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Del. I-495 emergency closure

Started by Alps, June 02, 2014, 08:09:43 PM

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Alex

Bhatt: Feds say dirt pile damaged I-495 bridge

QuoteThe Federal Highway Administration has found the damage to the I-495 bridge in Wilmington was initiated by the "external force" of a large mountain of dirt adjacent to the structure, Delaware Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt told state lawmakers Wednesday.

Speaking before a joint meeting of the Legislature's highway committees, Bhatt noted the federal agency also determined that the bridge over the Christina River had been properly inspected and maintained in recent years, and met the requisite standards at the time of its construction 40 years ago.

"It does not appear to the FHWA that there is anything that the state could have reasonably done to have anticipated or avoided this failure," Division Administrator Mary Ridgeway wrote in a June 12 letter to Bhatt.


KEVIN_224

Hmmmm...my picture of the above didn't come out as well as I would have liked. I was riding down with a friend from Connecticut over to Elkton, MD and then Wilmington for  a baseball game:


The 1-mile advance sign on I-95 south (With Pennsylvania specs) before the border didn't look any different:


This was one of the signs I saw, making an approach into Wilmington from the south and west on Tuesday, June 17th. Was it any different before?


Alex4897

That last sign has not changed.  They have, however, had the right two lanes of that exit for I-495 closed for a while now.
👉😎👉

jeffandnicole

Actually, the last 2 signs haven't changed.

The only signs I've seen changed are the ones on I-95 South approaching I-295.  The first 2 were changed to Left Exit using the above modified yellow plate - but at least they fit the yellow area (or was modified in a way where the plate looks like a perfect fit).  They obviously made a 3rd one at the same size, not considering the fact that this 3rd sign was of a different size.

PHLBOS

Both PennDOT & DelDOT are presently using mostly VMS' to let motorists know about the I-495 bridge closure.  Since the closure will only last for 3, maybe 4 months; they're likely not going to temporarily change or cover-up any existing BGS' en masse.

Although PennDOT should really remove that "temporary" City/Port of banner (which covers the centerized Port of) on their diagramatic BGS' for the I-95/495 split.  That banner's been there since the late 90s/early 2000s when I-95 through Wilmington was being reconstructed.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

jeffandnicole

Traveling south on I-95 Friday morning, there was - relatively speaking - very little traffic.  (fairly typical for a summer Friday as many people probably took the day off from work. By 1pm or so, many highways in the area were congested with a very early rush hour as people hit the roads for the weekend)

From the Commodore Barry Bridge South to Marsh Rd., traffic speeds were well above the speed limit.  The only congestion I hit was near the Rt. 202/Concord Pike Exit.

A few sights along the way...

One of the new 'Left Exit' plates, which matches the sign's current size a lot better than on the sign Kevin posted above.



Notice the left lane: On this particular trip, I had it all to myself.  Regarding the other drivers, maybe you can file this under Old Habits Die Hard or People Don't Know The Difference Between 'Exit Only' and 'Left Exit'.  I would imagine the main rush hour traffic - some of those leaving the city in the afternoon - have figured it out though.



While much of the signage (and lack of signage) DelDOT has put out for this emergency construction has a lot to be desired, below is one of the best impromptu signs that were posted.  There's 2 or 3 of these along the right shoulder.  The only downside is that the sign would be more useful on the left shoulder, as the left lane has the new traffic pattern.  The left shoulder is only a jersey barrier with a 3 - 5 foot shoulder, so the sign would be sticking over the roadway if installed there.


KEVIN_224

I passed that same sign twice on Tuesday. I was in the area of Frawley Stadium, the home of the Blue Rocks baseball team (which would've been on your left before these photos). I saw those same two signs but didn't think of snapping a pic of them. As for the billboard behind it, I don't want to give that radio station a free advertisement. I DO know it was Adam Levine from Maroon 5. Ha ha!

Also, I saw this same sign on at least three straight bridges:



Alex

Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 21, 2014, 02:39:17 PM
I passed that same sign twice on Tuesday. I was in the area of Frawley Stadium, the home of the Blue Rocks baseball team (which would've been on your left before these photos). I saw those same two signs but didn't think of snapping a pic of them. As for the billboard behind it, I don't want to give that radio station a free advertisement. I DO know it was Adam Levine from Maroon 5. Ha ha!

Also, I saw this same sign on at least three straight bridges:


DelDOT does sign overkill along the trenched portion of I-95. There are four signs in a for DE 4/9, with the last a mere formality as its beyond the gore point. You get seven sets of signs for DE 4/9 heading northbound, then five for DE 52, including the last which is beyond the Exit 7 gore point.

MUST EXIT gets carbon copied too with sign replacements.

Question is, did they add temporary signage directing trucks to the Port of Wilmington for southbound travelers?

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Alex on June 22, 2014, 09:54:39 AM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 21, 2014, 02:39:17 PM
I passed that same sign twice on Tuesday. I was in the area of Frawley Stadium, the home of the Blue Rocks baseball team (which would've been on your left before these photos). I saw those same two signs but didn't think of snapping a pic of them. As for the billboard behind it, I don't want to give that radio station a free advertisement. I DO know it was Adam Levine from Maroon 5. Ha ha!

