Covington KY's Only Worries (Must be Nice)

It must be nice to have to worry so much about a bridge being painted. It’s a shame we can’t read on how great the city is doing in cleaning up crime and getting murderers and drug dealers off the streets.

But no, let’s make sure a bridge gets painted. You’d almost have to be a fool to venture into that part of town anyway.

Here’s the link:

http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060614/NEWS02/606140346/1014

Brian (KY)

If the mayor is so concerned about it why doesn’t he pay for it?

The funniest part is the mayor trying to make it sound like the flaking paint will cause chemical cars to derail.[(-D]

Oh yea, happens all the time.[;)]

If I play my stereo too loud all night, does that mean you should pay for soundproofing to my house? just for your comfort? Or should the owner of the offending property take responsibility for being a good neighbor?

Well, the mayor should take a chill pill and look at it from another point of view.

Look how much $ he can collect from CSX if he just imposes the fines and holds out his hand. They don’t fix it, maybe eventually he won’t have to collect from the taxpayers.

Sounds like easy $ to me…?

Kind of sounds like the Mayor is hoping for a take from the
“concession stand”…think the “gloves” are already on…[B)][swg]

Good point. After reading the article, would you think the mayor would be squawking as loud, if the railroad in question had a balance sheet like latter day Rock Island, Milwaukee Road, or Penn Central?
I wonder if there is a federal precidence concerning states and localities regulating appearance of railroad properties? Csx says they safety check the bridges. For the most part, it appears this is a appearance issue. Can they also pass an ordinance against dirty locomotives, or graffitied rails cars?

I’m sure that if they wanted to, CSX could find a way to abandon the bridge and let it go for taxes. Then the mayor could do anything he wanted with it…

I think that will be a Bridge to cross one day for everyone involved.

I like how CSX pays the fine that is least amount of expense. Now that is frugal.

If the City does elevate the amount of fining against CSX that money should go directly towards the problem bridge NOTHING ELSE. If the Mayor wants it fixed in a middle of a overgrown area; let him do it.

I think the mayor just wants to make his town look better to attract visitors etc. I don’t think he cares about anyone’s saftey (but his own). If I am wrong, forgive me, but that is what I sense.

The (seemingly) noteworthy factor is look at who ISN’T getting a rash from the local towns people. Norfolk Southern

I’m sure there are exceptions Murph, but for the majority of bridges around thses parts Norfolk Southern seems to have some semblance of a bridge repainting strategy, while the CSX bridges seem to be icons of neglect.

Look at the bridges NS uses to cross the ohio, compared to CSX’s… Coincidently (I’m sure) the smaller bridges around here, for each railroad, are astonishingly similar.

Perhaps, CSX is getting picked on because they are the worst offender? They say themselves that they have no cosmetic painting program, maybe that’s why their bossom is constantly in the wringer? [:D]

Aren’t we talking about “sun kink” CSX? [}:)] how comprehensive of an inspection do you think they perform? my bet is they inspect the bearings, foundation(s), and readily apparent problems, mostly. Of course, that’s just uninformed speculation. But if I had to guess, that would be mine.

There is another school of thought that says a well painted, well maintained, bridge is easier to inspect, because, small cracks, advanced deterioration , and and the sort SHOW THROUGH in the form of rust.

When the entire bridge is a wall of rust, how good is visual inspection alone? Something tells me that CSX is not bothering to magnaflu

It does sound like a good way to raise a little money for the town. Think of all the speeding tickets they would have to write to equal that amount.

The downspouts were probably stolen and sold for scrap. Want to start a pool about how long the new ones will be there before they disappear?

All they have to do is put the cops on it.
Every little punk with a spray can is told to stay away from the CSX bridges.
I call it the Tom Sawyer solution.

Kurt

Allowing the steel reinforcement in concrete superstructures to remain exposed to the elements is a recipe for eventual failure.

Rain follows the re-bar into the heart of the cement, freezes and cracks the cement, cracks get bigger, allow more water in, repeat the process for a couple decades, and eventually you have serious problems.

Of course, the railroad can always make an appeal that the tax payers should eventually pay to replace the bridges that rusted away, afterall, how can a poor little old railroad be expected to afford a bridge, they just run trains and inspect for operational safety.

This scam by Covington’s mayor, if adopted by Chicago’s City Council and applied to the hundreds of similar-looking bridges in the Windy City, could fill city coffers enough to where every alderman’s children, nieces and nephews could get hired for no-show jobs. [:D]

The Chicago City Council has, in its infinite wisdom, already boldly enacted bans on foie gras, cell phone use by taxi drivers, street musicians and is now wording legislation to regulate the oil used to make french fries!

Of course, all crimes have been solved and neighborhoods are safe. Sounds to me like the Covington Mayor is making a grandstand play for the PR value, if the not the revenue stream. Wonder if the rest of his city is as *** 'n span as he’d like the CSX bridge.

I was busted in Covington KY. in 1964. (gambling)
Those politicos are absolute pigs down there.

The garden variety Chicago Ward Healer is content to just wet his beak.
Not so in Covington…they are like pigs at the trough.
Gaaaah.
Now i`m cranky.

Kurt

There are types of steel that are designed never to be painted. They are supposed to rust. The Girder bridges on the FEC have had nothing done since the trains stopped in 1935 and they have never been painted. The state tried to remove the piers(concrete) but after one the contractor quit because it took them 3 months instead of one week like they said it would. Concrete gets harder as it get older. Paint can seel small cracks and prevent them from being found. Rust flakes off and it is readily apparent. The facts are from the FL DOT. Where are yours from. [?]

As far as the cement/exposed rebar, direct hands on experience with multiple steel reinforced concrete parking structures that had been “cancered out” through years of neglect

Once the rebar is exposed, the water wicks down between the bar and the concrete around it, the invasiveness is self sustaining and accellerates expotentially.

Really fun when you walk around a 8 story garage knocking the deck and getting hollow sounds because of the delamination of the cement at the first layer of bar., and it only gets worse, the deeper the water works it’s way into it.

Re bar actually “expands” as it corrodes, adding a pushing effect seperating the cement from it

And for the steel, not all steel is meant to be corroded, and much of what was designed tro be that way didn’t workout as hoped for (Cor-ten I think was one, that will ‘rot’ out anyway if kept continuously wet)

A good site for corrosion basics is http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/InternetResources/NPL.htm#Stress

I was born in Alaska, and lived there until I was 11. I remember that back then, early 70’s, the highway crews would paint all the steel girder bridges each summer with red-lead paint. I bet no one does that anymore!