6A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
NATIONAL
Bridge's structural problems revive fears, frustration
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — When 5,000 pounds of metal broke off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and rained down on traffic during rush hour, the accident resurrected fears about the safety of a span that millions watching the 1989 World Series broadcast learned had failed during an earthquake.
The terrifying scene on Tuesday left only one motorist with minor injuries, but stirred anger over the constant delays and soaring costs of the still-unfinished new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, which has become the largest public works project in California history.
"I thought I was going into the Bay," said Andrea Nelson, who saw the crossbar and two rods fall and bounce on the road ahead of her. She swerved and her car spun out as she ran over the rods, which gushed her tires.
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge remains closed throughout the afternoon Wednesday in San Francisco. Two rods and a 5,000-pound crossbeam fell into traffic lines, damaging three cars and injuring one person on the heavily used span during rush hour Tuesday.
"I have lost so much confidence in the experts, the millions of dollars that are being spent to reconstruct and build a new bridge," she said. "I just find it shocking and unacceptable."
arteries. But a state transportation official said it might be as soon as Thursday.
Officials pro-
Construction crews worked through Tuesday night fighting
ASSOCIATED PRESS
winds that gusted to 35 mph as they brought in heavy machinery to try to move the metal and make repairs. On Wednesday, the strong winds continued to hamper efforts repair the bridge that carries about 280,000 cars each day.
"Normally, I sit down, read my magazine. Getting to work is usually the least stressful part of it."
KYLA MONAGHAN Oakland residen*
"We have several thousand pounds of steel we have to place hundreds of feet off the deck, so worker safety is a concern," said Bart Ney, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.
The pieces that failed were parts
vided no precise estimate of when traffic would reopen on one of the region's major transportation
"I have lost so much confidence in the experts, the millions of dollars that are being spent..."
ANDREA NELSON San Francisco resident
of major repairs done last month after state inspectors discovered a crack in an "eyebar," an important structural beam. The rods that broke were holding a saddle-like cap that had been installed to strengthen the cracked eyebar.
until the new bridge opened in 2013 - failed in less than two months.
Ney said the strong winds likely played a role in the failure, which
Caltrans engineers were trying to figure out why the recent repairs — which were supposed to last
heightened concerns by some experts about the integrity of the repair and the bridge's safety in an earthquake. Scientists in 2008 said there is a 63 percent probability of a quake similar to the 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta temblor
in the Bay area in the next 30 years.
Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a civil engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley who studied the effects of the 1989 earthquake on the bridge, called the repair last month a "Band-Aid" that jeopardized public safety to get the bridge open quickly.
"When this eyebar fractured, this is very serious element of this part of the bridge. So the safety issue is very serious here," he said. "The repair done, in my opinion, is very unusual to put it mildly."
The main contractor on the repairs, C.C. Meyers, Inc., stood by the work, but deferred to Caltrans to determine why the pieces failed, spokeswoman Bery Ruyak said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration sent engineers on Wednesday to help Caltrans
investigate. The federal agency said it had not inspected the Labor Day weekend repairs made to the heavily used span, instead relying on state inspection reports to ensure safety guidelines were met.
"We're on our way to find out what happened with the repair," said Nancy Singer, a spokeswoman for the highway administration.
Traffic was jammed on other San Francisco-area highways, as
commuters looked for alternatives to the bridge.
At a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in downtown San Francisco commuter clubs usually thin out by 9 a.m. But Wednesday, it was 11 a.m. and still looked like the end of rush hour.
The information kiosk at the station had a line of people waiting to ask questions that regular BART riders already know.
Kyla Monaghan, a graphic artist who lives in Oakland, waited until 10:30 to leave home Wednesday morning to try and miss the expected increase of riders on her usual 8:30 a.m. train.
"I didn't want to be squished on a train," she said. "Normally, I sit down, read my magazine. Getting to work is usually the least stressful part of it."
Snow forces closure of Rockies' roads
BY KRISTEN WYATT
Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — A storm bringing the first heavy snows of autumn to a large portion of the Rockies and western plains crippled parts of Colorado and Wyoming Wednesday, forcing road closures and sending students home from school as more than two feet piled up with much more expected.
Tow trucks assist the Colorado State Patrol to clear stalled vehicles from westbound interstate 70 on Floyd Hill just west of the Denver metropolitan area Wednesday. A winter storm is forecast to drop to 18 inches of snow in the area.
