W's Not Seeing America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Under Construction

We are coming up on the one year anniversary of America's Biggest Boondoggle's three simple little bridges hitting a construction snag.

Mr. W's above Facebook post generated some illuminating comments regarding Fort Worth's current #1 Embarrassment...

Durango Jones: I keep putting off beating this dead horse yet again, but what with the one year anniversary of the stalled construction of simple, little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island I'm assuming Fort Worth's highly esteemed newspaper of record must be about to publish an expose in a series of articles detailing what has gone wrong with what has become known far and wide as America's Biggest Boondoggle....

Mike Wegner: I'm just dumbfounded at how little attention this has received, the lack of progress, the ongoing road closures, etc. If they can't even build these bridges over dry land, how can they pull off a $1B+ project? Meanwhile, the 'Left Bank' development between Montgomery Plaza and the river is going great guns, hundreds of apt units, Tom Thumb, other retail, etc. But I think that is all independent of the Boondoggle.

Durango Jones: It is all so bizarrely perplexing. I am not even remotely possessing engineer type understanding of constructing anything. But, I look at those V Piers and I do not understand how such would support a bridge deck. Seems like it'd be some sorta perverse teeter totter. And if those bridges ever do get built, over dry land. how does the ditch get engineered to get dug under them without causing problems with the bridge's foundations. It this type thing the real cause of the holdup? As in a legit adult project engineer showed up on site and quickly determined this project design was insane????

Wayneman's Page: 3 unfinished bridges to nowhere, but lies and corruption.

Terri Bednar Wegner: It's a collaborative effort but wonder which entity awarded the design contract to the Fort Worth engineering firm of Freese and Nichols Inc.? And how the $66 million cost is split between the entities? And is there any way to find out since the TRV is not subject to open records law either?

Mary Kelleher: How embarrassing!

Andy Nold: The 2 northernmost piers on Jacksboro highway have a lot of "new" steel in them. The northernmost looks like the rebar is complete. The 2nd one south of that looks about 50% complete. But it looks like they have stopped again. I wonder if they have hit a flaw with the redesigned rebar mat? I'm no civil engineer, but have worked as a civil engineering technician and alongside engineers as a land surveyor.

Bob Lukeman: I'm shocked!!!

_________________

In her comment above, Mrs. W referenced a link to an article (Construction on three bridges hits snag) in the Fort  Worth Business Press. That article, among numerous instances of nonsense, repeats what was reported way back when construction ground to a halt, that being that the construction halt should last about a month.

Let's look at and comment about some of the aforementioned instances of nonsense in this Fort  Worth Business Press article...

Construction of the Henderson Street, White Settlement and North Main Street bridges began in 2014 and is still on track to be completed in 2017 and 2018 at a cost of about $74 million.

The construction of these three simple little bridges did not begin in 2014. The embarrassingly stupid TNT exploding bridge ground breaking ceremony, featuring J.D. Granger, his mother and Betsy Price, is all that took place in 2014. I blogged about this explosive 2014 event in A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

The bridges are being constructed over dry land and have been criticized by opponents of the Trinity River Vision project as “bridges to nowhere” because millions of dollars in anticipated federal dollars has yet to be appropriated for the transformative project north of downtown Fort Worth.

The Fort Worth Business Press thinks the construction of these bridges has been criticized by opponents because funds were yet to be appropriated? No. The lack of funding had nothing to do with why opponents were opposing. The opposition  had to do with things like incompetence, bad design, inept implementation. That and the unqualified son of a local congresswoman being hired, at high pay, to  oversee the project for which he had ZERO qualifications, with the result being that the embarrassment has been a boondoggle for years.

Supporters of the project defend the decision to build the bridges over dry land as a cost-saving move.

Anyone who thinks the building of these three simple little bridges over dry land is a cost-saving move is moronic idiot. There will be no water under these bridges (if they ever do get built) until the ditch is dug under them. And until water from the Trinity River is diverted into that ditch. It does not take a trained engineer to realize the actual cost saving measure would be to dig the ditch at the same time the bridges are being built.

The bridges were designed by architect Miguel Rosales and the Fort Worth engineering firm of Freese and Nichols Inc. The signature piece of the design is the V-shaped pier design. The bridges will appear to float about 50 feet above ground, “lightly touching the ground every 220 feet,” according to a statement by Freese and Nichols.

