U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Thinks Trinity River In Fort Worth Is Navigable

Yesterday on Facebook Peter Cox asked "Which part of the Constitution says that a developer needs permission from the U.S. Army to build an apartment complex?"

As you can see, via the Facebook screen cap, the U.S. Army answered the Cox question, saying, in part, that the USACE is responsible for all navigable waterways in the U.S.

To which I commented...

Durango Jones: The Trinity River as it mucks its way through Fort Worth is navigable? By what? Beer sodden dimwits floating on inner tubes???

The USACE Facebook comment in its entirety...

U.S. Army The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters is responsible for all navigable waterways in the country. Since the development is on the banks of a navigable waterway the corps must examine the plans to make sure they are not negatively impacting the river or river traffic.

Without the USCAE we would be missing a lot from our daily lives. If you are wondering what else the USACE is responsible for, they are:
- The Nation’s number one federal provider of outdoor recreation.
- Is the Nation's environmental engineer.
- Owns and operates more than 600 dams.
- Operates and maintains 12,000 miles of commercial inland navigation channels.
- Dredges more than 200 million cubic yards of construction and maintenance dredge material annually.
- Maintains 926 coastal, Great Lakes and inland harbors.
- Restores, creates, enhances or preserves tens of thousands of acres of wetlands annually under the Corps’ Regulatory Program.
- Provides a total water supply storage capacity of 329.2 million acre-feet in major Corps lakes.
- Owns and operates 24 percent of the U.S. hydropower capacity or 3 percent of the total U.S. electric capacity.
- Supports Army and Air Force installations.
- Provides technical and construction support to more than 100 countries.
- Manages an Army military construction program between 2006 and 2013 totaling approximately $44.6 billion — the largest construction effort since World War II.
- Researches and develops technologies to protect the nation’s environment and enhance quality of life.

______________

Now if this commenting representative of the USACE had said the Army Corps of Engineers had a say in a riverside apartment complex development because the USACE was responsible for the levees which it built well over half a century ago, levees which have prevented flooding in the downtown Fort Worth zone ever since they were built, well, that type oversight might be understandable.

But, to claim the Trinity River is navigable as it slowly slogs through downtown Fort Worth? That is ridiculous. How many impoundment dams block the river as it flows between the Fort Worth Trinity River levees? I guess one could navigate past those dams by portaging ones boat if the boat was small enough to portage.

And regarding those Trinity River Army Corps of Engineer levees. If the Trinity River Vision, at some time in the distant future, becomes something someone can see, well, part of that un-needed flood control scheme is to remove those levees which have kept downtown Fort Worth flood free for well over half a century.

There are some who opine the reason the Boondoggle's bridge building  has stalled is because it was realized the bridge spans were not wide enough for the flood control ditch, after further engineering analysis determined the ditch had to be wider and deeper in order to contain a big flood.

So, does anyone know what the 2017 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' position is on Fort Worth's Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision's altering of the Trinity River?

One would think there is much more to be concerned about than the building of an apartment complex on the bluff overlooking the Trinity River in downtown Fort Worth...

Misty Wood Enlightens Me About Diabolically Fishy Bradford Pears

A few days ago I blogged about the trees you see here in a Snowflake Blizzard With Real Desperate Housewives Of Wichita Falls.

In that blogging I wondered what type tree I was seeing which had blown a blizzard of white petal flakes on me.

Then the renowned, appropriately named Texoma horticulturist, Miss D. Wood, also known as Misty Wood, informed me that the type tree which was creating the whiteout of blizzarding flower flakes was known  as a Bradford Pear.

Misty Wood pointed me to an article about the Bradford Pear trees which informed me that It’s official: Bradford Pears are the worst trees, which then led me to KFOR TV's online article in which Oklahoma forestry experts warn against Bradford Pears.

A blurb from the KFOR article...

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Bradford Pear tree looks beautiful but smells terrible, and its scent isn’t the only reason people are cursing the greenery.