Also, I saw this same sign on at least three straight bridges:


DelDOT does sign overkill along the trenched portion of I-95. There are four signs in a for DE 4/9, with the last a mere formality as its beyond the gore point. You get seven sets of signs for DE 4/9 heading northbound, then five for DE 52, including the last which is beyond the Exit 7 gore point.

MUST EXIT gets carbon copied too with sign replacements.

Question is, did they add temporary signage directing trucks to the Port of Wilmington for southbound travelers?

There was a mobile VMS on the shoulder of 95 South just prior to the PA/DE state line - from the left lane it was unreadable as it appeared the 1st 2 lanes were quite dim.  It may be similar to the sign found just after crossing the Del. Mem. Bridge, where a VMS sign suggests truckers use 9 North to the Port of Wilmington.

Approaching the 495 Ramp closure on 295 South, there is NO advanced signage regarding the lane closure (the lane is an exit only lane).  If you were intending on going using 495 North, one would find the lane ends abruptly with no advanced warning. 

Alex

Toxic find complicates I-495 bridge repair

QuoteCrews making emergency repairs to the tilting I-495 bridge in Wilmington are taking special care to avoid the spreading or transfer of earth contaminated by nearly a century of industrial activity in the area near the Port of Wilmington.

The 20-acre property on Christiana Avenue surrounding the damaged bridge piers hosted a sugar beet processing facility in the 1920s, a linoleum manufacturing plant through 1961, and later operated as a pilot plant for a range of emerging DuPont Co. products.

Following the June 2 emergency closure of the bridge, state highway officials secured from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control an extra 60 days to secure approvals and permits for digging in the contaminated area, said Robert B. McCleary, chief engineer of the state Department of Transportation.

BrianP

Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 21, 2014, 09:30:49 AMA few sights along the way...
From those images it looks like they also changed the lane markers for the left lane too.  Just another thing "People Don't Know The Difference Between". 

jeffandnicole


KEVIN_224

Anything new to report on with I-495 this week? :)

jeffandnicole

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2014/07/03/bhatt-orders-deldot-reforms-bridge-shutdown/12155847/

Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt comes down hard on his agency's (lack of) response to concerns called in regarding I-495 before it was shut down in early June.

BrianP


hbelkins

Wow.

http://www.deldot.gov/home/secretary/

QuoteBefore joining FHWA, Bhatt served as a Deputy Executive Director with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) where he was responsible for advancing transportation projects and addressing regional transportation needs. During his time at KYTC, he helped oversee a record construction letting period for the state.

That is a total and complete lie. The deputy executive director positions were established during the Fletcher administration as non-merit jobs to replace the administrative manager position (a merit system job) in the districts. They were in charge of personnel and buildings & grounds and administrative budgeting, not planning or engineering. And he didn't help oversee a record construction letting period for the state anymore than I did. Yes, Kentucky had its first $1 billion letting year while he was in the job in Bowling Green, but this biography vastly overstates his involvement.

He had a reputation as a micromanager and was not well-liked among the people I knew in the Bowling Green office. I don't think I ever met him and may have only been in the same room with him once, so I can't speak about him from personal experience, but only from third-party accounts.

My DED was great to work with. He was my supervisor for awhile, and he left me alone to do my job. We had tons of mutual friends, which helped. He's now doing incident management for eastern Kentucky and is great for keeping me informed about what's going on.

I had no idea he had surfaced in Delaware. I feel sorry for DelDOT and its employees.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Alps

Quote from: hbelkins on July 03, 2014, 06:14:13 PM
Wow.

http://www.deldot.gov/home/secretary/

QuoteBefore joining FHWA, Bhatt served as a Deputy Executive Director with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) where he was responsible for advancing transportation projects and addressing regional transportation needs. During his time at KYTC, he helped oversee a record construction letting period for the state.

That is a total and complete lie. The deputy executive director positions were established during the Fletcher administration as non-merit jobs to replace the administrative manager position (a merit system job) in the districts. They were in charge of personnel and buildings & grounds and administrative budgeting, not planning or engineering. And he didn't help oversee a record construction letting period for the state anymore than I did. Yes, Kentucky had its first $1 billion letting year while he was in the job in Bowling Green, but this biography vastly overstates his involvement.

He had a reputation as a micromanager and was not well-liked among the people I knew in the Bowling Green office. I don't think I ever met him and may have only been in the same room with him once, so I can't speak about him from personal experience, but only from third-party accounts.

My DED was great to work with. He was my supervisor for awhile, and he left me alone to do my job. We had tons of mutual friends, which helped. He's now doing incident management for eastern Kentucky and is great for keeping me informed about what's going on.

