear plants are powered up by Russian uranium. This problem emanates from the megawatts to megaton (US and Russia's nuclear weapons non proliferation agreement. Basically we bought Russia's weapon uranium to fuel up our nuclear plant. It was really cheap fuel. I wrote about the extensively on my blog. So recently the MTW agreement transitioned to a commercial venture. We really never knew where the ratepayer billions went into Russia. They are really thugs. The world wide money grubbers owned this program. I always thought with US permission, newly mined uranium was put into this agreement.
As far as the NTYs, over decades they were complicate with this crooked deal. I think the US utilities, the NYTs and our government coverup'ed how highly we used Russian uranium. It is a top secret coverup. The simple question is, for each US nuclear plant, what percentage of plant power comes from the Russian uranium? How much nuclear plant power nationwide comes from Russian uranium? Again in the high 90 percent. Basically the only reason our nuclear plants were profitable for the last few decades is they use cheap Russian uranium.
Think of the grid and utility crisis we would be in if they cut off selling uranium to us? All the financial value with all the nuclear plants would disappear overnight. We would lose 20% of the grid capacity fairly quickly.
mostly from Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The nuclear power industry has warned that an aggressive attempt to restrict access to imported uranium could increase the cost of operating America’s nuclear power plants, many of which already struggle to compete with lower-price natural gas and renewable energy.
Nuclear power provides 20 percent of America’s electricity, a fraction that is set to wane in the coming years: Since 2013, six of the nation’s nuclear reactors have shut down permanently and 11 others are scheduled to be retired by 2025.
President Trump, who often talks about the benefits of nuclear power, has ordered the energy secretary, Rick Perry, to “prepare immediate steps” to stem the closure of reactors. But new trade barriers on nuclear fuel couldfurther strain the industry.
“Maintaining all the elements of the domestic uranium fuel supply is in our national interest and we urge the federal government to take appropriate action, without harming the fleet of nuclear reactors,” Maria G. Korsnick, head of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said in a statement.
The companies that requested the trade case asked that the Commerce Department limit imports so that 25 percent of the uranium used in the United States would be produced domestically. The companies argue that doing so would pose minimal burdens on nuclear power plants.
The companies that operate the plants dispute that idea, pointing to a recent study from NorthBridge Group, a consulting firm, that looked at the impact of such a quota, which would require domestic producers to expand their operations sharply in just a few years. Doing so would cost the nuclear power industry $500 million to $800 million per year, the study found, increasing the average cost of electricity from nuclear reactors by around 2 to 3 percent.
“We sympathize with the plight of uranium suppliers,” Ms. Korsnick said on Wednesday. “However, NEI does not support the implementation of quotas as described in the petition. Potential remedies could put even more generating units at risk for premature closure.”
It is unclear what the Trump administration will ultimately propose with regard to imported uranium. If it determines that unfair trade practices are hurting domestic mining companies, the Commerce Department can recommend a broad range of remedies, from strict quotas to temporary tariffs. Such a decision would be expected to play out over several months, as the department continues its investigation and holds public hearings.
The investigation into uranium imports — as with those involving steel, aluminum cars and car parts — is being conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a legal provision that gives the president broad power to impose tariffs on imports that he determines pose a threat to national security.
The use of a national security-related law to place tariffs on close military allies like Canada and the European Union has been a source of contention. Multiple countries have retaliated by imposing tariffs on American goods and have challenged the Trump administration’s measures at the World Trade Organization.
In particular, trade experts say that the administration’s imposition of tariffs for national security reasons — a matter the World Trade Organization does not closely regulate — opens a potential loophole that other countries could use to put their own levies on a range of products.
“If the U.S. has rewritten the rules of the WTO system to say you can do anything you want if it’s in your national security interests, be prepared for every country in the world to come up with a new definition of what is its critical national security interest,” Rufus Yerxa, the president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents exporters in the United States, said.