The bridges will appear to float 50 feet above the ground? Lightly touching ground every 220 feet? Look at those V Piers in Mr. W's photo above and see if they look 220 feet apart, 50 feet above the ground. See if you can imagine those V Piers supporting a bridge deck. And has anyone seen the part of the bridge construction where massive foundations were poured deep into the ground?

Why isn't Fort Worth's make believe newspaper of record, the Star-Telegram, investigating the Boondoggle's bridge embarrassment?

Just this morning I read a detailed article in the Seattle Times titled Officials say damage to sewage plant in Discovery Park is catastrophic thoroughly covering what went wrong with a primary treatment plant during a recent Washington storm. The article seemed to cover every aspect of the disaster, what caused it, the damage  done, the effect on Puget Sound, the progress of the repair. The article seemed to be a totally transparent report about a serious issue effecting the public.

And then we have the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision headquarters occupying the Star-Telegram building's ground floor. One would think it would be easy for Star-Telegram reporters to take the elevator  to the ground floor and not leave until they get answers to a question the Fort Worth public deserves to know.

As in, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH THOSE THREE SIMPLE  LITTLE BRIDGES?

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Opines Boondoggle's Stalled Bridges Can't Be A Good Thing

Well, it seems that perhaps the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has finally noticed that there is something rotten in the state of Denmark, I mean, the state of the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Such seems the case this morning via a Star-Telegram editorial titled Stalled Panther Island bridges can’t be good thing.

You in modern towns in America, with real newspapers, can you imagine something like you see in this photo, floundering at the heart of your town, for months on end, with your local newspaper not getting to the truth of what is going on with such a mess?

Less than a week ago the Star-Telegram first made note of that which many have noted for months. We blogged about that in Bizarre Star-Telegram Bridge Boondoggle Report.

In that article the Star-Telegram could find no one who could explain the stalled bridge building problem. In today's Star-Telegram editorial, Val Lopez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation said what the Star-Telegram characterized as what may be the only positive thing he could say about the stalled bridges, telling the Star-Telegram...

“We want to make sure we do this right,”

I would assume such is the case with just about any public works project of any scope.

The Star-Telegram goes on to say "...the fact remains that construction of the bridges started almost a year ago and was halted about three months later. They may not be finished until 2019, a year behind schedule."

More rare non-propaganda editorializing from the Star-Telegram...

"Other than Lopez, most of the people with direct knowledge of the bridge problem don’t want to talk about it."

"That’s understandable. After all, Trinity River Vision still has its share — maybe more than its share — of vocal opponents."

"Nobody involved wants to say the bridges weren’t being done right in the first place, but you don’t stop in the middle of a project like this unless somebody thinks something is wrong."

The Star-Telegram says the Trinity River Vision may have more than its share of opponents. I don't think opponents is the correct characterization. I think it is more accurate to say that which used to be called the Trinity River Vision has a lot of people who have observed the "vision" and have been appalled by how badly the "vision" has been managed.

Defunct Wakeboard parks, floating beer parties in a polluted river, little progress, a project timeline which constantly shifts, an unqualified son of a local politician made the project's executive director, a public works project drastically changing the town, but the townspeople have never been allowed to vote on the project. And even with no public vote on a public works project, eminent domain being abused to take property, over and over again.

Thinking such is not opposing the project, it is objecting to how the project has been mismanaged, in various ways, from the start.

The Star-Telegram editorial also mentions the "B" word for the first time...

"Panther Island/Trinity River Vision can’t afford many missteps. Too many people already see it as an extremely expensive boondoggle."

I have long thought the basic idea behind what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle may be a good idea, maybe even a great idea, but as the project approaches two decades of boondoggling, it seems it may be time to re-think The Boondoggle and fix what ails it, if it is determined fixing it is possible and a good thing to do.

The Star-Telegram is uncharacteristically feisty in this editorial. The editorial suggests, "Nobody involved wants to say the bridges weren’t being done right in the first place, but you don’t stop in the middle of a project like this unless somebody thinks something is wrong."

To which the TxDOT spokesman, Lopez told the Star-Telegram that “These are the kinds of modifications that can occur all of the time on a project this size.”

The Star-Telegram editorial incredulously then said, "Really? Nothing like this seemed to happen with construction on the new Seventh Street bridge. Same with an overabundance of freeway and toll lane construction across Tarrant County and even the buildings and parking garages being built downtown."

That Seventh Street bridge, which looks so cool one might legitimately describe it as a signature bridge, was built in less than a year. Three bridges near Gateway Park, recently completed, were also built in about a year, with one of those bridges crossing the Trinity River, which flooded twice during the construction, which was not halted.

