[BigJohn]

This happened today in the beautiful city of Montreal:







It is a 15m concrete "block" that fell on a highway tunnel entrance.

I take this tunnel everyday when I go to work. 100 000 cars pass through that tunnel on weekdays. Nobody was injured today.

I am freaking out on 2 levels.

1- Will I die next time I take the tunnel?
2- How long will the traffic jams be and for how many years?

Yes, years, because one of Montreal's shitty side is our infrastructures. The situation is really bad.

- Emergency closure of the Honoré Mercier Bridge in June. Major structural dammage. It could be reopened in September.

- The Champlain bridge was evaluated recently. From wiki:

In 2010, JCCBI — the Federal agency that oversees the structure — retained international engineering firm Delcan to carry out an expert study of the bridge's structural health. The firm returned a carefully-worded report entitled, "The Future of the Champlain Bridge Crossing". In the Executive Summary, the bridge was said to be "functionally deficient" for both current and long-term traffic demands, and showing "significant deterioration".[10] One finding suggested that the Champlain Bridge is in "very much poorer condition than would be typical" for comparable bridges. Delcan concluded that the bridge had "many deficiencies" and, even in light of the methodical inspection and rehabilitation of the structure undertaken by its owners, that continued operation "entails some risks that cannot altogether be quantified".

A new bridge or tunnel must be build soon.

Both of those bridge lead to this monstrosity: the Turcot Interchange



That thing has to be rebuilt (that will take more than 10 years) because it is also falling apart. It is always partly closed to do emergency repairs. This is all patch up work on the existing structure, not the actual construction of the new interchange. There are nets to prevent parts of it from falling.

Click on Montreal on this map, each little orange cone is a road work site.

http://carte.quebec511.gouv.qc.ca/fr/Default.aspx



What is your city shitty side?

[Ivanatis]

Kotti takes the cake.

[straitup]

Originally Posted by Ivanatis

Kotti takes the cake.

From the picture: "Kottbusser Tor, Berlin. Want Heroin?"

[Kat_YYZ]

sucks about the route Ville-Marie, BigJohn. I like Montreal, lovely city.
I guess we have that threat in Toronto with the Gardiner Expressway over Lake Shore Blvd. I've heard of some bad ones in the U.S., too.

[buddyholly]

Originally Posted by Kat_YYZ

I guess we have that threat in Toronto with the Gardiner Expressway over Lake Shore Blvd. I've heard of some bad ones in the U.S., too.

I walk under it every day and have often wondered how it stays up.

[BigJohn]

These types of structures are designed to last about 40 years, that would be about now.

Plus it appears that the 40 years estimate did not take into consideration the salt that is used during winter time to melt snow and ice on the roads. We use quite a bit of that. The salt accelerates the corrosion of the steel inside the concrete, shortening the lifespan of the structures. Also some liberties were taken by engineers and firms who built these structures like the shape of the steel rods inside the concrete.

5 years ago, an overpass collapsed on a highway in Laval for these reasons, killing 5 people.

[tennisfan856]

I do understand your phobia of bridges and tunnels, I have it as well parlayed with heights. I went to the University of Minnesota for undergrad, so the Mississippi river bridge was used by me a lot because the campuses were everywhere. I graduated in july '07 because i was behind a course, and the bridge collapsed literally 2-3 weeks later. I already left for NJ by the time, but I have a deep pit in my stomach now every time i pass the george washington bridge or lincoln tunnel (especially that).

As for the shitty side of NJ, behold elizabeth. The famous seaport that literally makes that part of nj smell like shit. I live north of it by 40 minutes.