Bridge critic Ross Crockford wrote in a recent Monday Magazine article that the Johnson St. Bridge survived an earthquake that hit Victoria in 1946. That quake's epicentre was at Forbidden Plateau, more than 200 km away. Research from the 1989 California quake found that the extent of damage recorded reached only 100 km from the epicenter. More at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1551/
The "No" campaign is lately concerned about the suspected export of jobs that a new bridge might entail if contracts were let to off-shore firms. By the way, local suppliers and fabricators have been contacted by the city's engineering consultants already to see if we have local capacity. Some firms have expressed interest.
No word yet from the critics on the job impacts of the year long bridge closure estimated for a refurbishment project that calculates a $13 million dollar impact on downtown businesses. The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce thinks that figure might be too low. See their news release at: http://www.victoriachamber.ca/news_releases?id=251
Lately saw the "NO" poster that claims to be concerned about "maxing out the city's credit card". We're about $300 million short of what we could borrow (not that we would at the moment), but how about a little concern about the real costs of keeping the old bridge? Maintenance after any refurbishment would be twice the cost of the work we'd need to do on a new bridge. That's about $20 million over the lifespan of the bridge, maybe something less if you don't plan on keeping it for too long.
Kind of inconsistent, though, to talk endlessly about how long these old bridges can be kept in operation forever while calling it unfair to cost out anything that will last more than 30 years.
Just aksing.
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