Summer 2012 road trips

[kphoger]

I thought I would share a reply from a friend of mine who is a bridge engineer.  Please feel free to comment, as it only makes about 81% sense to me.

Two interesting pics to me:

Interesting how they are adjusting the vertical depth of the girder at the inverted-t cap. I've never seen this on steel box girders before. The inverted-t cap must have been a vertical clearance issue where the 5.5 m vertical clearance sign is (18'). Often designers will elect instead to make a steel integral cap, but this has its own issues...


See all the little vertical ridges in the side of the steel girder? Makes me nervous: those are apparently vertical stiffeners on the inside of the tub girders (steel box girders). I wonder if the web of the girder is so sin that it is reflecting through???

[agentsteel53]

Two interesting pics to me:

Interesting how they are adjusting the vertical depth of the girder at the inverted-t cap. I've never seen this on steel box girders before. The inverted-t cap must have been a vertical clearance issue where the 5.5 m vertical clearance sign is (18'). Often designers will elect instead to make a steel integral cap, but this has its own issues...

this means that the girder (the red painted steel) slopes upwards at the inverted T (the concrete horizontal element which indeed looks like an inverted "T").  I do not know what a "steel integral cap" is, alas, but I can surmise that those four diagonal breaks are weaknesses in the design. (my mechanics knowledge is pretty damn rusty, though, going back to one freshman class in college).

See all the little vertical ridges in the side of the steel girder? Makes me nervous: those are apparently vertical stiffeners on the inside of the tub girders (steel box girders). I wonder if the web of the girder is so sin that it is reflecting through???

"thin", not "sin" first of all, and as for "reflecting through" I think he means that the vertical ridges are bulging through the red planar sidewall element.  to me, the implication is that the planar element is more decorative than functional, and the vertical ridges (as well as, quite likely, some diagonal ridges we do not see) are providing the actual strength.

but, I am not a mechanical engineer by any stretch of the imagination.  again, I took one mechanics class and it was over 12 years ago.  (I got an A  )

[Duke87]

I think he means that the vertical ridges are bulging through the red planar sidewall element.  to me, the implication is that the planar element is more decorative than functional, and the vertical ridges (as well as, quite likely, some diagonal ridges we do not see) are providing the actual strength.

Or more like, the flanges of the girder are providing the actual strength and the web just holds them together. Maximum forces from bending moment are in the top and bottom of any beam, and moment of inertia (warning: link contains greek letters and calculus), or in plain English, resistance to bending, is provided more by area which is further from the centroid (a.k.a. the middle). In fact, it's a square relationship. A beam with the same cross-sectional area but twice the height has four times the resistance to bending (vertically, anyway). This is why steel beams are I-shaped. The top and bottom are more important than the middle. As for the vertical stiffeners, those are carrying the shear, thus making the web even less important.

[D-Dey65]

I'm going to try to make one to Long Island this summer, but I'm not making any promises.

[golden eagle]

I didn't take the road trip to Florida. Some family members backed out and so did my mom and brother, so I decided not to go.

[Ian]

It's looking like there's a decent chance I'll be heading up to Montreal later this summer. Just passed in my passport information, and should be expecting it in 6 weeks tops! I'm excited for that trip, since I've been trying to get back up there since 2008 when I was last there.

[D-Dey65]

I didn't take the road trip to Florida. Some family members backed out and so did my mom and brother, so I decided not to go.

You only take road trips when you're with family members or other people? Whatever floats your boat. I tend to go alone.

[roadman65]

Went to PA, NY, and NJ.

Flew in to PHL.  Drove I-95 SB, I-476 NB, I-81 NB to Watertown, NY.

Day two we drove I-81 NB to last US Exit, then Island Road (found out it is the old highway before I-81 while on it), Jefferson County Route 100 on Wellesley Island, back on I-81 SB, NY 12 NB, Alexandria Bay, NY 26 SB, NY 37 WB, US 11 SB, NY 12 SB, NY 5 EB( I think I was on I-790 for a bit), I-87 NB, US 9 NB to South Glens Falls.

