Francis Scott Key Bridge (Round 3 I think)

[vdeane]

The emergency declaration didn't just accelerate debris removal and channel reopening (which were legitimate emergency actions). It was then stretched far beyond its intended scope to justify bypassing the normal NEPA process for a permanent replacement structure.

This is far from the first time the emergency process was used to build a permanent replacement without being delayed by the full NEPA process. R E L A X

After two years and an incomplete final design and no CNTP, the emergency rationale has run its course. A 7-10 year megaproject is capital planning, not emergency response, and under federal practice that level of impact triggers a full NEPA EIS.

A like‑for‑like replacement of missing spans using the original bridge's plans would have fit within FHWA's ER program. In that scenario, traffic would likely be flowing today.

Do you also take issue with the new Crown Point Bridge, which was replaced via a similar emergency mechanism after the old one failed inspection and was also not a carbon copy of the original bridge?

After two years and an incomplete final design and no CNTP, the emergency rationale has run its course. A 7-10 year megaproject is capital planning, not emergency response, and under federal practice that level of impact triggers a full NEPA EIS.
A like‑for‑like replacement of missing spans using the original bridge's plans would have fit within FHWA's ER program. In that scenario, traffic would likely be flowing today.

Maybe you should tell DOGE about it.  Oh wait, you did, and nobody cared.

They cared -- the project is dead in the water and drifting toward a lee shore. That's not a commentary on forum reactions; it's the predictable outcome of two years without a final design, without a CNTP, and with the emergency rationale long expired. At this point the procedural constraints are steering the ship, not anyone's opinion of them.

Do you have any evidence that the current delays in the project was caused by your letter to DOGE?  Or even had anything even remotely to do with DOGE at all?

[kphoger]

At this point the procedural constraints are steering the ship

I see what you did there.

[D-Dey65]

Gotta link?  FB's search function sucks.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Key-Bridge-Rebuild-61558692757377/

I just went there, and the site replaced it with a pop-up page demanding I get Facebook.

And after all these years, I still didn't get any letter from MDOT demanding that I pay the six bucks I owe when I crossed it in 2019.

[Rothman]

Gotta link?  FB's search function sucks.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Key-Bridge-Rebuild-61558692757377/

Gotta link?  FB's search function sucks.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Key-Bridge-Rebuild-61558692757377/

Eh, lots of positive comments in there along with the negative...per usual on any big project.

[formulanone]

I'm not sure why this specific topic still exists when it's just been a magnet for continued bickering, and since the last two were closed for that exact reason, but I digress

Because the Star Spangled Banner has 4 verses. We can look forward to one other thread after this one is closed.

There's also three question marks in the lyrics. Coincidence?

[PColumbus73]

Do you have any evidence that the current delays in the project was caused by your letter to DOGE?  Or even had anything even remotely to do with DOGE at all?

If so, I'm going to write DOGE to get them to stop the I-81 project. Although I've never been to Syracuse, I did go to New York City once for Christmas, they're essentially the same (ducks).

[hotdogPi]

Also Beltway is complaining about the bridge not being rebuilt in two years even though he personally stopped it himself.

[Max Rockatansky]

Do you guys think Elon Musk has Beltway's letter laminated?  I bet he does. 

[PColumbus73]

Also Beltway is complaining about the bridge not being rebuilt in two years even though he personally stopped it himself.

I mean, you can't chain yourself to a bulldozer and type nonsensical AARoads forum posts at the same time.

[kphoger]

Do you guys think Elon Musk has Beltway's letter laminated?  I bet he does. 

Ridiculous.  If it were laminated, then he wouldn't be able to fold it up and keep it in his wallet.

Because the Star Spangled Banner has 4 verses. We can look forward to one other thread after this one is closed.

There's also three question marks in the lyrics. Coincidence?

The first stanza has a huge run-on sentence that really should have been had a 'full stop' put in by an editor.  I think that analogy fits the first Key Bridge thread pretty well, don't you?  Can you imagine if you'd written this sentence in English class, but not as poetry:  O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?  How about diagramming it?