“It was deemed the perfect tree. I mean, it’s beautiful in the spring, because it has the flowers and it’s contained. It can grow about anywhere in Oklahoma, and then in the fall it has really great colors,” said Mark Bays, urban forestry coordinator for OK Forestry Services.

They’re also on a watch list for invasive plants in Oklahoma.That’s because, in the last 10 years, the Department of Agriculture started seeing problems with it spreading past its boundaries. “If you have all of these Bradford Pears growing in close proximity to where other native trees are, they start taking from those resources that those native trees need – water in the soil, nutrients in the soil and then they can start crowding out the other trees that naturally should be there,” Bays said.

________________

Among the many complaints about the Bradford Pear one was that it smelled like rotten fish. On my first visit I had not made note of anything fishy. Today when I walked among the Bradford Pears they were no longer sporting any white blooms. And there was nothing fishy about them...

Throwback Thursday Time Machine To Decades Ago

I was looking for a particular photo, scanning through hundreds upon hundreds of non-particular photos, when I came upon the photo you see here.

Since today is Thursday I figured I would indulge in one of my rare instances of participating in that popular Throwback Thursday thing I see on Facebook, where one goes back in time to an earlier era via a photograph.

In this Throwback Thursday photo that would be me on the left.

Standing next to me is Spencer Jack's grandpa, my little brother, Jake, he being the proud papa of my Favorite Nephews, Jason and Joey.

Next to Jake is my little sister, Jackie, the mother of my Favorite Nephews, Christopher and Jeremy, and first wife of my Favorite Brother-in-Law, Jack.

Next to Jackie is my oldest sister, Nancy, currently known as Clancy. This photograph is believed to be the last documented incidence of Clancy wearing a dress.

Missing in this photo is my littlest sister, Michele. I estimate Michele's arrival was around four or five years into the future from the time this photo was taken.

Jackie's hair remains as blonde as it is in this photo. Jackie's sibling's hair color has not remained the same as it is in this photo.

Other than that, except for Clancy, my siblings and I really have not aged all that much since this photo was taken way way way, decades ago, in the previous century....

Why Bother Voting In Tarrant Regional Water District Board Election?

On May 6, 2017 voting will take place in the Tarrant Regional Water District to elect, or re-elect TRWD Board Members.

Mary Kelleher is running for re-election.

If I were still in the TRWD voting area I would vote for Mary Kelleher.

Or maybe I wouldn't.

Why wouldn't I?

In the last TRWD Board Election the results were so obviously fraudulent that they eventually triggered the biggest voting fraud investigation in Texas history, targeting what may be the most corrupt county in Texas.

Tarrant County.

I have blogged about Tarrant County Election Fraud a number of times....

Evidence Corrupt Tarrant County Political Machine Steals Elections

Tarrant Regional Water District Board Election Fraud

Is The TRWD-Gate Scandal About To Blow Wide Open?

A Noble Look At Probable Election Fraud In The Recent TRWD Board Election

It was the rather obviously fraudulent election results in the last TRWD Board Election which triggered the biggest election  fraud investigation in Texas history.

In that TRWD board election Marty Leonard and Jim Lane were re-elected with a record vote total, topping  the previous record, which was achieved by Mary Kelleher the first time she was elected to the TRWD Board.

Two years ago, Marty Leonard and Jim Lane defeated Craig Bickley and Miki Von Luckner by something like 10,000 votes.

Previously, 10,000 votes was about the number needed to win election to the TRWD Board.

Included in all those extra votes, which re-elected Marty Leonard and Jim Lane, were around 10,000 absentee ballots.

That many absentee ballots is what raised the Election Fraud Red Flag.

I do not know the current status of the supposed state investigation of Tarrant County Election Fraud.

I do not know why anyone, including Mary Kelleher, would go to the bother of running until this Election Fraud question was settled.

I also do not understand how it is that Marty Leonard and Jim Lane have not loudly demanded a resolution to the allegations that they were re-elected fraudulently.