Congress has considered taking action to stay the administration’s use of the national security provision to impose tariffs. Republican leaders have shown limited support for such a move so far, but that could change as the administration’s trade measures become more far-reaching.
“If the administration continues forward with its misguided and reckless reliance on tariffs, I will work to advance trade legislation to curtail presidential trade authority,” Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Tuesday. “I am discussing legislative options with colleagues both on and off the Finance Committee and I will continue to do so.”
I did a lot of invaluable reporting on my bridges in 2013. Go mike!!!
Ordinally posted on 3/25/2013@ 5:08pm
$$$ It is grossly obscene and utterly gross engineering negligence, let alone the state is prematurely wearing out and damaging state tax payer monies by the utterly negligent maintenance practices of not rolling these bridges through a sand blasting and repainting job. All the damage I see on these bridges comes from such a poor New Hampshire DOT maintenance schedule... So when was the bridge last painted. Did you paint the top last, left the bottom nakedly unpainted as it was getting massively sprinkled with salt during our winters... It is the same as negligently not installing a set of the required nuts and bolts...or the engineer's orders of installing the right placement and numbers of Titanic era rivets. $$$ March 29: I find it amazing they used all different size components for each bridge...they must have measured the width across each river from potential footing to footing...then they sent for the properly sized bridge parts to the site.
I want a small, medium and large bridge....like the size of your shoes...I need 8 and a 11 1/2 size Pennsylvania truss bridge?
No doubt it came up on the railroads and propelled by a steam locomotive...
Heading over to the route 9 Chesterfield Connecticut river bridge with my measuring tape, pad pencil and my camera...
March 28: "The Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge connects Brattleboro to Hinsdale Island, which is connected to Hinsdale by the Charles Dana Bridge."
I bet you they got the name mixed up on the bridges? The Brattleboro side bridge is much bigger than the Hinsdale bridge...it doesn't fit the typical size of a female versus male. They got the names reversed? So I asked the MHDOT boss why is the Brattleboro bridge was so mushy...the Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge...he went off saying it is as mushy as the new route 9 bridge on the Connecticut River in Chesterfield. The "so called" Anna bridge is from footing to footing, about 333 feet long. The Charles bridge is a piddling 309 feet long from footing to footing. Anna's huge circular top trust beams are two feet wide while Charles is only a little 22 inches. Charles chicken boy has a stone or concrete island 33 feet from his bridge footings on both sides...the longest stretch of unsupported bridge to the ground is 234 feet. Courageous Anna doesn't have any stone and concrete supports between her footings...her longest stretch of unsupported bridge is the full 333 feet long. Anna's circular truss arch, that is way above the highway, is much higher and steeper than Charles... Anna is much bigger and has a much larger unsupported span of highway than her bridge partner Charles...
I hope the engineer got their number right on the Anna bridge, with her huge length of unsupported to ground or river bottom spans...footing to footing?
Why no "person on the street" comments captured in a Reformer newspaper story about the Hinsdale/ Brattleboro bridge, more throwing kisses at speeding women in cars and what makes a good state.
So I will be meeting and will put on a presentation this up coming Monday at 7 PM at the Town Hall...the bridge commission and the southeast planning counsel will be speaking the following week.
From: "WilliamButynski@aol.com" To: steamshovel2002@yahoo.com Cc: williambutynski@aol.com Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 8:35 AM Subject: Re: Route 119 Hinsdale/ Brattleboro Bridge
Mike,
Thanks for the additional email below. I believe that you have also already been in touch with J. B. Mack directly. J.B. told me that he contacted NHDOT's Chief Engineer & was told that the bridge inspection team looked only at the NH bridge that directly enters Brattleboro, whereas an inspection for the second bridge on the Hinsdale side has been scheduled for sometime in the next few weeks. The Chief Engineer apparently told J.B.that the inspection team is still writing their report on the first bridge, but they will not be recommending that it be redlisted, although "a few minor repairs" are planned for sometime in the next few weeks. That is good in the sense that they believe it is completely safe, but it is bad in that not being redlisted means that NHDOT apparently does not believe that it needs to be replaced soon. NHDOT has a list of 100+ bridges in NH that are redlisted.