I am not an engineer of any sort. I am blessed with basic common sense, as are a lot of people. I have long been puzzled by those V Piers which are supposed to support the bridge decks of those three bridges connecting the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

Looking at the photo of the wooden form for one of those V Piers I don't understand how this would support a bridge deck.

Where the V hits the ground does this go deep? With a big solid foundation of concrete?

With the V Piers and bridges in place how does the ditch get dug under them? You can see that supports are currently holding up the wooden forms of the V Pier. When the concrete is poured and those supports removed, how does that chunk of steel reinforced concrete not come crashing to the ground?

Are these the type questions, with no answers, which have grounded America's Biggest Boondoggle to a halt?

Maybe the Fort Worth Star-Telegram will find answers now that the newspaper seems, sort of, to be on the case....

Bizarre Star-Telegram Bridge Boondoggle Report

Comment from Captain Andy this morning regarding The Boondoggle's Bridge Fiasco....

Andy N has left a new comment on your post "Why Does Fort Worth Star-Telegram Not Recommend Rejecting Trinity River Vision's Bad Plan?":

Fort Worth’s Panther Island bridges a year behind schedule

Star-Telegram finally takes a swing on the delay and it's a miss. There ARE NO PIERS. What you see is a form for unpoured concrete. 

________________

I had already read the Star-Telegram's article about the Bridge Fiasco and thought, as did Captain Andy, that the article took a lame swing at the Boondoggle's bridge delay.

And missed.

The first paragraph...

It started with a bang and a fiery explosion. But nearly two years later, construction of three bridges north of downtown Fort Worth leading to the planned Panther Island development has slowed to something more like a simmer.

That Star-Telegram has the bridges being a year behind schedule. But construction was halted back in March. Eight months ago. Well, I guess that is getting close to a year.

Such a long delay to this vitally needed project and after eight months the Star-Telegram finally, sort of, reports on the delay. A report which does not address what the actual problem is with constructing these relatively simple little bridges.

I mean, these bridges are no Golden Gate being built over deep, fast moving saltwater.

A gem from Fort Worth's esteemed mayor...

Price, answering critics who had questioned whether the $910 million project would ever get built, declared, “This is not a bridge to nowhere.”

Proper grammar should have had Betsy saying "These are not bridges to nowhere".

But they sort of are bridges to nowhere. The bridges certainly currently are going nowhere. And if the bridges are ever completed, connecting the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, well, they really will still be bridges to nowhere.

And then there are these two paragraphs....

Now officials involved in the massive effort say construction of the bridges has fallen about a year behind schedule and likely won’t be completed until 2019. The bridges, which are being financed with state highway funds, were originally expected to be completed in 2018 and cost $65.5 million, although that cost could go up if the delay continues.

The main cause of the delay, officials say, are changes in the design for the steel-reinforced concrete piers that will support the bridges. The changes have been in progress for about a year, slowing work on the bridges to a crawl.

Building these three simple little bridges is a massive effort? If construction halted in March, why are they saying construction has fallen about a year behind schedule?

What schedule? Is it not one of the many reasons the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision has become a boondoggle is the fact that this project has never had an sort of project timeline schedule?

The main cause of the delay are changes to the design? Those changes have been in progress for a year? Why was construction started on those V Piers if the design was "in progress"?

I am particularly fond of this short tidbit...

The delay comes at a time when substantial progress has been made in other areas of the Panther Island project, formerly known as Trinity Uptown.

Substantial progress had been make in other areas of the Panther Island project? Which used to be known as Trinity Uptown? The Star-Telegram mentions substantial progress, without detailing what this progress is. The successful closing of the Cowtown Wakepark? That did seem like progress.

We are told the Boondoggle was formerly known as Trinity Uptown. Earlier in the article The Boondoggle was referred to as the Trinity River Vision.  Elsewhere it is the Panther Island Project. Apparently the Star-Telegram has some awareness of the various names The Boondoggle has given itself as it boondoggles along.

Another bizarre bit in this article...

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said the modifications were described to him not as a design problem but rather as an effort to be abundantly cautious about the bridges, which have an unusual flattop design essentially with most of the supports below the driving surface. He said he was told that designers built scale models to test out the piers and ensure they could support the rest of the bridge.

Whitley added that it was his understanding work on the bridges would resume soon.

