Holding back the rain

Over the past few days I’ve been anxiously checking the weather forecast for this weekend, especially Sunday. Thus far, that forecast is ominous. Right now it is at a 30 to 50% chance of rain that day. Which, if that does indeed happen, will mean that I will not get to walk the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Not then, and not anytime soon. I will have to wait until this time next year and hope mother nature is more favoring. As will all of the other people who signed up for this run and walk, roughly 20,000 people. The organizers have warned that if there is any possibility at all of “inclement weather” the walk will be canceled. In order for this walk to take place, the state must re-route east bound traffic onto the newer span. In theory this should not be an issue, except for the fact that it is considered too dangerous to allow two way traffic in bad weather on the bridge. Sadly this is a feature of that metal monster’s nature, which derives from the time in which it was designed and built. It has no shoulders, and there is no physical separation of the lanes if traffic must be run in both directions on one span. At this point all I can do is to wait and watch, and hope for an improved forecast. And prepare for the possibility that it may not happen.  What adds great irony to all of this that the entire state of Maryland is in a drought, so much so that all outdoor burning is banned. It has not rained at the airport in thirty some days, which is most out of character for this region. Rain is badly needed, but oh I just hope it can be delayed for 24, or even only 12 hours…..then it can rain cats and dogs! The walk is over and the bridge must be cleared by noon, if only we can just slip under the wire….

In the mean time, my thoughts go back to the mystery of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Clearly the Skyway is special among large bridges, and not in a good way. One must go back and look at the history of that infernal span. Like the I-35W, it was born out of a tragic event that also struck terror into many people. The 1980 collapse of the original bridge necessitated the building of a new span, which was eventually finished in 1987. At the time of its completion it was lauded and celebrated for its design and engineering accomplishments. It was also the spark that ignited the spread of this new style of cable stayed bridges all across the US and North America. But unknown at the time was what a monument of death and horror it would become over the years.