I had no idea he had surfaced in Delaware. I feel sorry for DelDOT and its employees.
... Does the fact he's a Democrat have anything to do with your hatred? This is a rhetorical question, because I know you'll deny it, but I had a feeling he was after reading your rant. Took a bit of digging to uncover his affiliation.

ixnay

Quote from: jeffandnicole on July 03, 2014, 01:50:47 PM
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/traffic/2014/07/03/bhatt-orders-deldot-reforms-bridge-shutdown/12155847/

Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt comes down hard on his agency's (lack of) response to concerns called in regarding I-495 before it was shut down in early June.

In case you run into the News Journal's paywall, here's WDEL's version...

http://wdel.com/story.php?id=60702

ixnay
The Washington/Baltimore/Arlington CSA has two Key Bridges, a Minnesota Avenue, and a Mannasota Avenue.

hbelkins

Quote from: Alps on July 03, 2014, 09:33:25 PM
... Does the fact he's a Democrat have anything to do with your hatred? This is a rhetorical question, because I know you'll deny it, but I had a feeling he was after reading your rant. Took a bit of digging to uncover his affiliation.

I had no clue what his party affiliation was. I assumed it was the opposite because he had a political appointment in a Republican administration in Kentucky.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Alps

Quote from: hbelkins on July 03, 2014, 11:39:04 PM
Quote from: Alps on July 03, 2014, 09:33:25 PM
... Does the fact he's a Democrat have anything to do with your hatred? This is a rhetorical question, because I know you'll deny it, but I had a feeling he was after reading your rant. Took a bit of digging to uncover his affiliation.

I had no clue what his party affiliation was. I assumed it was the opposite because he had a political appointment in a Republican administration in Kentucky.
:p  Honestly, I believe you had no idea. I just think that the people you hate all turn out to be Democrats.

hbelkins

Quote from: Alps on July 04, 2014, 12:27:49 AM
:p  Honestly, I believe you had no idea. I just think that the people you hate all turn out to be Democrats.

I hadn't even thought about him in years until the story brought his name up, and then I couldn't believe my eyes when I read his DelDOT biography, because I know what the deputy executive directors did in the highway districts (the position is now a political appointment called administrative coordinator), and what he said he was involved with wasn't what the DEDs did.

I don't hate him. I don't know him and only heard about him from others who did know him. But I was flabbergasted when I read his biography because that wasn't what he did when he worked for KYTC. He would have been gone from his employment no later than early 2008, after the 2007 election in which the Republican lost.

I checked his campaign contributions to Kentucky candidates. One was made in 2007 and it lists his employer as Barren River ADD, even though at that time he would have been working for KYTC. It was for a legislative candidate I did not know. The other was made after he moved to DC, it was to a Democrat who was running for secretary of state who was originally from Bowling Green. That contribution was probably more out of friendship or acquaintance than it was for partisan reasons.




One thing I did find interesting in his reaction was that reports have to be made by phone, not email. I know this isn't the case with the IRS  :-D , but email leaves a record, especially if you use return receipts. It's easier to deny a phone call than it is an email message.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

jeffandnicole

Excuse the sunglare here.  DelDOT has added some signage on 295 South approaching 495/95 regarding 495's closure:



Prior to that, they have on both side of the roadway signage that reads "ALT NORTH 495 (Up arrow)".  Fine and dandy...except they don't tell you what the alternate is.  Here you are approaching the 295 split where the left two lanes take you towards 95/495, and the right two lanes take you to 13/40.  The 495 Signs simply show up arrows, never guiding motorists to the proper alternate route (13 North will take you to 495 North.  That onramp is actually open, but dumps you off within a half mile where the road is closed). 

The signs should simply state "495 North Use 95 North", IMO.


MASTERNC

I also went down I-95 from PA today.  The gore point signs for the 95/495 split have temporary overlays.  The 495 sign now says "Local Traffic Only" while the 95 sign says "thru traffic" (between the arrows).  The arrow diagram in PA did not change IIRC, so there is some contradiction.

There are also "ALT I-495" signs before each exit on I-95 in Wilmington - they all point straight ahead (seems strange since I doubt anyone would accidentally exit I-95 for I-495).

cpzilliacus

Quote from: MASTERNC on July 07, 2014, 09:17:07 PM
I also went down I-95 from PA today.  The gore point signs for the 95/495 split have temporary overlays.  The 495 sign now says "Local Traffic Only" while the 95 sign says "thru traffic" (between the arrows).  The arrow diagram in PA did not change IIRC, so there is some contradiction.

There are also "ALT I-495" signs before each exit on I-95 in Wilmington - they all point straight ahead (seems strange since I doubt anyone would accidentally exit I-95 for I-495).

Did you notice if DelDOT posted an alternate route for vehicles that are overheight for I-95 through Wilmington?
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jeffandnicole

14' 0" exceeds the permitted maximum height for trucks of 13' 6", so no alternate route is necessary.  Why that special, unnecessary signage is even there at the 95/495 split in the first place is questionable.  Anything greater than 13' 6" would require a oversized permit, and detailed routing would need to be declared at that time to DelDOT, which would warn the trucking company of any issues.

14' 0", while rare, isn't all that unusual on an interstate highway.  I-295 in NJ has several overpasses at 14' or less, for example.



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