The slow-moving system socked Denver commuters with treacherous driving conditions — a strong punch for residents who were sporting short sleeves just weeks ago. Visibility fell below a quartermile in many areas, and forecasters warned the storm would linger and not move east until at least Thursday.
The storm was expected to be the biggest snowmaker to hit Colorado's Front Range in October since 1997, said Byron Louis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder, Colo.
Up to 18 inches of snow was forecast in Denver and as much as four feet was possible in the Colorado mountains. Cheyenne was expected to get at least 14 inches before the storm moves off.
The National Weather Service predicted similar amounts for a wide area of Nebraska and Colorado plains. The storm also brought snow to northern Utah's Wasatch Front.
The storm was even more unusual in parts of western Colorado. In Grand Junction, where about 2 inches fell, it was the heaviest snowfall this early in the season since 1995, said National Weather Service hydrologist Bryon Lawrence. Cold Creek in the south-west had recorded 28 inches by midafternoon.
Some-schools in Colorado and Wyoming closed pre-emptively.
including those in a Cheyenne district. And Colorado State University in Fort Collins sent students and staff home around mid-afternoon. A Colorado Springs homeless shelter decided to allow people who have been kicked out for breaking rules to return because of the weather.
Wyoming state government shut down its offices in the Cheyenne area due to weather early in the
afternoon.
Most of the roughly 70 accidents in Wyoming happened on Interstate 80 before the Wyoming Department of Transportation closed the highway between Cheyenne and Laramie early in the day. Nine crashes caused injuries but no one was killed.
"People are just not slowing down enough," department spokesman Bruce Burrows said.
ART
BY ULA ILNYTZKY
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A miniature portrait of Czar Peter the Great in a diamond-encrusted frame — owned for decades by an Arizona family that didn't realize its historic significance — is going on the auction block.
The rare Russian treasure will be offered Monday at Sotheby's. Its presale estimate is $80,000 to $120,000.
Theestate of the original owner, George Roberts, learned of its importance during an appraisal over the summer. Roberts purchased it in 1951 from a London dealer.
Experts believe that as few as 10 of the bejeweled miniatures were bestowed by Peter the Great on his subjects for their exceptional service to him. Until the latest discovery, only
In 2001, one of the two in private hands sold for $132,500 at Christie's.
five were known to exist, three of them in museum collections. They predate the better known Order of St. Andrew award for civilian and military merit.
The 3½-inch-high oval portrait at the upcoming sale depicts Peter the Great in a blue cape and the sash of the Order of St. Andrew. The frame hangs from an imperial crown surrounded with diamonds. The reverse side is engraved with a triple-crowned, imperial double-headed eagle.
While believing it had some value because of the diamonds, Roberts' granddaughter, who lives in northern Arizona and did not want to be identified, had no idea it was an early 18th-century work of historic importance.
The rare Russian treasure will be offered Monday at Sotheby's. Its presale estimate is $80,000 to $120,000.
Sotheby's said.
After her grandfather bought it, it spent some time in Illinois where he lived and finally ended up in Arizona where the family kept it in a display cabinet.
It will be sold as part of Sotheby's ole.
Russian Art sale.
The miniature portrait is just one example of rare Russian treasures being discovered in unusual places in American collections.
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ART
Class designs posters for museum advocacy exhibit
Professor Patrick Dooley's "Visual Communications Typography 3" class made advocacy posters to coincide with The Graphic Imperative: International Posters for Peace, Social Justice, and the Environment, 1965-2005 exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art. The
students made posters that represent specific issues an advocacy group of their choice represented. They made one poster using only type, and a second poster using both type and images. The works range from environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club, to human rights organizations, such as Invisible Children.
Bill Woodard, communications director for the museum, said the students' works were selected by
a panel of representatives from the museum, including senior curator Stephen Goodard, graphic designer Tristan Telander, exhibition designer Richard Klocke, and students from the class.
The works are located in the main entry hall of the museum, 1301 Mississippi St. They will be on display until Nov. 29.
Beth Beavers
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ART Asian exhibit focuses on beauty in daily life
Extra/Ordinary, a new exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art, features recent video art from Asian artists.
It utilizes works that deal with everyday life and focuses on the potential for art in ordinary places. The videos come from all over Asia and range in topics from how to act in urban Taiwan to Olympic competition in China to daydreams in Japan.
The exhibit was put together by the Spencer's curator of Asian art, Kris Imants Ercums. It will be on display in the Kress Gallery until Feb. 14.
- Beth Beavers
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