I also do not understand why Marty Leonard and Jim Lane are still TRWD Board Members, as in why they have not, you know, due to their highly ethical  consciences, resigned, whilst demanding a full investigation into how they managed to acquire those thousands of absentee ballots...

Picht On America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridge Ghost Town

Yesterday I took a Stormy Look At Zero Panther Island Bridge Motion Progress.

During the course of that stormy look I looked back at a blog post from way back on November 11, 2014 titled A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

That 2014 blog post about the Big Boom was inspired by a bizarre article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram which had instance after instance of ridiculous propaganda, rendered even more ridiculous, reading it again, years later.

That bizarre article, in all its ironic glory, is quoted in its entirety in  the A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late blogging.

In the Star-Telegram article there is an extremely embarrassing J.D. Granger quote, which was embarrassing way back in 2014, and way more so in 2017, what with those bridges J.D. is touting having turned into a ghost town of abandoned V-Piers.

The J.D. Granger quote...

“The two big things you’ll see over the next year are the three bridges coming out of the ground showing vertical construction — in addition to that, a lot of people have been speculative buying of property waiting for the first sign,” J.D. Granger said.

Bridges coming out of the ground, showing vertical construction? How is that speculative property buying going with those bridges not showing any vertical construction for a year?

Why have J.D. Granger and his coven of cronies not been fired? With an experienced executive project director hired?

Would Kay Granger really block the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision funding if her son was fired from this job for which it is now quite obvious he was not qualified?

Is that the fear?

J.D. must be kept on the public  dole, no matter how inept, to keep his mama happy?

I think both J.D. Granger and his mama should be fired.

Regarding yesterday's stormy look at zero Panther Island progress, one of Fort Worth's seasoned citizens made the following comment...

C Picht has left a new comment on your post "Stormy Look At Zero Panther Island Bridge Motion Progress":

Well, it's like this. The bridges designed by Bing Thom were pretty nice except when they did a hydrological study of the Trinity at the bridge site the volume of water was too great and would cause flooding downstream. So the channel was proposed to be widened to lower the water volume but that would require a longer bridge span. So the bridges were redesigned (inadequately) to accommodate the wider river. But not to worry - the 2009 cost estimate still holds at $208M and won't go up under any circumstances. J D Granger's salary, on the other hand, will go up disproportionately to the success of the project and proportionately to the cost. That's all you need to know. 

Mr. Picht is an amusing, insightful seasoned citizen....

Stormy Look At Zero Panther Island Bridge Motion Progress

Over two years ago, on February 10, 2015, I was in downtown Fort Worth, near where new bridges were supposed to be being constructed.

At that point in time I took the picture you see here, among others, and blogged about what I saw in a blogging titled Taking A Look At The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Products.

About a year before that, way back in November of 2014, I blogged A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late about the bizarre TNT exploding ceremony the Trinity River Vision Boondogglers, and its politician enablers, engaged in to mark the start of construction of one of their three simple bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

A year later, in October of 2015, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published one of its more embarrassing pieces of mis-informative propaganda about "Fort Worth's signature V-shaped bridges are under construction and will eventually span the expanded river channel for the Trinity River Vision project." 

I blogged about this Star-Telegram irresponsible act of pseudo journalism in Beautiful Fort Worth V Piers The Likes Of Which The World Has Never Seen.

Six months after the Star-Telegram's ridiculous V-Piers swoon, construction came to a halt. America's Biggest Boondoggle's bridge construction has been halted now for a year. Halted with no explanation and with no local newspaper working to uncover what has gone awry with this aspect of the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision Boondoggle.

Would you not think the Star-Telegram would send one of its intrepid reporters to the ground floor of the Star-Telegram building, where the Trinity River Vision has its headquarters, along with multiple project representations, including 3-D models of all the imaginary wonders this inept, failed public works project claims to be foisting on the public, which the public has never voted for?

