The Hawthorne Bridge Death Trap

I have an irrational fear the causes me to avoid the center lanes of the Hawthorne Bridge. Those counterweights look like two massive, blunt 880,000 pound guillotines. I mean really… how strong are the cables holding them up?

Emails like this, from Multnomah County, sure don’t help.

Hawthorne Bridge to close Tuesday for emergency repair

An emergency repair will require the Hawthorne Bridge to be closed to all users on Tuesday, October 28 starting at 9:00 am. During the closure a county crew will perform a temporary repair on a wire cable called an uphaul operating rope. The bridge lift span will need to be in the raised position during the repair. Crews hope to complete the repair and reopen the bridge to traffic by 4:00 pm.

The damaged cable was discovered on Sunday during an unrelated repair. The one-inch diameter steel cable was nearly severed. The cable connects the lift span with a fixed bridge tower and pulls the 900-ton lift span up and holds it in place when the bridge opens for river traffic. The damaged cable is one of four similar cables. The other cables are in good working order. An initial inspection of the damaged cable indicates it probably was damaged over time and not by a sudden movement. The cable was installed in 1998.

Crews plan to splice a new section of cable into the damaged one to reinforce it until a new cable can be ordered and installed. During the one to two months before the new part can be installed, the county will review the design of the cable and its maintenance and inspection procedures to determine if any changes need to be made.

Nearly severed! Cue overreaction!

(Via samgrover on Flickr.)