Norway and the City of Bergen

Norway

Bergen

This link is a series of beautiful pictures of Norway
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=905356

This link is to pictures of the City of Bergen
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=689272

Bergen is located on the south-western coast of Norway and ranks as the 2nd largest city in the country with 250.000 inhabitants. The city is thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde, in AD 1070, and has been an important trading centre in Norway ever since. Towards the end of the 13th century, Bergen became one of the Hanseatic League's most important bureau cities. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Bergen remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia, and was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s, when Oslo became the biggest. (taken from wikipedia)

I-70 in Glenwood Canyon Colorado closed due to rock slide

Update Mar. 11, 2010: I-70 reopens 3 lanes. It only took days to re-open compared to I-40 in N.C. which took 6 months.

A rock slide overnight in Glenwood Canyon has closed Interstate 70 for 17 miles in both directions. (CDOT )

Experts: Rockfalls in Glenwood Canyon all but impossible to prevent
Massive rock slide punches holes in Interstate 70

Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs remains closed after a rock slide smashed through a bridge and dumped boulders the size of tractor trailers on the highway early Monday just west of the Hanging Lake Tunnel.

Detours of up to 200 miles could last for days, if not weeks, before the 17-mile stretch of interstate re-opens, the Colorado Department of Transportation said this afternoon.

No injuries or damage to vehicles were reported.

CDOT geologists made the two-hour hike each way to inspect the slide area this afternoon, finding that it remained unstable. Officials will meet Tuesday to decide a course of mitigation and estimate when the interstate might reopen.

Gov. Bill Ritter this afternoon declared a disaster emergency in order to ask for money from the Federal Highway Administration to help pay for repairs. A similar slide in the same area in 2004 cost $700,000 to repair.

"This is very similar in size, but we think it has caused even more damage than that one did," said CDOT spokeswoman Stacy Stegman.

In 2004, I-70 reopened the next day, but there was not unstable rock that had to be addressed above the slide, however, according to CDOT.

Ritter's order called on all state departments and agencies to take whatever actions necessary to speed the work.

"The immediate repair and reconstruction of the damaged highway is vital to the security, well-being, and health of the citizens of the state of Colorado," Ritter stated in his emergency declaration.

The long detours for truckers will mean extra costs and delays, an industry official said.

"You couldn't have picked a worse location, because there is no work-around. That is one of the real choke points in the system," said Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association. "It is not five or 10 miles. This is a fairly significant impact on our end."

CDOT will implement emergency contracting procedures and meet with contractors over the next couple of days as crews develop repair plans.

As many as 20 boulders, ranging from 3 feet to 10 feet in diameter, hit the interstate. CDOT estimates the largest rock weighs 66 tons and some are as big as semi trucks. The largest stone weighed 66 tons. About 120 feet of steel guard rail and 100 feet of median were damaged.

One hole in the bridge is estimated at about 10-by-20 feet.

All lanes are closed from Glenwood Springs east to the town of Dotsero between mile markers 116 and 125. Up to 25,000 vehicles a day travel that section.

Alternate routes are in effect: From westbound I-70 exit at U.S. Highway 40/Empire to Colorado Highway 13 and back to I-70; exit in Interstate 70 is closed in both directions from Glenwood Springs east to Dotsero because of a rock slide overnight. A detour has been set up through Steamboat Springs and Craig. (The Denver Post)Silverthorne and take Colorado Highway 9 to U.S. Highway 40 and Colorado Highway 13; exit at Wolcott/Colorado Highway 131 to U.S. Highway 40 and Colorado Highway 13.

From eastbound I-70: exit at Rifle/Colorado Highway 13 to U.S. Highway 40 and back to I-70.
Adding to the traffic woes, one potential detour, U.S. 50 over Monarch Pass, was closed because of heavy snow Monday.

As you might remember, I-40 in N.C. is still closed due to a rock slide on Oct. 25, 2009. See my entry of Oct. 28, 2009. I-70 thru Glenwood Canyon in Colorado is one of the most beautiful dtives in America. I have been thru there twice.

When Government steals, it's legal

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it."
Frederic Bastiat

GEORGIA'S SUPER-SPEEDER LAW
By Neal Boortz @ December 17, 2009 9:06 AM

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety in Georgia is oh-so-proud of a new "Super Speeders" law that has now gone into effect. If you're caught doing 75 or better on a two-lane road, or 85+ on an expressway you're going to be nailed for an extra $200 in fines ... payable to the state after you've finished with the local jurisdiction.

What a crock.

I wrote a column for the December 4th edition of The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Governor Perdue's Super-Speeder law. [ Click here to read it ] In that column I cited the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey that was released in 2008 by the U.S. Department of Transportation. That study reported that speeding accounted for only 5% of "pre-crash events." There's another study from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles stating that speeding caused only 2.9% of Virginia crashes in 2007.

