Everything else is still falling apart. From this pic you can see how deeply under the surrounding land the permafrost is being washed away. A large shelf of land has fallen into the creek since earlier this morning - a place where people were standing yesterday.
Here's a close-up view of the pilings under the old bridge. falling earth and permafrost have actually bent one of these enormous metal rods.
The most dramatic top-view of the old bridge. I would love to see what it looks like from the other side. Definitely no longer safe for traffic.
Conversations in town revolve around the bridges and contingency plans for what will happen next. There is no longer any doubt as to whether or not the bridge(s) will fall, but when, and what will be the repercussions upstream. Will it cause more widespread flooding? And the power lines extending across the river are on increasingly shaky ground.
The grapevine says that the excavator from yesterday was in the river on the recommendation of the engineer (who is quickly gaining a reputation as a train engineer because of his stellar bridge-related opinions). He thought the bridge could be stabilized for summer use by just shoving some dirt under the supports. I'm no engineer, but I think that the river would just wash away that dirt as it has done with the large rocks and gravel that used to support the bridge. Rain is forecast, we have high winds again, and the temperature is continuing to rise. I wonder how long it will take before the powers recognize that a new bridge is needed.
We have just been officially informed that there is no school until further notice. We have also heard through the grapevine that the hamlet is prioritizing water delivery to the school. I'm of two minds about it all. Vacation is great, but then we're on the cusp of a real vacation anyway (three weeks and 3 days!)
No comments:
Post a Comment