Saturday, January 24, 2009

The idiocy of the Pravda Columbian continues: Four themes for a new bridge.

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Showing a level of arrogance that only the Pravda Columbian can possibly be capable of achieving, the public was once again treated to more garbage propaganda in the guise of "news" as the PC continues to do "independent expenditures" in their self-destructive efforts to ram an unwanted waste of time, energy and massive amounts of cash down our throats known as the I-5 Bridge replacement.

The problems with these articles are several fold: first, the current bridge, and it's current design, work just fine. Thus, whatever amount of money that was wasted in this brain cell killing exercise was just that: wasted money.

We do not need another bridge in the same place. We do not need loot rail; which is, of course, the only reason any of this nonsensical bridge replacement blather is going on.

Since the political scum behind this effort lack the guts to even ask us if we, the people, WANT this unbelievable waste of billions of dollars to happen, I am surprised that the question of design is even being discussed. However, since the downtown Mafia running this scam have unlimited amounts of our increasingly scarce funds (Yeah, I'm watching my nickel "work." Tens of millions of wasted dollars on traffic projects already, and now they propose to waste BILLIONS? That's "working," all right.) to pay people off, I suppose hundreds of thousands for this effort is just par for their course.

The self-destruction element for this effort is the damage the PC does to itself with each self-serving, lying article they can dredge up to support this trash. This community does not want this insidious project. Does printing propaganda that would be the envy of Goebbels make a hostile community MORE likely or LESS likely to buy this waste of trees?

How's the new building working out for you, eh, Jeff?

The question of design is meaningless until or unless the PEOPLE approve this crap. And since those in charge and their shilling little yapping lap dog known as the Columbian won't dare put this to a vote, that means that the question of design will never matter.

And yes, you people continue to make me sick. And yes, I continue to go out of my way to avoid spending one red cent within the city limits of Vancouver. And I urge anyone else reading this to join me in that effort.



Four themes for new bridge
Arch design could be top choice, along with wind turbines
Friday, January 23 9:03 p.m.

BY JEFFREY MIZE
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

A new Interstate 5 bridge could — and underscore the word could — feature a series of low arches running through the middle of the twin spans and housing wind turbines.

Turbines, according to early estimates, could generate enough electricity to power the entire bridge, including roadway, pedestrian and decorative lights, as well as systems to monitor the structural performance and stability of a new crossing.

More work will be needed to determine if the value of the electricity generated would be enough to pay for installing, maintaining and eventually replacing the turbines.

No one knows what the final bridge design will be. An advisory group, using computer software and remote keypads, went through an elaborate process Friday that evaluated different designs for visual experience, iconic form, sustainability and how the crossing would fit into the surrounding community.

An arch theme finished at the top. Tied for second were a tower bridge, possibly with cables jetting to the bridge deck, and a tensile fabric design, with an undulating stream of panels or features running the length of the bridge.

Finishing last in this unofficial evaluation was what is being called a clean line girder, essentially a relatively flat bridge with comparatively little in the way of architectural flourishes.

The designs presented Friday also depicted how different pier designs could be incorporated into the project. Most designs envision two side-by-side bridges, one for northbound freeway traffic and another for southbound traffic.

The Columbia River Crossing’s Urban Design Advisory Group voted unanimously Friday to recommend there be only two bridges, which means that light-rail transit would be placed under one of the spans, a concept known as “stacked transit” or “transit in a box.”

Although the arch design finished at the top, there was no formal recommendation from the urban design group, much less a decision to proceed with an actual theme.

Bradley Touchstone, a Tallahassee, Fla., bridge architect, intends to take what he heard during Friday’s session and apply it to the ongoing design process.

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