Do bridges bother you?

B

BernieP

Resident PIA
Dakota said:
Bridges are great when you are a passenger but hard to enjoy the view when you are driving. :ohwell:
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LOL one of those things you need to remind yourself about - watch the road, not the scenery. Same goes for driving up / down mountains. Spectacular views (particularly when there isn't a guardrail or a tree to block you view).

What bothers me about bridges, is the same thing that bothers whenever I drive. The blithering, oblivious, I don't give a damn about anyone but me, drivers.
Their unpredictable nature scares the crap out of me.
 
Dakota

Dakota

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BernieP said:
LOL one of those things you need to remind yourself about - watch the road, not the scenery. Same goes for driving up / down mountains. Spectacular views (particularly when there isn't a guardrail or a tree to block you view).

What bothers me about bridges, is the same thing that bothers whenever I drive. The blithering, oblivious, I don't give a damn about anyone but me, drivers.
Their unpredictable nature scares the crap out of me.
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I really have to remind myself of that. I am mumbling "don't look away from the road." Of course when I'm the passenger, I say annoying things like "oh what a pretty boat."

And yes Bernie, everyday I see some idiot on a cell and worry they are going to travel towards me. EVERYDAY!!!
 
GWguy

GWguy

*
The entire TJ Bridge came to a standstill during the July 4th fireworks at Solomons, in spite of the electronic signs saying "No Stopping on the Bridge".
 
Dakota

Dakota

~~~~~~~
Restitution said:
So... you are the ONE person who drives the Thomas Johnson doing over 25MPH huh?
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I seriously don't trust myself to look away from the road for a second. I would be one of those morons who caused the bridge to shut down as I decided to drive off of it. :lol:
 
Monello

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
I've been on a bridge that had some road work being done on it. The traffic for a stretch was 1 lane at a time. While we were on the span waiting our turn to cross I could not believe how much sway there was in the bridge. Driving over you don't notice it but standing still it was rocking and rolling.
 
GWguy

GWguy

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Monello said:
I've been on a bridge that had some road work being done on it. The traffic for a stretch was 1 lane at a time. While we were on the span waiting our turn to cross I could not believe how much sway there was in the bridge. Driving over you don't notice it but standing still it was rocking and rolling.
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Yes. They are designed to do that to avoid ripping apart like the Tacoma Narrows.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
SamSpade said:
I'm not sure when it happened - but as I got older the fear became almost too much to handle. Usually I try to stare straight ahead and fight it, but sometimes it would be like sitting in a room full of growling crocodiles - the fear is just unstoppable.I typically grab the wheel as tight as possible and grit my teeth - and pray.

The Thomas Johnson bridge and the Harry Nice bridge don't scare me, but the Del Memorial and often, the Bay Bridge scare me out of my mind. For some reason, the last time the I went over the Bay Bridge - both ways - it didn't bother me. I guess winds and traffic conditions lead me to feel sometimes as if I am going to go off the side.
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I used to be that way on bridges.. always driving in the lane the furthest from the side.. Scared to death of heights. Then something happened, have no idea what, but it was like somebody flipped a switch. No longer afraid of heights, bridges don't bother me anymore. In fact now I aim for the lanes closest to the edge to catch the view.
 
GWguy

GWguy

*
itsbob said:
I thought the Sway and undulation is what brought down the Narrows bridge? Made a little too elastic..
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If I remember, it was too stiff and didn't allow for wind, so when it went into oscillation it just ripped apart.
The first Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened to traffic on July 1, 1940. Its main span collapsed into the Tacoma Narrows four months later on November 7, 1940, at 11:00 a.m. (Pacific time) as a result of aeroelastic flutter caused by a 42 mph (68 km/h) wind. The bridge collapse had lasting effects on science and engineering. In many undergraduate physics texts the event is presented as an example of elementary forced resonance, with the wind providing an external periodic frequency that matched the natural structural frequency, even though the real cause of the bridge's failure was aeroelastic flutter. A contributing factor was its solid sides, not allowing wind to pass through the bridge's deck. Thus, its design allowed the bridge to catch the wind and sway, which ultimately took it down.[2] Its failure also boosted research in the field of bridge aerodynamics and aeroelastics, fields which have influenced the designs of all the world's great long-span bridges built since 1940.
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Tall buildings are built to sway as well. Their bases are actually on rollers to allow the entire building to sway.
 
black dog

black dog

Free America
itsbob said:
Frequency resonance causing oscillation..

The video shows how incredibly flexible the bridge was...up to the point it failed.
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I agree, up and down is fine, right up until you add side to side movement...
A bridge is not a jump rope..
 
kom526

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
Monello said:
I've been on a bridge that had some road work being done on it. The traffic for a stretch was 1 lane at a time. While we were on the span waiting our turn to cross I could not believe how much sway there was in the bridge. Driving over you don't notice it but standing still it was rocking and rolling.
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When they were working on the Harry Nice bridge back in summer '86 we had to stop at the top a couple of times on our way home from work in Dahlgren. That joker was all over the place.
 
Monello

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
kom526 said:
When they were working on the Harry Nice bridge back in summer '86 we had to stop at the top a couple of times on our way home from work in Dahlgren. That joker was all over the place.
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That's the same one I felt swaying in the breeze. Not sure the year probably sometime around 10 years ago. I was coming from Maryland and had not yet reached the peak. We were there for several minutes. From what I remember I was glad to get off that thing. I knew it wouldn't collapse but it sure felt like it was trying it's best to fall in the river.
 
Tech

Tech

Well-Known Member
Went over the Thomas Johnson today, there was a chunk out of the side barrier on the southbound upslope.
 
black dog

black dog

Free America

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