Years ago, what eventually became America's Biggest Boondoggle, eminent domain was abused to take property from Fort Worth citizens.

Proper use of eminent domain takes private property for the public good for things like roads, hospitals, schools. With the property owner fully compensated and made whole.

Eminent domain is not supposed to be used for private enterprise. And certainly not when the development scheme increases the property value of some of those enabling the eminent domain abuse. Has there ever been an accounting of Kay Granger's property holdings in the area seen by the Trinity River Vision?

Some of those who had their property stolen fought the theft in court. Some were sued for not accepting the compensation offered. None of this organized crime-like activity has been reported in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

And now, years after property was taken for what was claimed to be a vitally needed flood protection and economic development scheme, nothing has been built to fruition. A project alleged to be vitally needed, and yet enacted in slow motion, or no motion at all, such as is the case with the Boondoggle's bridges.

What follows is a look at one of those notorious bridges no longer being constructed.  These photos are brought to us by one of the victims of the Trinity River Vision's abuse of eminent domain.

In the first picture that aforementioned victim of eminent domain abuse is standing where his business used to be, looking at one of Fort Worth's future tourist attractions.

As we go through these photos we get a closer and closer look at the infamous wooden V-Pier forms.

I have never understood how these piers are supposed to support a road deck.

You reading this in modern parts of America, and the world, have you ever seen something like a bridge under construction looking like the mess you see above?

Before we look further at these photos of the current state of stalled bridge construction I must share with you what the bridges are supposedly supposed to look like upon completion.

The above is from the Trinity River Vision Authority website. Make note of the water channel. With V-Piers in the water.

If you look closely at the above drawing and the illustration at the top you will see that the drawings show two V-Piers, side by side, at each instance of a V-Pier. Did they not get around to building any of the side by side V-Pier pairs? Or did the design get changed?

Again regarding V-Pier pairs, is that what we are seeing above, in the foreground, the foundation of a second V-Pier, awaiting the wooden form being attached to the rebar sticking up out of the top?

How in the world was, or is, cement supposed to be poured in these forms? Maybe the above is not ready for its cement. Supposedly it was a problem with the rebar which brought about the construction halt. I doubt that is the actual reason. I suspect the design failure is much more comprehensive than just a problem with rebar.

Above is a close up look at the foundation of one of the Boondoggle's V-Piers. What a mess.

Looking at this incredibly sloppy construction site, and the V-Piers, several questions come to my mind.

First off, the foundations for the V-Piers.

Was a big hole dug, with a lot of cement poured into the hole, so as to make a solid, impervious to movement, foundation for the V-Piers, and the road deck to be built above the V-Piers?

If cement is poured onto those wooden forms, and the supports then removed, how do the V's not collapse to the ground?

One of the Boondoggle's, and its partner in propaganda, the Star-Telegram's, more ridiculous pieces of misinformation has been that these bridges are being built over dry land so as to save money.

When the fact of the matter is that no water will flow under these bridges until a ditch is dug under them and water is diverted from the Trinity River into that ditch.

In other words, there never was any reasonable option other than building these simple bridges over dry land.

And that is another element I do not understand. That being the ditch. So, you have the bridges built. And now you dig a ditch under the bridges, with V-Piers in the ditch? How do you dig a ditch under an existing bridge without creating all sorts of engineering problems?

If this was just local foolishness with the locals wasting their own money on this inept nonsense it really would be no one's business but the locals, but this inept project is being funded with federal money, to the tune, currently, of more than a half billion bucks.

I do not think most of the Fort Worth locals have any problem with being the host to America's Biggest Boondoggle. Else wise the locals would not have re-elected Kay Granger. Obviously the Fort Worth locals are totally okay with America's Biggest Boondoggle and Kay's son, J.D., being the Executive Director of something most of America would not  tolerate.

But, most of  America does not operate in the Fort Worth Way.

Thank God.....

Storm Clouds Over Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

What you are looking at here is the likely future site of a historical marker explaining why those V shaped structures are sticking up out of the ground at this location. sort of a modern era Stonehenge, without the mystery as to how the structures came to be.