On Monday there is a meeting in Concord that I need to attend on the overall State Budget. However, assuming that meeting does not go beyond 5:30 PM, I will try to make it back to Hinsdale in time to sit in on your meeting with the Select Board members at 7:00 PM. Also, I agree that Hinsdale is not a priority for NHDOT or most others in Concord. The reason for that is that we have a comparatively small population & thus do not have nearly as many State Reps as many other areas of the state that are much more heavily populated. Any invitation to NHDOT to attend Monday's meeting should probably be initiated by the Hinsdale Select Board, although it may be best for you to talk with the Select Board first, & invite NHDOT to a subsequent meeting.
Thanks again for your emails & work on the bridge to monitor its condition & to keep folks who travel on the bridge safe & informed about its problems.
Bill B.
March 28, 2013: I have nothign but respect for Rep Butynski and the Southeast Regional Planning Board...these guys are the professional arm of getting the bridge replaced and really caring about economic development. I really respect Rep Butynski of Hinsdale.
I am just the bottom half circus entertainer trying to get the message out. So the Reformer tried to downplay my NHDOT whistleblower claims notified us all about the upcoming bridge inspection. You get it, the reformer doesn't need proof about anything they say. So how did the reformer become aware of the bridge inspection and where was it publicly disclosed. This is all insider NHDOT and Brattleboro reformer crap. The establishment around here plays insider ball with the Reformer staff so their take on the world get reported above the bottom half. I intentionally spent a lot of time explaining my predicament to the boss of the jobsite on Monday morning...I knew who he was before he even came to the site. I was feeding NHDOT information though him on intention. I suspect when they went on early break, I told him to tell his boss a nosy guy was taking pictures of the site...the guy who was protesting with signs for the last two years. That guy on his so called early morning coffee break in their trucks, he immediately called his boss with the Mike Mulligan news. I told him to do this! I'll bet you they talked it over in region Swanzey office, kicked it around with the main office in Concord...that is when they came up with the plan to notify Brattleboro reformer office. I bet you my youngest son that is how the reformer ended up getting taken. So the reformer was notified well before Monday that a inspection was being planned...the Reformer planned for it and scheduled to get the pictures taken Monday on their own. How come it wasn't in Tuesday's paper...it took till Wednesday morning to for the story to get into the paper. It was delayed till Wednesday because the reformer got notified mid morning after I told the site boss he better immediately report Mike Mulligan to his boss was taking pictures of his crew. That is the route the reformer was notified and they weren't prepared for getting the story on their own with prior notification. This is all establishment insider special communications with the reformer that excludes the bottom half. Remember how tiny the Brattleboro Reformer is as a news outlet...no wonder why their circulation is so poor. They don't how to talk to the bottom class! The staff at the Reformer is nothing but the third string of the gigantic news corp that owns the Reformer.... probably outcast from the bigger newspapers. Happy news and don't rock the tourist boat incorporated. So they are reputational and establishment centric...not the the middle class centric. This giant corporation doesn't represent the poor, weak and the hungrey well.
At the end of the day, why wasn't the picture at the top of my blog not in the Brattleboro Reformer...let the NHDOT explain why this is safe. I get it, it will upset the little people of the bottom half...the idiots wouldn't understand it... Everyone is in pajamas and already asleep...the Brattleboro Reformer!
I am disappointed with everyone...the NHDOT and the Brattleboro Reformer.
I protested to replace this bridge for two years...for months on end during the fall. This entry gets you where I documented my adventures with throwing kisses at passing by pretty women, throwing perfect military solutes at as many as I could and blessed all the tractor trailer truck drivers if the bridge collapse while they in the middle of it. They knew no matter what sins they committed they were still going to heaven.
HINSDALE, N.H. -- The state's Department of Transportation on Monday was performing inspections on two bridges connecting the town with Vermont that many hope will be replaced by one brand-new structure.