So why the emphasis on speeding? Because it's easy, that's why. You put a Trooper out there with a radar gun. Aim and shoot. There you go, a record of how fast a car was traveling. There is no evidence there that the driver was driving dangerously. No evidence that the driver was failing to yield the right-of-way. No evidence that the driver was following too close. No evidence that the driver was making dangerous lane changes and cutting drivers off. The only evidence you have is that the driver was exceeding some arbitrary speed limit set by government. That's an easy case to prove in court .. much more easy than proving failure to yield the right-of-way or changing lanes without using a turn signal.

The issue here is money. Notice, please, that the Governor's office is bragging quite a bit about the $23 million they expect to receive from the evil speeders.

I got word from the Governor's office yesterday that his highway safety czar wants to debate me on the subject. No debate. Let's go for a practical demonstration. We'll put the czar in my car and drive to Macon following the speed limit all the way. We'll sit there while all the other drivers jockey to get around me. We'll see cars swerving to get out of the way making an unwise lane change. We'll see tailgating, horn blowing and some interesting gestures. Then we'll drive back to Atlanta at whatever speed I choose. If the lane is open in front of me I'll just open it up. When there's traffic I'll slow down. I'll maintain a respectable distance behind the car ahead of me - get around him when I can - and pull it up to about 80 or 85 mph when the way is clear. While I'm doing this let's see how many cars have to change lanes or speed because of the way I'm driving.

Just know this Georgians. These law enforcement types who stop you to give you your super-speeder ticket are heroes when they're out there chasing criminals or dealing with the results of a traffic accident. But when they're writing you a ticket for nothing other than speeding, they're tax collectors.

The real problems on our roads and Interstates is not speeders, it's those people who don't understand 'Keep right except to pass' and 'slower traffic keep right'. If they would observe these rules there would be less speeding. Of course the government couldn't make no money enforcing these rules. The roads are so bad here that pretty soon you'll have to go slow to avoid damaging your car. I guess they will have to paved streets with gold because they seen not to be able to afford concrete or asphalt. We haven't seen a new road here in ten years. Of course thieves never have enough money.

I-40 in N.C. closed. Which is easier? Build a bridge or move rocks

Update Apr 26, 2010: After being closed for 6 months, I-40 is now open.

The I-40 Bridge Disaster was a bridge collapse that occurred in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma on May 26, 2002. Joe Dedmon, captain of the tugboat Robert Y. Love, experienced a blackout and lost control of the ship. This, in turn, caused the barge he was controlling to collide with a bridge support. The result was a 580 foot (180 m) section of the I-40 bridge plunging into Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River. Fourteen people died when several automobiles and tractor trailers fell from the bridge.
An estimated 20,000 vehicles per day were rerouted for about two months while crews rebuilt the bridge. Traffic resumed Monday, July 29, 2002, only two months after the disaster. The reopening set a new national record for such a project, which would normally be expected to take six months.

Now fast forward to Oct. 25, 2009. Rock slide closes I-40. How long will it be closed? This isn't the first time Interstate 40 has been shut down due to a rockslide in Haywood County.
The highway closed July 1, 1997, following a series of rock slides near mile marker 1. Three people were injured when their vehicles struck the falling boulders. None of the injuries were life threatening, and the couple hospitalized went home later that week.
The interstate was closed to all traffic from July 1 until two lanes were reopened Sept. 10. The cost of the nearly yearlong cleanup surpassed $2.5 million.

The Shuttle's Replacement

That's right, it's back to the Capsule for re-entry. This time the re-entry speed will be greater and landings will be made on land. The reason; I'd say the deciding factor is cost.

Angel Oak Tree

Largest and Oldest Tree east of the Mississippi. This great tree is located on St. John Island near Charleston, S. C.

Shuttle Launch

A Shuttle Launch as seen from above, truly amazing.

My favorite Roads

Three roads out west that are well worth driving. First, I-70 at Glenwood Canyon. Second is Highway 5 to Mt. Evans in Colorado and Highway 4 in California across the Sierra Nevada range.

Arthur Ravenel Bridge Charleston S. C.

The Golden Gate bridge of the east, North America's longest cabled stayed bridge, the Arthur Ravenel in Charleston is a marvel. The new eight lane bridge replaces two obsolete bridges, the Grace Memorial built in 1929 and the Pearman, built in 1968. The almost 3 mile long bridge has a bicycle and walking path. The bottom pic shows the Grace Memorial on opening day in 1929. The bridge is a tourist attraction in of itself. A must see if you ever get a chance.