I screen capped that which you see here after someone special Facebook tagged me in that particular post.

This photo was taken from the location of one of the many properties stolen years ago, via eminent domain abuse, so that the property could be used as part of what is currently a failed economic development scheme known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

More commonly known  as  America's Biggest  Boondoggle.

Those structures pointing to the cloudy sky are wooden V-pier forms that were supposed to be bridge supports for one of the simple little bridges America's Biggest Boondoggle was trying to build over dry land.

Something went dire wrong with the Boondoggle's bridge construction about a year ago, leaving the construction zone the abandoned wasteland you see above.

You reading this in sane locations in America. Your federal tax dollars are helping pay for this nonsense, with those federal funds secured by Fort Worth's congresswoman, Kay Granger, whose unqualified son, J.D., was made the Executive Director of this project (which has become America's  Biggest  Boondoggle) in order to motivate J.D.'s mother to help keep him employed until he reaches retirement age.

Hence this embarrassing public works project dawdling along in slow motion, year after year after year after year. With little to show for the effort.

Well, there are those cool monuments to hubris, nepotism, corruption and eminent domain abuse piercing the Fort Worth sky. We can credit the Boondoggle's vision for those...

Bogusity On The Circle Trail With Elsie Hotpepper's Laundry

On this last Saturday with the time still Standard, before time springs forward an hour, so as to supposedly save a Daylight hour, I opted to take myself on a noontime walk north on the Circle Trail, eventually entering my Caribbean neighborhood via the town in Spain called Granada, before making my way to Barbados and Haiti.

Whilst on the Circle Trail I saw that which you see here. What appears to be a paternal parental unit watching his boys wade in the pristine waters of Holliday Creek as it rampages through Holliday Gorge on its way to the Wichita River.

Recently I discovered my phone has "scene" settings. The above photo was taken in "spring scene" mode. This mode renders a photo which looks like a hyper reality version of what my eyes actually saw.

In Fort Worth rendering a hyper reality photo version of a scene is known as Luenserizing. It has been awhile since I have seen a  Luenserized photo of some Fort Worth scene. Did the locals wise up to the bogusity of that type photo propaganda and put an end to that nonsense?

I have no idea. But I sure like that word I made up.

Bogusity.

The act of doing something bogus. Or fake.

Even though the sun is currently blocked by a thick layer of clouds the outer world was heated into the 60s whilst I was out in it today. Quite pleasant.

As I walked along the Circle Trail I got a text message from Elsie Hotpepper. I would then sit on a Circle Trail bench to reply and then by the time I had walked a few hundred feet to the next Circle Trail bench a new Hotpepper message would arrive. Very convenient.

Mostly this series of Hotpepper text messages had to do with Elsie's new relationship with Laundry. Due to the cryptic nature of the Hotpepper replies I was unable to glean many details about this Laundry relationship....

Why Is Record Construction Frenzy Not Sweeping Downtown Fort Worth?

This blogging falls into the category of things I read in west coast online news sources, usually the Seattle  Times, which I would be shocked to be reading in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about some similar thing happening in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth has been attempting to have itself a construction frenzy in its downtown zone for most of this century.

Early this century Fort Worth copied a voted-on-by-the-Dallas-public public works project known as the Trinity River Corridor Project.

A couple years after Dallas voters approved their Trinity River Corridor Project a copy cat plan was foisted  on the Fort Worth public, without a public vote.

The Fort Worth river project was originally known at the Trinity River Vision. But, years later, is now known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Or, more commonly, America's Biggest  Boondoggle.

One element of the Dallas river vision is three signature bridges over the Trinity River. Two of those bridges have been built.

Meanwhile, Fort Worth's copycat vision also tried to see three signature bridges, but those bridges eventually became three non-signature simple little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

The construction of Fort Worth's simple bridges began a couple years ago, with an astonishing four year project timeline. However, due to design errors, construction on those simple little bridges has been halted since last March.

