# Tacoma Bridge Expansion Joint



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

On I-90 today on our way home after leaving Spokane, we got behind a long line of SLOW moving traffic. Rick wondered if we were behind that monster part being moved. We sure were! as we FINALLY got to go past it,I video taped on my camera. WOW! it's amazing to see all those wheels (and extra wheels on another truck ) and the two trucks moving it by push and pull ( something I never knew existed) was pretty neat. It was going a whopping 15 mph......they have a long long long long road to go! I'll post it later if anyone is interested in seeing it.....
Here is a link on the moving of the piece...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4705654.html


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## kyoutback (Jul 12, 2004)

I wanted to see your video but the link only took me to a newspaper story.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> ....I'll post it later if anyone is interested in seeing it.....


please....post it. I'd love to see it. We travel that bridge all the time on our way to my wifes parents house on Bainbridge Island.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

kyoutback said:


> I wanted to see your video but the link only took me to a newspaper story.


silly you! I said I'd post my personal video if anyone wants to see it! it was on I-90 coming from Spokane and at 15 miles an hour it'll reach it's destination in 2020. Ha!ha! anyway, yes, will post the video of us passing it as soon as I can get to it...hopefully tonight.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Oregon_Camper said:


> ....I'll post it later if anyone is interested in seeing it.....


please....post it. I'd love to see it. We travel that bridge all the time on our way to my wifes parents house on Bainbridge Island.
[/quote]

I want to see it too


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## masumangan (Sep 3, 2006)

Check it out here:





and you can track it by GPS here:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr16narrowsbridge/track/

neat!
Matt


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Thanks for the link....that thing is HUGE!!


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## Sluggo54 (Jun 15, 2005)

Are we lost yet? said:


> Check it out here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Man, those trailer tires are some fatties, aren't they? Notice the ballast over the tractor drive wheels?

Sluggo


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## small5 (Sep 12, 2003)

Doxie -

Grat article! My son is an engineer/estimator for D.S. Brown Company (headquartered here in Ohio), the fabricator of this expansion joint. I started my engineering career with them in 1978, but since then I've moved on. He had sent me photos of this as they were loading it in the shop. If I still have them on my computer I'll post them.


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

This truck combo sat in Spokane almost 2 weeks becasue it was overweight on some axles at the Port of Entry on I-90 east of Spokane. It took the transportion company engineers the two weeks to figure out, propose, and carry out a solution to redistribute the axle weight in a manner consistant with Washington State Bridge weight regulations. Very interesting that they can fab, then ship a structure like this and be price competitive in the end......

Map Guy


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Here is my video...it's much clearer on my computer than on xanga. If anyone wants a better video, pm me, I'll send it directly. I paused it several times on my computer just to take it all in. The size is incredible, the speed they can travel is sooooooooo slow....
http://video.xanga.com/Doxiedoglovertoo/6cdc9302606/video.htm
or maybe [URL="http://video.xanga.com/Doxiedoglovertoo"]http://video.xanga.com/Doxiedoglovertoo[/URL]

let me know if link doesn't work for some reason


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

OK - as a non-West Coaster....this is not familiar to me (and I got no sound from the various videos)

Was this a result of an earthquake?
Whyare there people walking (seeminly, so nonchalantly







) off of the bridge?
Why is that truck on the bridge? If it got "stuck" when the bedge twisting began, why is it the only one there? Presumably, there would others ???
I presume this Expansion Joint (man - that's HUGE!) is being brought TO the bridge for repair puposes...why is this only happening now?
Obviously this sucker is big & heavy. How are they gonna get it from the truck to the middle of the ripped open bridge .... and then hold it in place while its secured?

I understand if this is too much of a history and/or engineering lesson to give here .... but I just had to ask







(yup - made my 4th Grade math teacher crazy too...then they gave up







)


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

wolfwood said:


> OK - as a non-West Coaster....this is not familiar to me (and I got no sound from the various videos)
> 
> Was this a result of an earthquake?
> Whyare there people walking (seeminly, so nonchalantly
> ...


This is an expansion joint for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The old bridge is still in place and functioning. New bridge stands beside old bridge - New bridge for additional capacity due to population growth in Kitsap County /lower Hood Canal areas.

Map Guy


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## renegade21rs (Oct 8, 2006)

wolfwood said:


> OK - as a non-West Coaster....this is not familiar to me (and I got no sound from the various videos)
> 
> Was this a result of an earthquake?
> Whyare there people walking (seeminly, so nonchalantly
> ...


I think the video you saw on YouTube was from the 1940's. 







