New I-244 Bridge

[Weatherdemon]

The bridge is nice and wide with blue poled bright street lights. Very nice change!

They do need to smooth it out as it is a little wavy. Not Creek Turnpike wavy but wavy all the same. There may be a period of time you need to wait before doing that so I'm not too terribly worried at this point.

I loved driving around downtown with squeaking through the barriers! Speed limit was still 45 on Christmas night but I'm assuming that's to allow people time to get used to the newness and won't last long.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The split just past Houston.  In Tulsa, driving appears to be a passive or secondary activity for most drivers.  Texting, putting on make up, reading the Tulsa World or just tuning their chainsaw seems to be the primary activity behind the wheel.

I'm not tuning the chainsaw...I'm usually just sharpening the blade...they get dull so fast, and it takes so much time, what better way to use that wasted, unproductive time behind the wheel...?

[YoungTulsan]

When does the bullet train start running?

[sgrizzle]

When does the bullet train start running?

Right after we buy it.

[Ibanez]

The bridge is nice and wide with blue poled bright street lights. Very nice change!

They do need to smooth it out as it is a little wavy. Not Creek Turnpike wavy but wavy all the same. There may be a period of time you need to wait before doing that so I'm not too terribly worried at this point.

I loved driving around downtown with squeaking through the barriers! Speed limit was still 45 on Christmas night but I'm assuming that's to allow people time to get used to the newness and won't last long.

I was wondering about that. It seemed from looking at it while driving by that it looked wavy. Glad to hear it isn't as bad as the Creek, but why can't we seem to build a decent bridge around here?

[sgrizzle]

The beams have a slight arch to them for strength, so the roadway on top does as well. I think it is something that straightens out over time/load but you should probably discuss it with a civil engineer before taking this as fact, or if the rash last longer than 72 hours.

[Red Arrow]

The beams have a slight arch to them for strength, so the roadway on top does as well. I think it is something that straightens out over time/load but you should probably discuss it with a civil engineer before taking this as fact, or if the rash last longer than 72 hours.

You are correct about the arch for strength.  I don't think it goes away though.  The arch flexes with load but had better come back to the original shape.  

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (at the mouth of the Chesapeake) original bridge spans had too much arch.  At 55 mph (speed limit) the arch frequency just matched the suspension frequency of my car.  It was a very annoying drive.  The car just seemed to float up and down without pitching.  A college friend said that a civil engineer friend (I knew the CE but not well.) told him the arch was intentional for the reasons you said.  He also said they missed the mark and put in too much arch.

"They" have added parallel spans.  I expect they have also resurfaced the original spans as the BBT has been around for quite a while.
http://goo.gl/maps/JW2NA

http://www.cbbt.com/

[BKDotCom]

You could definitely see the arch in the beams as they were constructing it..
I saw that and thought "I hope they fill in the 'valleys' so it's all level and not a rollercoaster..."
Having been across the bridge a few times, it's not too perceptable.

[AquaMan]

You could definitely see the arch in the beams as they were constructing it..
I saw that and thought "I hope they fill in the 'valleys' so it's all level and not a rollercoaster..."
Having been across the bridge a few times, it's not too perceptable.

Its more perceptible with a hard suspension commercial vehicle but so much better than having to negotiate the divided bridge that scared the bejeezus out of visitors. Actually, just a bit farther south towards 41st the road really has some major dips that will throw you out of an air suspension seat of an 84 passenger bus or a straight truck.

[Red Arrow]

Actually, just a bit farther south towards 41st the road really has some major dips that will throw you out of an air suspension seat of an 84 passenger bus or a straight truck.

Seat Belt.

[AquaMan]

yes, that's all that keeps you tethered to the earth. There is a great youtube vid that shows a bus driver who neglected to belt in and hit one of those dips. He was thrown out of his seat but held onto the steering wheel which swerved the bus into a house.

Its the position of the driver in front of the front axle that creates the lift. If the shocks are bad or the suspension is weak, you get flung up in the air like on the front of a boat.

BTW, I have driven a Prevost like the one that crashed in Oregon this past week. Its amazing how little support there is for the top of the vehicle. The windows basically hold the top on. No roll bars. With no seat belts, once the windows pop and the ceiling caves, you're in big trouble. Passengers were thrown out of the bus. Belted driver survived.

[Conan71]

Nowhere near as bad as the Creek Turnpike bridge over the swamp.  Not even close.

[Red Arrow]

Nowhere near as bad as the Creek Turnpike bridge over the swamp.  Not even close.

True.  It's a shame local road construction crews cannot even get things like the widening from 4 to 6 lanes on Memorial south of the turnpike to have a truly nice surface.  The Germans would label all our new roads as "Strasse Schade".  I saw a sign like that on a rural road in Germany that Oklahoma would be proud of.  It roughly translates to bad road surface.

[Hoss]

There's a section of freeway in Houston known as the Pierce Elevated.  This section before reconstruction in the late nineties had the same effect.  It undulated for the entire mile I drove it every day to work.  It was never serious enough to cause injury even in those who would run it at 65mph (back then the 55mph mandate was still the law of the land).  I don't know if the reconstruction corrected that or not.

I haven't driven the new section of the bridge yet, and have barely driven the swamp on the Creek but one time several years ago.  Guess I'll have to give that section of road a try this week to see how it compares.

[Red Arrow]

I haven't driven the new section of the bridge yet, and have barely driven the swamp on the Creek but one time several years ago.  Guess I'll have to give that section of road a try this week to see how it compares.

The new I-244 bridge is an order of magnitude better than the Creek over the Swamp.  I still expect better of a new road.