Infrastructure Weak

[micropolitan guy]

The Sanibel causeway looked a bit more complicated than that. Several sections of the bridge were collapsed. Even if they just built a temporary road or bridge around the damage, it wasn't exactly as simple as filling a pothole.

And the job they did on I-95 was as much a temporary patch as that one was. They got the road reopened in record time, which is remarkable, but they're still working on the permanent fix. It'll be a construction zone for a while yet.

Great job by Shapiro to get it done. I just don't understand the attempts to dunk on DeSantis when he literally did the same good job a few months ago. I'm sure there's another Republican governor out there (Mike DeWine maybe?) who has done a ****ty job with an infrastructure disaster.

I just think it's somewhat of an apples to oranges comparison.

 

[Batman]

I mean, there's more traffic on I-95 than there is to a couple of barrier islands in Florida, sure. Shapiro certainly had more pressure to get it fixed. But fixing a road is fixing a road. They both got it open. The work in both cases was temporary until a more permanent solution was ready. Saying it's apples to oranges is like Vanilla Ice explaining how "Ice, Ice, Baby" wasn't sampled from "Under Pressure."

You're not a DeSantis fan, I get it. I'm just saying this isn't an issue to rip him on. Even if the Sanibel causeway is not analogous to I-95, DeSantis did a great job getting a couple of important roads open. It looks stupid to try and tear him down for it. I don't think DeSantis has been out there mocking Shapiro or Pennsylvanians, or anything like that, so why even drag him into it in the first place?
Give Shapiro his well-deserved attaboys and leave it at that.

 

[swingline]

Heck of a job, Brownie.

 

[The Big Ragu]

The "how they did it" interests me. Basically they filled the space below with recycled glass and set the roadway back over it.

I-95 bridge collapse repair efforts are underway. See renderings of the temporary rebuild

I have been following this pretty closely, because I drive that artery every few weeks.

I didn't post this on here, but I was driving 95, only about an hour behind when it collapsed two Sundays ago . I was cruising along, it was early Sunday morning and suddenly there was a police car, cones and I had to exit and I had no clue where I was or what was going on. They were just getting set up and there were no detours. Every time I tried to turn back parallel to 95, there were police cars blocking the turn. I really just missed the collapse by an hour.

I was looking in on the live camera they set up and following the progress throughout the rebuild. ... and it was just so impressive. Everything about it. They mobilized really quickly, did a quick demo job of the bridge, came up with a really smart plan, and then worked around the clock. They basically built a retaining wall and filled it with lightweight, recycled material, built the wall higher, filled it, etc. And they left the outer parts clear so they can start rebuilding the bridge around the temporary connector they put up. They finished the demo and rebuild in 12 days. Just awesome.

It was just smart, innovative, done efficiently. ... and Shapiro was brilliant; he underpromised and overdelivered. The guy deserves every accolade he is getting.

 

[dixiehack]

Here’s the thing. DeSantis had the chance, still has in fact, to make himself known for examples of effective government, like that causeway repair or Everglades restoration. But that’s not what he wants. He wants to campaign on trashing gays and refugees and women seeking abortions and saying “woke” over and over like a deranged See ‘N Say. So people respond to the brand he selected for himself.

 

[User 149557]

“I’ve decided to prop the bridge up with unused Bud Lights. The Woke Bridge will only be a temporary fix, when I replace it with Modelo… the American beer until its inevitable collapse over time.”

 

[Batman]

Here’s the thing. DeSantis had the chance, still has in fact, to make himself known for examples of effective government, like that causeway repair or Everglades restoration. But that’s not what he wants. He wants to campaign on trashing gays and refugees and women seeking abortions and saying “woke” over and over like a deranged See ‘N Say. So people respond to the brand he selected for himself.

But I keep coming back to wondering why anyone brought him up at all in regards to this. He's got nothing to do with it, hasn't said anything negative about it that I've heard.