Steve Johnson, NHDOT's assistant administrator for bridge maintenance, said the Anna Hunt Marsh and Charles Dana bridges on Route 119 show some minor deterioration the department wants to take care of, but no major problems. New Hampshire, Vermont and two separate regional planning commissions have been pushing for a proposed Route 119 replacement bridge that would span the Connecticut River, starting near the stop light at the old Walmart location and landing near the Merrill Gas Company tank farm in Brattleboro, Vt.
One of those planning commissions, the Southwest Region Planning Commission, is putting the bridges on a priority list it will submit to the NHDOT this April. The state agency will then review the lists of regional projects and decide which should go into the state's 10-year transportation improvement plan.
JB Mack, the principal planner for the Keene-based SWRPC, told the Reformer a report was put together following a site visit in September to highlight any remaining questions in regards to improving the bi-state project's readiness for the 10-year planning process. He said within the next few weeks, officials from both towns are expected to come together to discuss the SWRPC's report and how to find answers to the remaining questions, which include economic development.
He said in September he believes the price of the project will run between $37 and $38 million, though New Hampshire would not be responsible for the whole cost.
Mack said the two Pennsylvania truss bridges in use today were built in 1920 and are now considered "functionally obsolete." He said, based on federal highway standards, they are too narrow and have insufficient weight limits and vertical clearances. The Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge connects Brattleboro to Hinsdale Island, which is connected to Hinsdale by the Charles Dana Bridge.
"Wide loads, tall loads and heavy loads can't use the bridges," Mack said. "By all accounts, they are still considered safe bridges -- but they have limitations."
He said the bridges' decks were repaired in 1988, "but that's just one part of the bridge."
Mack said there were "no surprises" during the inspections. He mentioned the previous inspections took place in September 2011.
NHDOT Project Manager Donald Lyford told the Reformer no plans have changed since the site visit in September and those involved are now waiting on funding from the federal level. He said the project is not in New Hampshire's 10-year plan because there is no money available.
Mike Darcy, the chairman of the Hinsdale Board of Selectmen, said Tuesday the project is vital to the towns on both sides of the river.
"The towns of Hinsdale and Brattleboro share a lot more than we often admit. People work on either side of the river," he said, mentioning that his wife works for C&S Wholesale Grocers in Brattleboro. "It's a community -- even though we are separated by a river."
He went on to say countless people utilize the bridges, as Hinsdale residents use them to get to stores such as Price Chopper and Hannaford and Brattleboro locals travel to Hinsdale to shop at the Walmart Supercenter.
He said a new bridge could result in an economic
(Zachary P. Stephens/Brattleboro Reformer) boom and might help clear up the traffic in the Brattleboro intersection known as "Malfunction Junction." He said the legislative delegates from Hinsdale and Walpole are expected to attend a Selectmen's meeting on Monday, April 8, to further discuss this issue.
"This is a multi-year project. We're not going to see a new bridge tomorrow even if we get the funding today," he said. "It's a long road to travel, but it's the one we're on."
In 2009 Time magazine published on Barack Obama that included the distinctive subphrase about history: “bends toward justice.” Obama credited the words to King:
But as I learned in the shadow of an empty steel plant more than two decades ago, while you can’t necessarily bend history to your will, you can do your part to see that, in the words of Dr. King, it “bends toward justice.” So I hope that you will stand up and do what you can to serve your community, shape our history and enrich both your own life and the lives of others across this country.On March 25, 1965, having completed the third march to Montgomery, the city that gave birth to the civil rights movement, Dr. King spoke these words on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol: Dr. King spoke these words on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol:
"I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?"....
"I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again.
"How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever.
"How long? Not long, because you shall reap what you sow....
"How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
You see the difference between little Obama's "that you can't necessarily bend history to your will" and basically MLK commands the arc of history to bend to his will. The more they beat his people and put him in jail, the more sure MLK became he was going to irrevocably change our nation.
