WTS - What the Surrey #28: Pattullo Bridge Asbestos
The toxic material was mixed in with the asphalt and laid down on top of the original concrete deck during the 1980s. It’s complicating TransLink’s latest efforts to repave the bridge and better assess its structural safety.
Now classified as a contaminated material, the asphalt can’t just be ground up as it would in most other road projects lest it become a hazardous airborne dust. Instead it must be kept wet and be removed in sealed containers as part of specialized handling and disposal requirements that have kicked in. [Surrey Leader]
No seismic upgrades, no median barrier to prevent head-on crashes, lanes that are obscenely and illegally narrow, and so many lives lost. Translink has put all Pattullo renovations on the backburner so they can figure out what to do about the asbestos in the deck and until they receive reports about the potential widening or twinning of the Bridge of Death. I suppose until then we should all just hold our breath and focus our attention on the beaver situation in Surrey.
(Read any or all of my previous posts about the Pattullo [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9])
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June 11th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Holy crap, I can now understand your beef with the Patullo… asbestos is not a good thing
June 12th, 2008 at 3:32 am
I’m thinking now that if I look closely at Google Maps, the bridge might show up on the map as one of the Signs of the Apocalypse…
June 12th, 2008 at 6:22 am
You cant widen that bridge or put up a median in the centre. It would narrow it even more and people would slam into it and bounce around like a pinball machine causing even more damage. I say put photo radar at both ends or grooved pavement
But yeah, something needs to be done and that asbestos thing is just lovely to hear about :s
June 12th, 2008 at 7:26 am
This has been talked about a lot on other sites such as CBC in regards to what to do with the bridge. Some people suggested twinning (useless, great put more traffic over the water but they have to merge back anyway..) then there was the suggestion of removing large commercial trucks during peak times or all together. Which will affect delivery of goods and increase the price of said goods because it will take longer/more gas to transport. People were getting upset when semi-trucks would drive down the middle of the 2 lanes. I think that’s a good thing a) keeps speeds in check b) ensures that the big trucks don’t hit anything on the narrow lanes though it does cause traffic and backups and disgruntled impatient drivers too.
I’m for build a new bridge like that here in Pitt Meadows (The GoldenEars Bridge).
As for the asbestos that really does suck. Though Translink will take its sweetass time trying to figure things out while more people die on that bridge. I dislike going over that bridge.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
The bridge needs replacing all together. It’s ridiculous that it’s gone on for so long like this. You can be sure that were the bridge connecting 2 more high profile areas of the lower mainland it would have been taken care of long ago.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Why am I not surprised? We need sooooo much transportation work in the Lower Mainland. Both bridges, roads, and public transport. http://www.railforthevalley.com
June 19th, 2008 at 11:35 am
[...] beavers, they are pretty much everywhere. Take a walk down under the Pattullo Bridge (careful for falling asbestos debris) and you’ll probably spot some. However they do tend to migrate and may not even be there the [...]
August 29th, 2008 at 6:01 am
[...] standards, causing dozens to lose theirs lives in recent years, and even being packed with asbestos, the Bridge of Death is just plain scary to cross (so don’t ask why I did it with my Flip [...]