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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Saturday, August 04, 2007 Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down Considering the amount of driving I do, and the number of hours I've spent lately in rush hour traffic on a bridge or overpass, the number of bridges that might fall down under me is a bit of a concern. So I checked out the list of bridges that are, according to the Department of Transportation, in need of immediate inspection.This is not an easy document to read, partly because it is a spreadsheet, and the final column of the spreadsheet ended up at the very bottom, after all the other columns. Anyone was has tried to print a wide spreadsheet has had this happen to them, and unfortunately, whoever converted the spreadsheet to a pdf didn't realize that they hadn't specified a wide enough format to include that final column. So to see the "Crossing" information (the river or hightway that a particular bridge goes over), you have to find the portion of the final column that pertains to the bridge you're looking at in your state. Fortunately, the number of entries for Virginia is relatively small, they're located near the bottom of the page, and near the end of the total list.The list is also heavily abbreviated, and it's obvious that it was compiled by different people whose idea of how to abbreviate differed from each other. But some head scratching and a bit of help from Microsoft Streets and Trips got me enough information to figure out the most important ones to me.Only four of them are of any real concern to me. One is in Roanoke, the 9th Street bridge over the Roanoke River. Another is on Highway 340 in Front Royal, over the Shenandoah River. The Westover Hills Bridge (Rt. 161) over the James River in Richmond is one I use regularly, and worst, Interstate 95 over the confluence of Broad Street and the CSX rail yard in Richmond. That one I use almost every time I drive in Richmond. I may find a way around it.And then there is Interstate 495 in Maryland, over Northwest Branch Park in Silver Spring, another route I regularly use. The thought of any portion of I-495 being at risk is pretty awful, considering the traffic it carries.The other Maryland bridges are ones I'm unlikely to go over, though they are important to their local economies. Rt. 340 over the Potomac River at Sandy Hook, just east of Harper's Ferry. Rt. 522 at the northwestern-most tip of Maryland, where the Potomac separates Hancock MD from Hancock WV. I don't know Maryland well enough to be certain where the other entries are located, without doing a lot more research and map-peering, and I've scared myself enough for one day.But as I said to my friend out in the south Pacific, you do what you have to do, and hope that when something bad happens, you're somewhere else. Which is pretty much the same as saying you hope it happens to someone else. Not a terribly charitable thought, but you have to get through the day. posted by Liz @ 10:50 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Considering the amount of driving I do, and the number of hours I've spent lately in rush hour traffic on a bridge or overpass, the number of bridges that might fall down under me is a bit of a concern. So I checked out the list of bridges that are, according to the Department of Transportation, in need of immediate inspection.This is not an easy document to read, partly because it is a spreadsheet, and the final column of the spreadsheet ended up at the very bottom, after all the other columns. Anyone was has tried to print a wide spreadsheet has had this happen to them, and unfortunately, whoever converted the spreadsheet to a pdf didn't realize that they hadn't specified a wide enough format to include that final column. So to see the "Crossing" information (the river or hightway that a particular bridge goes over), you have to find the portion of the final column that pertains to the bridge you're looking at in your state. Fortunately, the number of entries for Virginia is relatively small, they're located near the bottom of the page, and near the end of the total list.The list is also heavily abbreviated, and it's obvious that it was compiled by different people whose idea of how to abbreviate differed from each other. But some head scratching and a bit of help from Microsoft Streets and Trips got me enough information to figure out the most important ones to me.Only four of them are of any real concern to me. One is in Roanoke, the 9th Street bridge over the Roanoke River. Another is on Highway 340 in Front Royal, over the Shenandoah River. The Westover Hills Bridge (Rt. 161) over the James River in Richmond is one I use regularly, and worst, Interstate 95 over the confluence of Broad Street and the CSX rail yard in Richmond. That one I use almost every time I drive in Richmond. I may find a way around it.And then there is Interstate 495 in Maryland, over Northwest Branch Park in Silver Spring, another route I regularly use. The thought of any portion of I-495 being at risk is pretty awful, considering the traffic it carries.The other Maryland bridges are ones I'm unlikely to go over, though they are important to their local economies. Rt. 340 over the Potomac River at Sandy Hook, just east of Harper's Ferry. Rt. 522 at the northwestern-most tip of Maryland, where the Potomac separates Hancock MD from Hancock WV. I don't know Maryland well enough to be certain where the other entries are located, without doing a lot more research and map-peering, and I've scared myself enough for one day.But as I said to my friend out in the south Pacific, you do what you have to do, and hope that when something bad happens, you're somewhere else. Which is pretty much the same as saying you hope it happens to someone else. Not a terribly charitable thought, but you have to get through the day.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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