Oct 17: Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
The park is named after Roosevelt's Jan. 6, 1941, State of the Union address, known as the Four Freedoms Speech. Given before America got involved in World War II, Roosevelt said the way to justify the enormous sacrifice of war was to create a world centered on four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom from want; and freedom from fear. The words were later incorporated into the charter of the United Nations, which Roosevelt helped create.
***March 25, 2013 approximately 8:30 am***
NH DOT bridge inspection team today at the Hinsdale NH route 119 bridge. I got a tip yesterday these guys were inspecting the bridge today.
I was told the NH DOT scheduled last year a full contractor professional bridge inspection team for our bridge. The insider NHDOT whistleblowers told they canceled the expensive professional inspection team based on not enough NH DOT money...they quickly came up with a regular NH DOT team. There was no civil engineers on this team and they weren't by camera or paperwork immediately documenting the results. This kind of inspection, not the outside professional bridge inspection, which has been scheduled for a few years back with highly educated civil engineers effectively puts this bridge at the back of the list mostly based on politics and favoritism...
They told me the North-Hinsdale side of the huge trust where it bolts into the concrete footing iron work embedded into the cement was unsafe. It already failed the inspection and was quickly going to need emergency repair work. It is the beginning of major bridge structural components failing on this 1920 bridge.
Here is the NH DOT trucks
The whole NH DOT crew...
Some of the hard working bridge inspectors discussing the job.
Over the side they go!
And temp steel walkway...heading towards Brat...
Basically we are looking at the west footing...the concrete is wasting away and massive/deep concrete spalling. You see the fraudulent job they did last time....they put a thin coating of cement over the terrible deteriorated and deeply spalled concrete to make you think good about the cheap job.
Like I said earlier, around this huge bolt that hold the huge main trust to the concrete footing. This is the area with the failed inspection and in emergency need of repair. We'd be lucky if we don't get a severe weight restriction.
Bums sleep under this bridge...
If you got the guts, keep clicking on the picture for increasing the magnification and detail. This nut area on the north-hinsdale side trust failed the bridge inspection according to the NH DOT whistleblower.
(Fall 2012) The bridge underneath looks like this diabetic's rotting legs and bridge's rotting railings and beams...
The iron is de-laminating...failing off in heavy rust and iron layers. The white substance seen all over the place is pure road salt residue. I collected about two pounds of rust and the delaminated iron flakes right under this dangerous bolt and connection.The picture really doesn't do justice with seeing how deep the missing corroded iron is.
The bolt or nut is about the size of car hubcap. The bridge inspectors told me the north trust was worst than the south trust. This area failed today's inspection. This is cira 1900 era iron technology...we have no idea what level the strength and ductility of this medal has...how dangerously brittle the metal was even when it was just made.
The below is unbelievably dangerous to the people who cross this bridge and unbelievably dangerous to the economic's of our community if they have to shutdown the bridge because crossing it would be too dangerous.
The area gives you a little sample of the condition of the concrete. We can only see mostly the river side of the Hinsdale's concrete. The condition of the concrete are atrocious. We are talking about 93 years of alkali–silica reaction...a reaction causes the aggregate to swell.
This tells me NuScale has the inability to control their contract with their safety comment supplied associated with quality. Much like the Summer Plant. Why didn't NuScale catch this on their own and was Target Rock a honorable and trustful component manufacture. The guys built the SRVs I have spent so much time on. It looks like NuScale doesn't have a broad enough organization to maintain quality of the components.
I get it with these anti government nuclear corporations...its all the government's fault for inspecting too much. The NRC is obstructing our new nuclear technology!!! It not our fault.