“I have been told the models worked like they thought they would work and they have given the green light to get started on it,” Whitley said.

Oh, so there is no design problem. Instead, after construction was started, it was decided now was the time to be abundantly cautious about the bridges. Yes, that makes a lot of sense.

So, some V Piers get stuck in the ground, construction grinds to a halt, the Star-Telegram tells us at the time the construction halt has to do with a mistake in the steel reinforcing the concrete.

So, then models were built to test if these V Piers would actually hold up a bridge? With a judge being told the models worked and so the green light has been given to re-start the building of those bridges to nowhere.

Who knows what the truth is?  Anyone? When I first saw those V Piers I did not understand how such would support a bridge deck. But, I'm no engineer, so I figured the bridges were designed by engineers who knew what they were doing.

It has long seemed odd to me that it is not an issue building those bridges before a ditch is dug under them. Won't the ditch digging be made more complicated due to having the bridges in place?

How many more years, or decades, is America's Biggest Boondoggle going to keep boondoggling along before the plug gets pulled? It seems that is the likely inevitable fate of something as badly mismanaged as this pseudo public works project has been....

TRV Boondoggle Transforms Imaginary Bypass Channel Into A True Promenade

A few minutes ago I heard from Elsie Hotpepper, via text message.

Part of that message made mention of the fact that the TRV was propagandizing about something which had someone usually not prone to such being profanely poetic.

For those who do not know what TRV is, those initials stand for Trinity River Vision, also known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

The full name of TRV has grown over the decades to TRCCUPIDV.

Or Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Elsie Hotpepper's text message eventually lead me to something I did not know existed, or maybe I did not remember it existed.

A TRV Facebook page.

Click the link and you can experience the propaganda yourself.

Such as that which you see above, which was at the top of today's TRV Facebook page. A congratulations to some entity which had won an award for their work on the London Olympic Park.

The propaganda shows up in the line "They are also the team responsible for transforming our bypass into a true promenade".

What?

Where is this promenade? Prior to the transformation to being a true promenade was this imaginary promenade a false promenade?

Our bypass?

What bypass? All there is is one bridge stalled under construction where a ditch, I mean, bypass, may be dug at some point in the distant future.

And then there was this. A guy appearing to be welding during one of The Boondoggle's construction stalled V Piers. I thought this post on the TRV Facebook page was going to be about the stalled bridge construction. I thought wrong.

The post with the V Piers appearing in the background has nothing to do with The Boondoggle's bridges. It has to do with how to prepare a bid packet with a bang for The Boondoggle's projects. Here I was thinking the Panther Island Bid Opportunities would have something to do with soliciting bids to get those bridge design errors fixed and construction back underway.

And then there was the following doozy. I have blogged multiple times over the decades about The Boondoggle's signage at Gateway Park touting the wonders that would one day appear.

Next time I am in Fort Worth, which is currently scheduled to be in less than two weeks, maybe I will swing by Gateway Park to check on The Boondoggle's upgrade of its propaganda signage. For years this has been a bizarre spectacle to behold.....

Captain Andy Reports Fort Worth Boondoggle's Bridge Construction Still A Ghost Town

Last night, Streetcar Pilot and Surveying Savant, Captain Andy, told me, via Facebook, that he "Drove by the trashcan on panther trinity island uptown. No sign of construction. No rebar in the forms. How long before they start up again? How much money is being wasted? Ugghh...."

The trashcan Captain Andy mentions I blogged about back last December in America's Biggest Boondoggle's Million Dollar Wind Roundabout Ridiculousness.

The Roundabout Ridiculousness, that being the trashcan to which Captain Andy refers, is near something even more ridiculous, to which Captain Andy also refers, that being the stalled construction of America's Biggest Boondoggle's bridges being built over dry land to connect Fort Worth's mainland to an imaginary island.

Built over dry land because the funds are not available to dig the ditch to go under the bridges, after which water could be diverted to flow under the bridges. The Boondoggle claims the stalled bridges are being built over dry land to save money. Which is ridiculous. There will be no water under those bridges until the Trinity River is diverted to flow under them.

I have been blogging about these Phantom Bridges for years. The three bridges were initially scheduled to begin their construction phase way back in 2011. I blogged about this in Has Anyone Seen The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Bridges Under Construction Since 2011?