This third thread, however, hasn't devolved into racist comments and arguments about historical slavery.  If this thread really were analogous to the third stanza, then that would be all but inevitable.

The fourth thread will be immediately locked because of all the talk about God and assertions that American is a Christian nation.

[LilianaUwU]

what if there was no boat and the bridge just did that

[NE2]

what if there was no boat and the bridge just did that

We are Key Bridge

[LilianaUwU]

what if there was no boat and the bridge just did that

We are Key Bridge

we carry the boat

[Max Rockatansky]

what if there was no boat and the bridge just did that

We are Key Bridge

we carry the boat

We keep it in a capsule when not in use

[Scott5114]

what if there was no boat and the bridge just did that

We are Key Bridge

we carry the boat

We keep it in a capsule when not in use

Is it one of those capsules that, if you submerge it in water, eventually a sponge shaped like a boat pops out of it?

[PColumbus73]

The solution is simple, connect a bunch of car ferries together and let people just drive over the ferries. It'll be like a pontoon bridge. Then if there is another ship collision, it will be a boat-on-boat crime and us roadgeeks would not need to be involved.

[ElishaGOtis]

There's a higher chance of Florida getting 80mph speed limits than this thread ever getting back on topic... (as if 75 isn't difficult enough )  

 

Or me starting to use fewer emojis, that too! 

[The Ghostbuster]

That's why I suggested it go dormant. So much for that idea.

[Max Rockatansky]

what if there was no boat and the bridge just did that

We are Key Bridge

we carry the boat

We keep it in a capsule when not in use

Is it one of those capsules that, if you submerge it in water, eventually a sponge shaped like a boat pops out of it?

Don't be silly, it is a dinosaur sponge.

[Rothman]

That's why I suggested it go dormant. So much for that idea.

*gives Henry the evil eye*

[vdeane]

The solution is simple, connect a bunch of car ferries together and let people just drive over the ferries. It'll be like a pontoon bridge. Then if there is another ship collision, it will be a boat-on-boat crime and us roadgeeks would not need to be involved.

They have the advantage of being able to move out of the way whenever marine traffic has to go by.  They can just have lights to stop cars and then move once the cars on deck have stopped.  In emergencies, any one of them could move, and they're easily replaceable (much easier than a new bridge, at least).  Just have to hope that the ferry you're driving on reconnects in the same direction you were originally going.

[Beltway]

What someone posted on the Key Bridge project social media page -- a full Zager & Evans "In the Year 2525" parody about the rebuild timeline. I got a good chuckle out of it. They even got the word pairs to rhyme in each stanza.
. . . . . . . . . .

In the year 2525, if the trestle's still alive, they'll still be calling pile procurement "construction underway" while Phase II waits for a GMP to arrive.

In the year 3535, if the cranes are still alive, ESP‑014 might buy a few more parts, and MDTA will swear it's progress in their charts.

In the year 4545, if the laydown yard survives, they'll still be staging barges on the Patapsco tide while federal approvals remain "under review" on the side.

In the year 5555, if the paperwork's still archived, the trestle might get half a span to call its own, but the actual bridge towers remain unpoured and unknown.

In the year 6565, if the consultants still thrive, they'll issue Update No. 900 on "progress to date," noting Phase II construction will begin once conditions are great.

In the year 7575, if the budget stays alive, the GMP might finally reach a draft stage - assuming inflation hasn't eaten the entire wage.

In the year 8585, if the bay is still alive, they'll celebrate installing a ceremonial bolt and call it "substantial completion," pending one last consultant's note.

In the year 9595, if the project can survive, the bridge might open for a single test drive - once the ESPs get one final extension to thrive.

In the year 105105, Alas Babylon! Still no Key Bridge!

[Scott5114]

In the year 2026, locking every Key Bridge thread is the only fix.