Day Three we drove US 9 SB, I-87 SB, NY 29 EB (plus local streets to connect between I-87 and NY 29), US 4 SB, NY 146 WB, I-87 SB, I-90 EB, Taconic Parkway SB, Sprain Brook Parkway SB, Bronx River Pky SB, Pelham Pky EB, Hutchinson River Pky SB, Tremont Avenue ( visited grandparents grave at St. Raymonds), I-95 SB, I-80 WB, NJ 20 SB, US 46 WB, NJ 21 SB, I-78 WB, I-287 SB, US 202/206 SB, and US 22 EB to Bridgewater, NJ.

Days 4, 5, and 6 spent riding around North Jersey as it is my home state and was on too many roads including the Garden State Parkway, NJ Turnpike, and  US 22.  Visited relatives, went to beach, etc.

Last day we drove CR 633, CR 533, Camplain Road, US 206 SB, and then I-95 SB back to Philly, I-676 WB, Ben Franklin Parkway SEB, Arch Street EB, PA 611 SB, and then I-95 back to PHL.

Have some pictures posted on flickr.com jerseyman65 is my handle.  Will be posting more in the next couple of days.

[Jim]

Leaving soon for this one (which I think is very much on-topic but this thread looks like the right place for it): 

3 days to get to KC area from Amsterdam, NY, via Niagara Falls, across southern Ontario, (night in Port Huron), I-69 through Michigan, at least some US 20 across Indiana, I-55 to Springfield, IL (night there), then I-72 and US 36 across Illinois and Missouri.

Next, US 50 for a while, possibly cut up to I-70 after Jeff City, to get across to St. Louis.  A couple days there.

Then, on to Naples, Florida.   I-55 to Memphis, US 78/Future I-22 across Mississippi and Alabama, maybe US 82 across to I-75 and on down.

After a couple weeks in Naples, back up the east coast on what will almost exclusively be familiar roads.

Routes chosen to be reasonably fast while still giving me some new counties and CHM-clinchable highways (and hopefully some interesting things to see).

Some questions for the group:

I'm pretty confident in US 36 across MO being reasonably quick, but how about US 50 as an alternative between KC and StL?  The western half doesn't worry me too much, but I'm thinking we might be better off cutting up US 54 to take I-70 and I-64 in eastern MO.

The last time I did a ride from the Montgomery, Alabama, area over to I-75, we did US 231 to US 84.  I'm vaguely considering I-20 to I-75 to fill in a gap in I-20 there but probably not this time.

I am always interested in food recommendations.  I know we're planning on Duff's for wings in Amherst, NY, and will hit Ted Drewes with friends in St. Louis, but not much else planned yet.  We'll probably be looking at a dinner around Sarnia or Port Huron, a lunch around or a little west of South Bend, dinner close to Springfield, and another lunch somewhere along US 36 in MO.  For the second major leg of the trip, I'd like to aim for Memphis for lunch.  I like to try some local or regional stuff, some of which would be fast food.

[hbelkins]

I'm pretty confident in US 36 across MO being reasonably quick, but how about US 50 as an alternative between KC and StL?  The western half doesn't worry me too much, but I'm thinking we might be better off cutting up US 54 to take I-70 and I-64 in eastern MO.

Drove both of them last spring. US 50 was not a bad drive at all from where it departs I-44 westward. Light traffic on the two-lane portions and it was still a pretty fast drive.

US 36 is four lanes the entire way and there are only a couple of traffic lights along it.

[texaskdog]

Okay, I think the Colorado Springs leg of our trip is out the window   Poor CS

[Scott5114]

Looks like I'll be headed up to Michigan for vacation this year. Plan is I-44 to US 60 to I-57 (with a brief detour to clinch KY) to I-94 to Ann Arbor, then I-75 to US 2 to I-35 back to Oklahoma. Overnight stops are probably in the vicinity of Mt Vernon, IL, Ann Arbor, Marquette, and Minneapolis.

Of course, a lot depends on the conditions in Duluth. Backup plan in that case is to just drop down I-75 to I-80 and take I-80 to Des Moines and head south down I-35.

