Ongoing Calgarians complaining about pedestrian bridges thread

[Locke]

Is it too late to just sink it?

I mean, really, they should have saved the money and just made a bridge out of those interlocking plastic floating brick things.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by zamler

Paint job on the Peace Bridge is looking rough.

The Peace Bridge has always had questionability finishings and quality control...from the welds, to the paint, to the concrete, it can look downright janky. It definitely presents best from a distance or at night.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Table 5

The Peace Bridge has always had questionability finishings and quality control...from the welds, to the paint, to the concrete, it can look downright janky. It definitely presents best from a distance or at night.

So...you're saying the bridge is a 'Two-Face?' Like the Batman villain?

[kevman]

Originally Posted by Table 5

The Peace Bridge has always had questionability finishings and quality control...from the welds, to the paint, to the concrete, it can look downright janky. It definitely presents best from a distance or at night.

Spent $25 million on the bridge but cheaped out on the finishing to save the last $1 million - sounds about right.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by kevman

Spent $25 million on the bridge but cheaped out on the finishing to save the last $1 million - sounds about right.

Oh the stories I could tell about that thing. Its absolutely what happened. The crap welds themselves weren't cost saving on the city's part but more terrible project controls by the lead contractor who didn't want to spend a few bucks to send an inspector to Spain to check them out... or I think that's how I remember it.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by fotze2

I don;t get to choose my browser.

You get to choose your job, so still your fault.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Oh the stories I could tell about that thing. Its absolutely what happened. The crap welds themselves weren't cost saving on the city's part but more terrible project controls by the lead contractor who didn't want to spend a few bucks to send an inspector to Spain to check them out... or I think that's how I remember it.

They also used a paint that wasn't suitable for cold temperatures, so had to strip and re-paint it. Many mistakes were made.


And as I pointed out elsewhere, you can buy a roller coaster for less than $25 million, and no one can argue it wouldn't be way cooler to cross the Bow on a roller coaster than a bridge.

[kevman]

I'm pro peace bridge but if I was given the choice to take a roller coaster to work I'd chose that.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

You get to choose your job, so still your fault.

The last time I ever saw you was probably when we got all the detailed stories about how that build was a huge cluster probably 10 +years ago. We can meet again after August when their back.

That was a tough bridge as a civil engg who works in the oilpatch. Calatrava is an icon but everyone became PhD's in bridge costs 2 hours after it came out. Everyone hated it and I had to tell them how dumb they were.

Calatrava is designing $2MM dining room tables for Saudi princes and $1B towers in Dubai, like he gave three flying farts (who was that poster who said fart in the place of Ff####) about our gripes about our insignificant $25MM.

Look at this thing that was part way built in DOHA (until the costs got crazy).

https://calatrava.com/projects/sharq-crossing-doha.html

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by fotze2

The last time I ever saw you was probably when we got all the detailed stories about how that build was a huge cluster probably 10 +years ago. We can meet again after August when their back.

That was a tough bridge as a civil engg who works in the oilpatch. Calatrava is an icon but everyone became PhD's in bridge costs 2 hours after it came out. Everyone hated it and I had to tell them how dumb they were.

Calatrava is designing $2MM dining room tables for Saudi princes and $1B towers in Dubai, like he gave three flying farts (who was that poster who said fart in the place of Ff####) about our gripes about our insignificant $25MM.

Look at this thing that was part way built in DOHA (until the costs got crazy).

https://calatrava.com/projects/sharq-crossing-doha.html

Spoiler!

LOL, this part of the project is just the Peace Bridge in white. Talk abbot phoning it in. It's even got the same glass panels on the bottom that we are now replacing.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Spoiler!

LOL, this part of the project is just the Peace Bridge in white. Talk abbot phoning it in. It's even got the same glass panels on the bottom that we are now replacing.

Totally different Helical pattern, he makes math into art and into great structures. Don't go all Yoho. Its insanely complex math to design these things to actually work.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Grad season is fast approaching, I wonder if the Peace bridge will still be a draw given its current visual state?

Ha! That would mean the kids have to actually pay attention to what is happening around the city. I doubt very much any more than a very small percentage of them are aware of what is happening on the bridge at the moment. TBH that probably also holds true for the general population as a whole.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Look at this thing that was part way built in DOHA (until the costs got crazy).

Did your friend work that til the end? Was it strictly insane cost overruns that killed it? Any idea how bad?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Grad season is fast approaching, I wonder if the Peace bridge will still be a draw given its current visual state?

When I ride home yesterday after work there was a pack of 12 or so grads taking pictures with the bridge so I think it is still going to be popular regardless of the fencing.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Grad season is fast approaching, I wonder if the Peace bridge will still be a draw given its current visual state?

Heh I saw the booklet from Ernst Manning and it’s now called “school closure activities” or something stupid like that.

[Fuzz]

Two weeks later and still not one thing started. What moron is in charge of this? They should have to post their phone number on these projects. "For complaints, call Ted at..."

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Heh I saw the booklet from Ernst Manning and it’s now called “school closure activities” or something stupid like that.

My kid's school call it a "celebration of learning."

[Barnet Flame]

You guys are amateurs.

We spent around $90m on a bridge we didn’t build.

https://www.theconstructionindex.co....iasco-revealed

[Fuzz]

Still no work started on the bridge, but they have put up a bunch of cartoony pictures to catch the interest of children, which is a pretty great idea on a congested narrow bridge...

[Fuzz]

In a surprising update...still nothing done. I had 311'd this back in June, and this was the reply.

WR - spoke with the PM for the project and was told that the barriers were moved inwards to safely facilitate the work on the bridge railings. Unfortunately, there have been some unexpected delays with supplying some of the specific replacement railing components, which is holding up the majority of the work. Procurement for custom pieces is hard to schedule especially when the work was not pre-planned, these types of damages are not foreseeable and fortunately not very common. There was also some coating repairs that have been taking place in the meantime but may not be apparent on all days. The option to work on one side at a time was also investigated but would have yielded a significant increase in cost and likely doubled to duration which was not seen as a favorable option at the time. I was assured that the visible signs of work should resume shortly as the materials become available and they will continue to work hard to minimize the work duration.

"Shortly." Uh huh. They probably should have left the bridge as it was, and patched up the broken panels until they actually had their #### together. I'm beginning to think this bridge is cursed.