The engineer didn’t fly in yesterday after all. He is driving from Florida rather than flying.
His daughter is complaining on Facebook about all the meanies criticizing the bridge failure.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Muffin, worst case scenario: suppose the bridge fails at the other end as well and is unsafe for traffic. Would a ferry across the river be feasible in the warm months, or is the river too turbulent/shallow for a ferry option? And is the ice ever thick enough for an ice road?
I guess he figured the bridge was just north of Georgia somewhat…
Yes, no urgency there when his handiwork has nearly split a country in two. Hope he has a nice drive and enjoys the scenery.
On a different note, watch Grandpa Gretzky teach his grandson how to stick handle (not very successfully).
How old do you feel now!
That worst case scenario is a significant concern, for it is a two span bridge. One of the spans has failed. The other span is identical. Will it also fail? Also, can the failed span safely support the massive weight that is being used to temporarily hold it part of it down? I don’t know, and I’d rather not find out the hard way.
It is still too warm for a winter road upstream of the narrows, but once winter sets in, yes a winter road could be made across Helen Lake, and IMHO should be made until the bridge is twinned. Whether or not the provincial government would want everybody, their grandmother and their dog using it is another question, despite the province being quite proud of it’s network or winter roads further to the north that actually are used by everybody, their grandmother and their dog.
Yes, with some work on the docks, a small car ferry could run between Red Rock and Marathon (although I have no idea what the availability of small car ferries is on the Great Lakes). Given the volume of vehicular traffic, I don’t think it would be feasible. It’s a bit ironic that although we are not set up for moving cars and semis about on the lake, we frequently ship subways, trains and containers out of Thunder Bay’s port.
I’d like to see an emergency detour immediately prepared by clearing out some old logging roads and erecting a bailey bridge at 49.159708, -88.302491 to link Cameron Falls to Highway 11. This would require scheduled convoys due to the road being single lane, but it would permit year-round travel by semis should there be problems at the Nipigon bridge. Restoring the logging roads there would be simple: replace collapsed culberts, move lots of dirt, and replace the bailey bridge.
Every few years there is talk about running a road beside the CN rail route across the top of Lake Nipigon. I think this should be done to create a convoy basis singe lane emergency detour, but since most of the rail does not presently have a road beside it, it could not be used immediately the way the Cameron Falls to Highway 11 road could be made passable.
As far as the feds stepping in concerning the Nipigon bridge goes, I doubt if it would help. The have a poor track record up this way with their water and waste water projects on First Nations, and do not have the experience that the provincial Ministry of Transportation has.
a right mess no matter how you slice it.
“Northern Ontario, Canada? I thought we were designing a bridge in the northern part of Ontario, California!”
Check out the 1984 Canadian leaders debate for some surprising entertainment.
Brian Mulroney was at his slick confident best (no way was he losing this election). I forgot that the formerly ubiquitous Peter Truman was such a weird looking dude.
Best moment: skip to 28:00 to see John Turner on the defensive about his preference for patting women’s bottoms in the workplace.
And the moderator is now the Governor General!
Well it’s a good thing he’s driving from Florida and not Winnipeg.
The 2000 debate is pretty good too. Jean Chretien comes across as an exasperated high school principal while Joe Clark and the repellent Stockwell Day act like snotty children throughout.
The 2004 debate is interesting to see a younger Stephen Harper, who is not quite ready for prime time and seems just a couple of years removed from being a buzz-cut Reform Party thug. (plus, Jack Layton!)
You watch past Canadian political debates for the entertainment value?
I thought I had some obscure hobbies! 
I do indeed, they are great! Especially as background noise while doing some other work. I’ll take Gilles Duceppe arguing about Quebec over CGI superheroes any day. 
Listening to the Le Ministre’s CD, “Guitaria”, late at night, with a hot choc with a shot of rye, waiting for Mrs Piper to come home from a trip to T.O. Piper Cub is fast asleep on the chesterfield, “waiting up” for mom to come home.
All very peaceful.
I’ll try my best not to lose it this time, Le Ministre!
I have that CD too. I like it. 
Many thanks, both of you! It has been frustrating that it hasn’t got much air play, even on Classical FM or CBC, so it’s very gratifying to hear from people who have enjoyed it. It was never intended to be a smash commercial success, but the critics and the few people who have bought it have enjoyed it, and that was more to the point.
I’m busy getting ready for a noon hour recital of voice and guitar music on Feb. 16th, at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in Toronto - that, and rehearsals for the Canadian Opera Company production of ‘Marriage of Figaro’ are what are taking up my energies at the moment.
Where would one buy this CD, as I would be curious to give it a whirl?
A belated happy New Year from New Westminster, BC. We’re looking forward to having my grandfather’s will go to probate soon. With any luck, this will happen before the fourth anniversary of his death, and ideally before anyone named in the will dies of old age. This has been such an epic clusterfuck that I look forward to sharing the details here. (Hint: When your father dies, do not gather at the funeral to rewrite the will with those beneficiaries you deem important, and then commence with distribution of the estate, ESPECIALLY if you are not the executor. And try not to skip the courts if you’re required to go to probate.)
Click on Le Ministre’s User Profile and he has his webpage there. That’s how I ordered the first one, since lost mysteriously.
ETA: under “contact info” it also has his e-mail address. Have to go to web view, not Tapatalk, which doesn’t show the details of his profile.