In January of last year, one lane was closed (on Tuxedo Bridge), and it’s still closed. Is there a timeline for this bridge? I know the bridges were planned to be worked on as part of the 2020 General Obligation Bond projection. I believe it was said the bridge was going to be inspected earlier this year … are there results from that inspection?
The Tuxedo Bridge repair project was delayed pending the results of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental review. (We talked about it here: https://www.cityofbartlesville.org/pickleball-courts-inch-closer-tuxedo-bridge-awaits-environmental-review/)
According to Director of Engineering Micah Siemers, City Engineering staff have received some direction from the Corps of Engineers on environmental factors that City staff will need to plan around for construction activities.
“We will likely have to conduct a study to see if two species of mussels are present and if so, relocate them. We’ll also have to work around some issues with bats,” Siemers said. “Basically, if we want to start construction this spring, we’ll have to net the underside of the bridge to prevent them from roosting/nesting under the bridge. We don’t have a solid answer on what these issues will do to timing for bidding and construction. My hope is that we are advertising bids in the first quarter of 2024 and don’t have to wait longer than that.”
The bridge has been inspected multiple times, with the latest round in July 2023, Siemers said.
“We received a report in late August that essentially recommends sticking with the plan to complete repairs as planned in the design contract,” he said. “The lane closure is still sufficient to keep traffic on the bridge while protecting the damaged portion of the bridge deck.”
Siemers said City staff have been monitoring the cracking of the bridge deck every couple of weeks and that there has been some slow expansion of the area that is cracking.
“However, we are still in good shape to keep the one lane open to traffic,” he said. “We will continue monitoring and if the cracking expands further into that lane before we can get under construction, we will close it completely and shift all traffic to the eastbound bridge. But we are not to that point yet.”
Rinsing recyclables: Necessary or waste of water?
My wife insists on thoroughly cleaning all aluminum cans and plastics before recycling at the City site. I’ve told her there is no need to rinse out aluminum cans and plastic containers; they just need to be free of any solid waste. It’s a waste of water. Can you solve this for me?
While the interwebs were all over the place on this one, City of Bartlesville Sanitation and Recycle Center Supervisor Craig Gordineer was not: Yes, you should rinse, he says. Rinsing the materials makes them less likely to attract flies and other insects, plus, the practice is highly preferred by processing plants, which shred, re-bale and ship the material for remanufacturing.
However, you do bring up a good point regarding the potential overuse of water, especially considering the area’s ongoing drought issues. So while no one is suggesting you not rinse recyclables now, that could, theoretically, change in the future. Therefore, you could be right, or at least not as wrong, if the time and circumstances were different. This makes you, in my book, both right.*
*Not really. She’s right. (Sorry.)