July 2, 2018
Mr. John DeBonis Quality Assurance Manager Target Rock, a division of Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company 1966E Broadhollow Road East Farmingdale, NY 11735
Dear Mr. DeBonis: From May 14–18, 2018, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conducted an inspection at the Target Rock (TR) facility in East Farmingdale, NY. The enclosed report presents the results of the inspection. The purpose of the limited-scope technical inspection was to assess TR’s compliance with the provisions of selected portions of Appendix B, “Quality Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants,” to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, “Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities.” This technically-focused inspection specifically evaluated TR’s implementation of quality activities associated with the design control activities for the NuScale emergency core cooling system (ECCS) valves being performed by TR. This NRC inspection report does not constitute NRC endorsement of your overall quality assurance (QA) program. During this inspection, the NRC inspection team found that implementation of your QA program failed to meet certain NRC requirements contractually imposed on you by your customers or NRC licensees. Specifically, the NRC inspection team determined that TR was not implementing aspects of its design control and test programs consistent with regulatory requirements. The specific finding and references to the pertinent requirements are identified in the enclosures to this letter. In the response to the enclosed notice of nonconformance (NON), TR should document the results of the extent of condition and determine if there are any effects on other safety-related components. Please provide a written explanation or statement within 30 days of this letter in accordance with the instructions specified in the enclosed NON. We will consider extending the response time if you show good cause for us to do so. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, “Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding,” of the NRC’s Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter, its enclosures, and your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from...
This is the first time I have ever seen a failed test on SRVs disclosed as unknown. Are these guys testing the NRC with getting away with disclosing a tech spec test as failing for unknown reason? I see they did the same thing last cycle. Is this what you expect out of a good nuclear plant, not understanding why a safety equipment failed a test? They normally term this as corrosion bonding. It gets me to wonder what evidence they use to determine corrosion bonding in all other SRVs?
LaSalle County Station, Unit 2 Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-18 NRC Docket No.
Subject: Licensee Event Report 2017-004-02, Two Main Steam Safety Relief Valves Failed lnservice Lift Inspection Pressure Test
During the February 2017 Unit 2 refueling outage, two main steam safety relief valves (SRV) did not pass Technical Specification (TS) Surveillance Requirement 3.4.4.1 and lnservice Testing (IST) Program lift pressure requirements. Both SRVs (2B21 ·F013C and 2B21·F013L) lifted below their expected lift pressures. On February 16, 2017, SRV 2B21-F013C was required to lift within plus or minus three percent of 1175 psi (i.e., 1175 psi plus or minus 35.2 psi), but actually lifted at 1131 psi. On February 17, 2017 SRV 2B21-F013L was required to lift within plus or minus three percent of 1195 psi (i.e., 1195 psi plus or minus 35.8 psi), but actually lifted at 1130 psi.
Disassembly and inspection of valves 2B21-F013C and 2B21-F013L were performed at NWS Technologies to determine the cause for the failures. However, the cause for 2B21-F013C and 2B21-F013L to fail their SRV set pressure tests was found to be indeterminate.
LER 37 4-2015-002-01: During the February 2015 Unit 2 refueling outage L2R15, two main steam safety relief valves (SRV) did not pass TS Surveillance Requirement 3.4.4.1 and lnservice Testing Program lift pressure requirements. Both SRVs lifted below their expected lift pressures. SRV 2821-F013S was required to lift within plus or minus three percent of 1150 psi (i.e., 1150 psi plus or minus 34.5 psi) and actually lifted at 1099 psi. SRV 2821-F013M was required to lift within plus or minus three percent of 1195 psi (i.e., 1195 psi plus or minus 35.8 psi) and actually lifted at 1145 psi. A failure analysis was conducted by a vendor testing laboratory, but the cause for the valves lifting below their set-point was indeterminate.
These guys got too many LOCAs in recent times. All the latent defects sitting around to show themselves upon a triggering event is a disgrace.
Considering:
PREVIOUS OCCURRENCES
CR-WF3-2015-3566: Failure of ‘B’ Fast Dead Bus Transfer during Plant Scram on June 3, 2015. (Reported under LER 2015-005-00 and 2015 005-01.
It is amazing they didn't catch these latent defects. It is very unprofessional.