Now THAT'S some sacry footage! I walk across the Mackinac Bridge in northern lower Michigan every Labor Day and I'll bet this year I think about that!


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

map guy said:


> OK - as a non-West Coaster....this is not familiar to me (and I got no sound from the various videos)
> 
> Was this a result of an earthquake?
> Whyare there people walking (seeminly, so nonchalantly
> ...


This is an expansion joint for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The old bridge is still in place and functioning. New bridge stands beside old bridge - New bridge for additional capacity due to population growth in Kitsap County /lower Hood Canal areas.

Map Guy
[/quote]

There were files on the one web site of the original collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. It was rebuilt back in the 40's and has been in place since then carrying traffic. The expansion joint is a sub assembly of a new bridge being built right now.

Map Guy


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Thank you! Gotcha!

Yes. The video I saw (when trying to figure out what the Expansion Joint was for) was from the 40's.....ergo. my questions!







I still don't understand why/how those people could be so calmly walking off of ... or anywhere near ... that bridge !!!) Can you imagine the sound, alone?


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

map guy said:


> This truck combo sat in Spokane almost 2 weeks becasue it was overweight on some axles at the Port of Entry on I-90 east of Spokane. It took the transportion company engineers the two weeks to figure out, propose, and carry out a solution to redistribute the axle weight in a manner consistant with Washington State Bridge weight regulations. Very interesting that they can fab, then ship a structure like this and be price competitive in the end......
> 
> Map Guy


Its not about the money.. It could be cement demographics.. There are different types of cement powder that is used in only certain parts of the country.. The local areas have rights to the cement which makes it unable to be shipped elsewhere.. Or the process that is used to pour it is a special kind that they do not have in Seattle.

Lots of these joints/supports are poured in a pressure chamber that pressurizes the cement as it hardens.. They also have vacuum chambers.. Its all about making it stronger. Money is no issue..

I work for a large cement packaging company.. We send about 20 truckloads a week to different parts of the country because our cement is different than theres...

About all I know is cement is a much more complicated thing than people realize..

Carey


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> This truck combo sat in Spokane almost 2 weeks becasue it was overweight on some axles at the Port of Entry on I-90 east of Spokane. It took the transportion company engineers the two weeks to figure out, propose, and carry out a solution to redistribute the axle weight in a manner consistant with Washington State Bridge weight regulations. Very interesting that they can fab, then ship a structure like this and be price competitive in the end......
> 
> Map Guy


Its not about the money.. It could be cement demographics.. There are different types of cement powder that is used in only certain parts of the country.. The local areas have rights to the cement which makes it unable to be shipped elsewhere.. Or the process that is used to pour it is a special kind that they do not have in Seattle.

Lots of these joints/supports are poured in a pressure chamber that pressurizes the cement as it hardens.. They also have vacuum chambers.. Its all about making it stronger. Money is no issue..

I work for a large cement packaging company.. We send about 20 truckloads a week to different parts of the country because our cement is different than theres...

About all I know is cement is a much more complicated thing than people realize..

Carey
[/quote]

It is all about the money in the end - the cheapest solution the Engineers will stamp and sign that meets the contract specs on the contractor side - On the WSDOT side it is about meeting the design specs and keep the project within the appropriated budget and time frame with agreement from another set of Engineers.

You do bring up a good point about the cement/concrete composition and specialty forming/processing that may have been involved to meet design spec.

Map Guy


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

map guy said:


> This truck combo sat in Spokane almost 2 weeks becasue it was overweight on some axles at the Port of Entry on I-90 east of Spokane. It took the transportion company engineers the two weeks to figure out, propose, and carry out a solution to redistribute the axle weight in a manner consistant with Washington State Bridge weight regulations. Very interesting that they can fab, then ship a structure like this and be price competitive in the end......
> 
> Map Guy


Its not about the money.. It could be cement demographics.. There are different types of cement powder that is used in only certain parts of the country.. The local areas have rights to the cement which makes it unable to be shipped elsewhere.. Or the process that is used to pour it is a special kind that they do not have in Seattle.

Lots of these joints/supports are poured in a pressure chamber that pressurizes the cement as it hardens.. They also have vacuum chambers.. Its all about making it stronger. Money is no issue..

I work for a large cement packaging company.. We send about 20 truckloads a week to different parts of the country because our cement is different than theres...

About all I know is cement is a much more complicated thing than people realize..

Carey
[/quote]

It is all about the money in the end - the cheapest solution the Engineers will stamp and sign that meets the contract specs on the contractor side - On the WSDOT side it is about meeting the design specs and keep the project within the appropriated budget and time frame with agreement from another set of Engineers.