[texaskdog]

I'll take a flooded Duluth over Des Moines any day

[Jim]

I'm pretty confident in US 36 across MO being reasonably quick, but how about US 50 as an alternative between KC and StL?  The western half doesn't worry me too much, but I'm thinking we might be better off cutting up US 54 to take I-70 and I-64 in eastern MO.

US 36 is four lanes the entire way and there are only a couple of traffic lights along it.

As of yesterday, US 36 had no traffic lights east of Cameron.  RMcN needs to update US 36 to show 4 lanes in eastern MO.

[kphoger]

the vicinity of Mt Vernon, IL, Ann Arbor, Marquette, and Minneapolis.

If you have a little bit of extra time, you might consider taking IL-37 from West Frankfort to Mount Vernon.  It has heavy traffic and will probably add ten minutes to your drive, but it has pleasant scenery and allows you to see a more typical southern Illinois scene.  If you want to avoid downtown Mount Vernon, you can get back on I-64 and wrap around to the I-57 exit.

[dirtroad66]

You may want to avoid I-57 in Southern Illinois south of where I-64 heads west. Marion to Mt Vernon is a parking lot most days while they widen from 4 to 6 lanes.

[kphoger]

You may want to avoid I-57 in Southern Illinois south of where I-64 heads west. Marion to Mt Vernon is a parking lot most days while they widen from 4 to 6 lanes.

In that case, you can take IL-148 from exit 45 through Herrin (El Jalisco is a great Mexican restaurant) and Christopher to get to Mount Vernon.

[1995hoo]

Our summer trip to visit relatives in Florida may provide me the opportunity to finish off I-95 in that state. My brother-in-law lives in the Miami area and my sister-in-law lives in the Space Coast area and I'd normally use the Turnpike to go from one to the other, but since the portion of I-95 from the Golden Glades Interchange to Fort Pierce is one of the two major segments I have yet to cover, I might make an exception this time just to cross that off my list.

I've contemplated taking US-41 across the Everglades instead of I-75, but I doubt I ever will. We took that road west to go to Shark Valley last summer and it wasn't at all interesting. Prior to that trip I think I had an incorrect mental image of the Everglades as being more like a bayou than as miles and miles of, essentially, scrub.

I'd like to make a run down to the Keys but I doubt there will be time, and I think we'd rather spend the limited time with our relatives.

We just returned from our trip yesterday. Didn't finish off I-95 for a number of reasons, so I have yet to do the portion from the Golden Glades to Fort Pierce (this was due primarily to timing issues). I did finish the other portions I had remaining and it looks as though the construction north of the Bee Line will last at least another year.

We did take a bit of a side trip on Saturday near the GA/SC line. I-95 ground to a standstill at Exit 105 so I had the sat-nav find a detour. It took us around via GA-21, GA-25, and SC-170 (the latter amusingly named "Alligator Alley") to US-17 back to I-95 in Hardeeville. Easy detour and there was almost nobody on the road, so frankly it was nice just to get off the Interstate for a while. Stopped for the night in Manning, SC, and then finished the drive on Sunday. LOTS of convoys of electricity-service trucks that were presumably bound for the DC area (thankfully, our neighborhood was unscathed and never lost power). The trucks slowed the traffic due to left-lane-hogging car drivers, but we still managed 74 mph from Manning to the northern I-295/I-95 junction in Virginia, at which time I-95 slammed to a stop and I bailed for US-1. Nice drive as far as Fredericksburg, 60 mph most of the way (lowered my average speed on that tank of gas to 70 mph, but I still managed 30 mpg average in an Acura TL), and then we stopped for gas and lunch.....and it then took an hour 45 minutes to go the remaining 45 miles home. Ouch. I think next year if we go in June again we'll take the Auto Train both ways just because Virginia can be such a hassle. Last year we came back the Saturday before July 4 (which was a Monday last year) but didn't have traffic issues because we passed the Richmond area on I-295 around 9:30 to 10:00 at night. Hitting it during the day on a Sunday.....forget it.