No one knows if or when those bridges will ever get built. Or exact details as to the nature of the design errors.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not cover local issues, like a bridge building scandal or a public works project's inept mismanagement.

Three paragraphs from the Seattle Times Record construction frenzy sweeps downtown Seattle; more building to come of the sort you likely will never read in the Star-Telegram about similar  activity in downtown Fort Worth.

Seattle’s historic building boom somehow keeps soaring to new heights, and probably won’t slow down anytime soon.

Last June, the Downtown Seattle Association found a record number of buildings were under construction, at least since it began counting in 2005.

But that mark didn’t last long. In its newest tally, released Thursday, the group found 68 major buildings under construction in the greater downtown area at the end of 2016, a new high-point from at least the previous 11 years.

How is it that Fort  Worth has had a supposedly vitally important economic development (along with an unneeded flood control aspect) underway for most of this century with little to show for the effort? Let alone any sort of building boom.

Well, to be fair, and I am always fair, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision has completed that important aluminum homage to a trash can at the center of the completed roundabout near the wooden V-pier monuments to bad engineering.

Also, to be fair, the TRCCUPID Vision did manage to open a wakeboard park, which quickly became a boondoggle  metaphor for the entire Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision with the wakeboard park's bad design, bad economic model and inept execution.  America's Biggest  Boondoggle has also managed to open an ice skating rink for a few weeks in winter.

And, let us not forget to make note of America's Biggest Boondoggle's success at putting Fort Worth on the map by being the only major American city to host Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in a polluted river requiring regular testing to make sure the e.coli level is low enough to be safe for humans. With this Rockin' of the River taking place at an imaginary pavilion, on an imaginary island, touted as being the biggest urban waterfront music venue in Texas.

Among the downtown Seattle projects currently under construction is another expansion to the Washington State Convention Center. This is a $1.4 billion expansion. Many of the downtown Seattle construction projects are residential towers. And more downtown hotels.

Unlike Fort Worth, market forces are bringing about the hotel and residential construction, without the need for public assistance, such as Fort Worth required to get the town a new convention center hotel.

Maybe Fort Worth could try that increasing the minimum wage thing, which Seattle enacted a year or two ago, and see if that helps stimulate the sleepy town from its moribund doldrums.

Fort Worth also might want to consider hiring real project engineers to direct its projects, rather than giving the job to a local politician's offspring, so as to  motivate  that politician to secure federal pork barrel funds.

Towns wearing their BIG CITY pants do not rely on corrupt nepotism to secure money for their town's projects. Fort Worth might want to consider sending out an Investigative Task Force to try and discover how it is some  towns manage to graduate to wearing BIG CITY pants rather than small town knickers...

Spencer Jack May Move Somewhere South

Shocking news from Washington.

Text message, with photo documentation, from Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew, Jason...

Spencer and I are considering moving south. It snowed in Anacortes yesterday.

I do not know why Spencer Jack and his dad have suddenly become such weather babies.

Maybe it is because they have experienced escaping the Western Washington winter a time or two for warmer southern climates, like that which one finds in Disneyland at Christmas, or Arizona.

Apparently, for months now, the sun has only rarely made appearances in the Western Washington sky, according to another bit of photo documentation from Spencer Jack and his dad.

According to that other bit of photo documentation Seattle has had only 3 sunny, mild days since October.

I do not know, for sure, what counts as a mild day. But I suspect a cold day, with the temperature in sub-freeze mode, but with a clear blue sky does not count as a mild day.

Now, that view of downtown Seattle does look a bit gloomy. Without the cloud cover, from this view, one would be seeing Mount Rainier hovering to the south.

At my current southern location, a couple thousand miles from Seattle, the sky was mostly blue yesterday, with the air heated to somewhere in the 80 degree realm. Today there is a chance of rain, supposedly, with the air chilled from yesterday's 80s to somewhere in the 60s.

Brrrr.....