Licensee Event Report (LER) 2017-002-01 Automatic Reactor Scram due to the Failure of Fast Dead Bus Transfer Relays to Automatically Transfer Station Loads to Off-Site Power on a Main Generator Trip Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3 (Waterford 3)
On July 17, 2017, at 1606 CDT, Waterford 3 experienced an automatic reactor scram due to a loss of forced circulation, which was the result of a loss of off-site power to the safety and non-safety electrical busses. Prior to the scram, plant operators manually tripped the main turbine and generator due to overheating of the isophase bus duct due to the failure of a shunt assembly connection in the duct to Main Transformer 'B'. The automatic electrical bus transfer did not occur due to relay failures in the fast dead bus transfer system. Both 'A' and 'B' Emergency Diesel Generators started and loaded as designed to re-energize the 'A' and 'B' safety busses. The loss of off-site power caused a loss of both Main Feedwater pumps, resulting in an automatic actuation of the Emergency Feedwater system.
The Root Cause of this event was the design change procedure used for modifications to the fast dead bus transfer circuitry did not include guidance to detect the susceptibility of the relays to DC coil inductive kick. The faulty relays in the fast bus transfer circuit were replaced prior to plant startup.
***You could contrast the damage with the last five year inspection? Does the NHDOT take pictures during their inspection?
The traffic flaggers are saying the bridges are going to get a 4 on a scale of 10. Two and three get you a bridge shutdown.
I doubt Hyle Tanner would ever get another job if they crossed the powerful NHDOT. It looks like NHDOT predetermined the grade would be a 4 before the job, no matter what the real grade was.
The last time I talked to the NHDOT inspectors about the corrosion in the cross-arm and connectors, they told me these bridge pieces where only used in construction. It is pure bunk! It's the very important bridge stabilization and stiffener pieces.
Updated with current picture at bottom. ***This is my proof the grossly unsafe understructure conditions pictured up be me tuesday have been around for a decade or more. This is how heartless these bustards are!!! People who where trained to not have a conscience.
I took this picture in July 2013. Emediately Posted it on my blog and the NHDOT seen it. I am certain of it. I am certain the understructure members looked just like this in 2013. The NHDOT shortly replaced that triangle-ish piece of rot and sand blasted that huge bolt area because of my picture. Behind the bolt is one of the huge truss going way up in the air, that holds up one side of the bridge. The NHDOT painted up this small area to make look pretty. It is really thick piece of metal. Them bastard didn't touch any of that damage I recently identified in my picture.
Can you even imagine how disillusion these inspectors are through all these years, where they where forced to walk past all this very serious bridge damage and call it safe? Continually falsified their inspection results. Bridge inspections needs to be protected from political influences and any cost constraints.
I am telling you the horrific truth in these days, you know I am telling the truth deep down inside. This is the magnitude of it. We would all lie and cheat our ass off to provide for our families and feed our children. That is why you hate my guts and don't trust me. I am so different than all of you. I am so dangerous(but non violent)!!! It's my mental illness.
Here is the truss bolt today. It was recently painted with cheap paint after that triangle-ish severely corroded piece was replace. I made them fix it.This current picture is in the exact same area except with a much better cell phone camera. It doesn't seem like upper management is even checking the work of their inspectors and contractors. Much moreinformation on my next post on the west side bridge footing and bridge pedestal area. I would fail the whole area of this bridge. Discovered a big surprise for everyone today.
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.
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...
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 toput this to stop.
I said, I just don’t like this style of police bullying…complaints
without merits and illegally crossing a street where everyoneelse 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 neverseen 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,
andand all this upping my game. I am getting a tremendous amount of public
approvals with this and I am certain they’dbe 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.
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.
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. ?
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 enteringthe 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!
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...
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?
Trying to get a picture of me throwing you a kiss:
There is my salute...why isn't my head straight up and back straight?
Replace this bridge; thumbs up or down? Get lots of thumbs up!
June 11: I see the state has a traffic count device just
before the entry into the bridge?