 

[ChrisLong]

I was thinking back to the last time a mountain came down on PCH in Malibu between Oxnard and Santa Monica. Mud flowed through the small houses on the west side of PCH and into the Pacific Ocean. It was horrible for those north of the slide. To get to the Westside or to downtown L.A., they had to drive back to Malibu Canyon Road or Mulholland, then connect with the 101 in the Valley and circle around back to the Westside. Or vice-versa if you were south of the slide and needed to get north. There were plans to run ferry boats from Malibu Pier or Paradise Cove to Santa Monica Pier.

So CalTrans was kicking around ideas about what to do after the inevitable next landslide. Ferry boats remained on the ledger. Just paving over the landslide was the most serious -- and quickest -- option. When I was a kid, there was a plan to build a causeway connecting points in Santa Monica Bay. I don't remember how far-reaching it was, if it went all the way from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Point Dume. We imagined how weird it would have been to be bodysurfing, looking outside for a big set, and seeing cars driving past. Fortunately, that idea was abandoned.

 

[Liut]

I mean, there's more traffic on I-95 than there is to a couple of barrier islands in Florida, sure. Shapiro certainly had more pressure to get it fixed. But fixing a road is fixing a road. They both got it open. The work in both cases was temporary until a more permanent solution was ready. Saying it's apples to oranges is like Vanilla Ice explaining how "Ice, Ice, Baby" wasn't sampled from "Under Pressure."

You're not a DeSantis fan, I get it. I'm just saying this isn't an issue to rip him on. Even if the Sanibel causeway is not analogous to I-95, DeSantis did a great job getting a couple of important roads open. It looks stupid to try and tear him down for it. I don't think DeSantis has been out there mocking Shapiro or Pennsylvanians, or anything like that, so why even drag him into it in the first place?
Give Shapiro his well-deserved attaboys and leave it at that.

C'mon, man. It's screws up the narrative.

 

[Della9250]

 

[micropolitan guy]

This is why De****stain was mentioned.

You know of any other governor making appearances in New York, California and other states halfway or completely across the country from his own state?

 

[micropolitan guy]

The Yellowstone is parallel to I-90 for a lot of that stretch through Montana. It's very pretty.

 

[jr/shotglass]

I am very impressed by Shapiro here, but again, DeSantis did just about as much with the Sanibel situation.

And let's be clear: If I-95 stays closed for a few months, people deal with traffic snarls. If the Sanibel Causeway stays closed for a few months, residents of Sanibel and Captiva are not going anywhere.

 

[Batman]

This is why De****stain was mentioned.

You know of any other governor making appearances in New York, California and other states halfway or completely across the country from his own state?

I can think of one, and he's from one of the states you mentioned.
But it's also worth noting that DeSantis is one of only two current governors who has announced he is running for president, which might explain why he's making appearances in states halfway or completely across the country from his own state.

DeSantis also does not have a current major infrastructure or natural disaster in Florida to deal with, that I'm aware of. The last one he did have to deal with, he did a good job with by most accounts.
So, once again, there was absolutely no reason whatsoever to bring DeSantis into this issue. It's a weird flex.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Cue the "train station" jokes.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I am very impressed by Shapiro here, but again, DeSantis did just about as much with the Sanibel situation.

And let's be clear: If I-95 stays closed for a few months, people deal with traffic snarls. If the Sanibel Causeway stays closed for a few months, residents of Sanibel and Captiva are not going anywhere.

Again, some might say comparing the closure of one of the busiest stretches of interstate highway in the entire country, and the impact on commercial truck traffic throughout the entire Eastern seaboard, to the closure of a bridge that serves maybe 8K people and even fewer cars every day is a false equivalency.

 

[MileHigh]

Cue the "train station" jokes.

It's in Wyoming.

 

[Slacker]

OLD NEWS!!!

 

[Slacker]

So, once again, there was absolutely no reason whatsoever
to bring DeSantis into this issue. It's a weird flex.

Well, anyway, since he's
already here ... Go Cowboys!

Also, he's a bigoted, fascist asshole.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Not related to the current collapse, but today is the anniversary of the Mianus River Bridge collapse in Greenwich. Three people were killed.

‘Something out of a movie.’ Remembering the Mianus River Bridge collapse 40 years ago