Way back in 2014 an absurdly explosive ceremony was staged to celebrate the late beginning of the construction of the three bridges. I blogged about this in A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

About a year after that explosive non-start The Boondoggle was touting the amazing feat that V Piers for one of the bridges were now rising from the ground.  The Boondoggle propagandized about the V Piers finally appearing as if it were a major accomplishment. I blogged about this in Beautiful Fort Worth V Piers The Likes Of Which The World Has Never Seen.

About a week later I blogged about Star-Telegram propaganda on the bridge subject in Star-Telegram Propaganda About Trinity River Vision Moving Forward Slowly.

And then, back in March of 2016 the construction of those amazing V Piers ground to a halt, with The Boondoggle claiming construction would resume in about a month. I first blogged about this latest Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision embarrassment in Fort Worth Star-Telegram Thinks Someone Goofed On The Panther Island Bridge Design.

Also back in March, regarding The Boondoggle's bridge design problems, I blogged Design Woes Are Not The Only Problem With Fort Worth's Panther Island Bridges.

And then in July, when the aforementioned Captain Andy previously told me he saw The Boondoggle's bridge construction zone looking like a ghost town I blogged about this in Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind?

So, now we are in the 8th month since construction of The Boondoggle's bridges has been halted due to design errors. These three simple bridges being built over nothing had, originally, an astounding four year project timeline.

Longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, over water, and longer than it took to build many other actual feats of engineering, including the Eiffel Tower.

Has anyone noticed any reporting in Fort Worth's imaginary newspaper of record, the Star-Telegram, about the halt in progress in what that newspaper has helped propagandize is a vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme?

Vitally needed, yet built in slow, and now, stop motion, with no project timeline, relying on J.D. Granger's mother, Fort Worth's congresswoman, Kay Granger, to bring home some pork attached to the water bill currently stalled in Congress.

How come the Star-Telegram has not looked into how Kay Granger's cronies might profit if The Boondoggle ever comes to any sort of fruition? How come the Star-Telegram has no problem with the obvious corrupt nepotism involved in hiring the congresswoman's son to run this project?

A project of the sort that the former low level prosecutor had zero qualifications? Except for being his mother's son.

With the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision now having turned into America's Biggest Boondoggle, is it not time for an intervention? Is it not time to relieve J.D. Granger from having anything to do with this project?

Doesn't the buck with this embarrassing Boondoggle stop anywhere?

Methinks J.D. Granger should have been fired simply for coming up with the absurd idea of encouraging people to get wet in the polluted Trinity River, with Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floats at an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island.

How about it Star-Telegram? Do you have any actual journalists still in your employ who might look into what's up with The Boondoggle's bridges?

There are a lot inquiring minds wanting to know....

Amazon Biospheres & Fort Worth Slow Motion Bridge Construction

I saw that which you see here this morning via the online version of the Seattle Times.

I knew Amazon was expanding its Seattle headquarters in the South Lake Union zone. I did not know Amazon was building a new urban campus in downtown Seattle.

And I definitely did not know that part of this new Amazon campus are structures called "biospheres".

Amazon building a new campus in a downtown zone where there are no undeveloped open spaces had me wondering if eminent domain was abused to acquire land to build this corporate headquarters in the manner eminent domain was abused in Fort Worth so Radio Shack could build a new corporate headquarters that it could not afford.

This new Amazon campus in Seattle appears to be a real big deal. In Fort Worth, way back in November of 2014 a ceremony with a big TNT bang was held in Fort Worth to mark the start of construction of one of America's Biggest Boondoggle's three simple bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

I blogged about this momentous Fort Worth occasion in A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

I wonder if a big bang ceremony took place in Seattle to mark the start of construction of the new Amazon campus?

In Fort Worth a big fuss was made about a year after that TNT explosion marked the start of Boondoggle bridge construction, when wooden V pier forms were finally under construction and visible.

I blogged about the V pier fuss in Beautiful Fort Worth V Piers The Likes Of Which The World Has Never Seen.

I wonder how big a fuss was made in Seattle over seeing these Amazon biospheres rise above the ground? The Amazon biospheres appear to be a bit more remarkable than those Fort Worth's Boondoggle's wooden V pier forms.

I suspect little fuss was made in Seattle over the Amazon biospheres. That town has a lot going on. Like the world's biggest tunnel boring machine, Bertha, is again on the move, about to dig under the downtown skyscrapers.

The new Amazon campus is set to open in 2017.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, digging has yet to begin on the ditch that may eventually cause water to flow under America's Biggest Boondoggle's three simple little bridges, currently set to maybe open in 2018.....