You do bring up a good point about the cement/concrete composition and specialty forming/processing that may have been involved to meet design spec.

Map Guy
[/quote]

Yea thats what I meant... In the cement world I'm in money is second to quality..

Carey


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

Thanks for sharing your video. I was impressed by the truckload of tires that was following them.


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## small5 (Sep 12, 2003)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> This truck combo sat in Spokane almost 2 weeks becasue it was overweight on some axles at the Port of Entry on I-90 east of Spokane. It took the transportion company engineers the two weeks to figure out, propose, and carry out a solution to redistribute the axle weight in a manner consistant with Washington State Bridge weight regulations. Very interesting that they can fab, then ship a structure like this and be price competitive in the end......
> 
> Map Guy


Its not about the money.. It could be cement demographics.. There are different types of cement powder that is used in only certain parts of the country.. The local areas have rights to the cement which makes it unable to be shipped elsewhere.. Or the process that is used to pour it is a special kind that they do not have in Seattle.

Lots of these joints/supports are poured in a pressure chamber that pressurizes the cement as it hardens.. They also have vacuum chambers.. Its all about making it stronger. Money is no issue..

I work for a large cement packaging company.. We send about 20 truckloads a week to different parts of the country because our cement is different than theres...

About all I know is cement is a much more complicated thing than people realize..

Carey
[/quote]

This expansion joint is fabricated out of steel, aluminum and rubber (no concrete and/or cement). I worked for the manufacturer, D.S. Brown Company as an engineer and now my son is an estimator for them. It is a very specialized industry and there are only a couple of firms in the country (or world) that do these large modules.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

In Doxie's video it looks like there is a truck PUSHING the trailer as well as one in the front pulling it.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> In Doxie's video it looks like there is a truck PUSHING the trailer as well as one in the front pulling it.


It is a push pull set up. Did you also notice the support truck with all the spare tires!!!!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

CamperAndy said:


> In Doxie's video it looks like there is a truck PUSHING the trailer as well as one in the front pulling it.


It is a push pull set up. Did you also notice the support truck with all the spare tires!!!!
[/quote]

I sure did...that was a crazy amount of spares. Guess they must blow out a LOT.


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

small5 said:


> This truck combo sat in Spokane almost 2 weeks becasue it was overweight on some axles at the Port of Entry on I-90 east of Spokane. It took the transportion company engineers the two weeks to figure out, propose, and carry out a solution to redistribute the axle weight in a manner consistant with Washington State Bridge weight regulations. Very interesting that they can fab, then ship a structure like this and be price competitive in the end......
> 
> Map Guy


Its not about the money.. It could be cement demographics.. There are different types of cement powder that is used in only certain parts of the country.. The local areas have rights to the cement which makes it unable to be shipped elsewhere.. Or the process that is used to pour it is a special kind that they do not have in Seattle.

Lots of these joints/supports are poured in a pressure chamber that pressurizes the cement as it hardens.. They also have vacuum chambers.. Its all about making it stronger. Money is no issue..

I work for a large cement packaging company.. We send about 20 truckloads a week to different parts of the country because our cement is different than theres...

About all I know is cement is a much more complicated thing than people realize..

Carey
[/quote]

This expansion joint is fabricated out of steel, aluminum and rubber (no concrete and/or cement). I worked for the manufacturer, D.S. Brown Company as an engineer and now my son is an estimator for them. It is a very specialized industry and there are only a couple of firms in the country (or world) that do these large modules.
[/quote]

Thats cool.. The you tube video made it hard to tell what it was.. That will work even better than concrete prolly..

Carey


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Carey,

It's good to hear of a brother here on the forum! My dad was in the concrete and aggregate industry all during my growing up, and one of my first jobs was working for the now defunct Oregon Portland Cement company in Auburn, WA.. Unloading bulk rail cars, filling OTR tankers and slinging bags of cement. No doubt you've earned your pay after a day of that!

Wolfie,

In answer to your question about the original Tacoma narrows bridge, the failure was the result of high winds. Something of a design flaw, as the Tacoma NARROWS are a bit of a funnel for the prevailing winds!

An interesting story I heard about the bridge many years ago from someone who was in the position to know (it may be urban legend, but as I said, my source was in a position to reasonably know). Anyway, as with many things, when you build a bridge, one of the first things you do is insure it. Which they (the state, city, whoever) did. Through a local insurance company. Well, at least they though they did!

As you can imagine the premium on insuring a bridge could be rather steep. Apparently the local 'agent' figured the bridge was sound and that the money could be put to better use elsewhere, so instead of actually filing the policy with the home office, he forged the documents and redirected the funds to his favorite charity. He was only going to do it for a couple of years, I mean when you are talking about that kind of money, there is no point in being greedy, right! In any case, it seems that about the time he decided he ought to actually file the policy the bridge went down! As I recall, he was last seen in Brazil!

Man! So close! Just a few more days...

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

great link - Thanks. I really enjoy these type of stories.

Thor


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

PDX_Doug said:


> Carey,
> 
> It's good to hear of a brother here on the forum! My dad was in the concrete and aggregate industry all during my growing up, and one of my first jobs was working for the now defunct Oregon Portland Cement company in Auburn, WA.. Unloading bulk rail cars, filling OTR tankers and slinging bags of cement. No doubt you've earned your pay after a day of that!
> 
> ...


Hey Doug, I haul the powder from a Holcim Cement plant in Florence, Co. located about 15 miles from my home to our company in Denver, 115 miles to the north.. I make two trips a day.. I have a Kenworth Daycab and pull a 1000 cube dry bulk tanker.. Its a pretty cushy job, as my day consists of cruising down the highway in my truck with about every creature comfort made.. They take good care of us.. It takes about 30 mins to blow the cement powder into our silo's, and then I'm outa there.. I see my boss less than one minute a day.. Thats the best part... There only concern is not to wreck the truck.. As long as that doesnt happen, I can work there till I die.. Been there 7 years..

Here is our website.. LINKWe bag about 1,000,000 bags a year.. We have about 60 different brands. We supply speciality products to about every state in the US. Its a cool place to work..

Carey


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> Carey,
> 
> It's good to hear of a brother here on the forum! My dad was in the concrete and aggregate industry all during my growing up, and one of my first jobs was working for the now defunct Oregon Portland Cement company in Auburn, WA.. Unloading bulk rail cars, filling OTR tankers and slinging bags of cement. No doubt you've earned your pay after a day of that!


Hey Doug, I haul the powder from a Holcim Cement plant in Florence, Co. located about 15 miles from my home to our company in Denver, 115 miles to the north.. I make two trips a day.. I have a Kenworth Daycab and pull a 1000 cube dry bulk tanker.. Its a pretty cushy job, as my day consists of cruising down the highway in my truck with about every creature comfort made.. They take good care of us.. It takes about 30 mins to blow the cement powder into our silo's, and then I'm outa there.. I see my boss less than one minute a day.. Thats the best part... There only concern is not to wreck the truck.. As long as that doesnt happen, I can work there till I die.. Been there 7 years..

Here is our website.. LINKWe bag about 1,000,000 bags a year.. We have about 60 different brands. We supply speciality products to about every state in the US. Its a cool place to work..

Carey
[/quote]
Man does this bring back memories!
But 1,000,000 bags a year!







My back hurts!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

PDX_Doug said:


> Carey,
> 
> It's good to hear of a brother here on the forum! My dad was in the concrete and aggregate industry all during my growing up, and one of my first jobs was working for the now defunct Oregon Portland Cement company in Auburn, WA.. Unloading bulk rail cars, filling OTR tankers and slinging bags of cement. No doubt you've earned your pay after a day of that!


Hey Doug, I haul the powder from a Holcim Cement plant in Florence, Co. located about 15 miles from my home to our company in Denver, 115 miles to the north.. I make two trips a day.. I have a Kenworth Daycab and pull a 1000 cube dry bulk tanker.. Its a pretty cushy job, as my day consists of cruising down the highway in my truck with about every creature comfort made.. They take good care of us.. It takes about 30 mins to blow the cement powder into our silo's, and then I'm outa there.. I see my boss less than one minute a day.. Thats the best part... There only concern is not to wreck the truck.. As long as that doesnt happen, I can work there till I die.. Been there 7 years..

Here is our website.. LINKWe bag about 1,000,000 bags a year.. We have about 60 different brands. We supply speciality products to about every state in the US. Its a cool place to work..

Carey
[/quote]
Man does this bring back memories!
But 1,000,000 bags a year!







My back hurts!

Happy Trails,
Doug
[/quote]

We are totally automated.. It only takes just a few guys to run the whole plant.. In fact this year we installed a 1/4 million dollar robot that palletizes the bags.. Its an awesome machine.. It takes up 10% of the room of our old palletizer.. The whole place is ran with robotics, computers and fork lift drivers..

Our place is amazing!

Thankfully those back breakin days are gone concerning bags.. lol

Carey


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