I got the chance to visit the construction site of the new 35W bridge last week, and I have to say that the place feels a bit like the back lot of a movie studio. Let’s have a click-to-enlarge look:

There are mountains of concrete that might have been broken up by Godzilla…

… terraces befitting an adventure movie set in the Andes …

… and a portal straight out of “Battlestar Galactica”:

Sadly, no Hollywood blockbusters are actually being filmed on the site. The broken-up concrete is the old 35W pavement near Washington Aveune, the “terraces” are where the new roadbed is being dug, and the “portal” — on the south end of the bridge — is where Roadguy got to go inside one of the girders that make up the bridge:

It was very “Indiana Jones,” complete with a small pool of murky water to wade through. This view is looking toward the river; the narrow opening where the light is coming from is directly over the pier and required some ladder action:

(So much for using the inside of the girder for an extra lane of traffic.)

Here’s the view looking back toward land from the farthest segment over the water:

The tubes sticking out of the floor are for injecting grout, and if you look closely, you’ll see evidence of recent human activity: some aluminum cans and half an orange.

Back in the cast-in-place girder — the part over West River Parkway — the ceiling has dozens of these:

Each one corresponds to a precast segment being attached over the river. Cables are threaded through:

And secured like this…

…with these:

Outside the bridge, this guy was doing the threading, sending the cables hundreds of feet into the interior:

Inside, it remained quiet:

The trapeze-looking things hanging from the ceiling will eventually hold lights, anti-icing equipment and “smart” technology that will monitor the bridge. The three conduits on each side will hold mega-cables that will run the length of the bridge.

Also happening while I was there: Paint…

… and everybody’s favorite color, “snowbound white,” got everywhere:

And finally, a shot from up on the ever-expanding deck, where there’s no plumbing, but there is…

No, it’s not for a party; it’s for keeping concrete at the right temperature. But even without ice, the tour would have been pretty darn cool.

Four quick things I learned on my Wednesday road trip to Winona:

1) The Giant Eraser has visited Rochester:

2) Greenery sometimes wanders the streets of Winona:

3) Winona’s City Hall has some very nice framed pictures of the now-troubled bridge when it was being built:

4) The bridge is still strong enough to support a portable toilet:

(And if you didn’t see the story I contributed to, it’s here — yes, ferries in Winona.)

The other day, Roadguy went down to the new 35W bridge. As usual, there was plenty to see and photograph, so I tried the Strib’s new photo-sharing application — click on the pic below to check it out.

We’re still kicking the tires on this (I’m hoping for larger displays, for one thing), but what’s handy is that now you, the alert reader, can directly upload your own transportation-related photos and captions to a category called Road pix. Be sure to give me a heads-up if you post something so I can link to it.

In other news, remember the Welcome to Work Pothole? Well, on Monday, I was quite surprised to see that, thanks to a dollop of asphalt, it is no more:

And on Tuesday, of course, I got reassigned to a different parking lot. It’s a better spot, but we’ll see what sort of topographical treats await.

Roadguy had never been this close to an actual rainbow before (not counting the homemade, lawn-sprinkler kind). He’d always expected pots of gold and leprechauns, but no — there it was, a pickup truck parallel-parked and waiting out Saturday’s hailstorm. I don’t think the driver was feeling terribly lucky, but, compared to others in the metro area, he was — in this particular location, the hail went on for about 10 minutes but never got big enough to cause vehicle damage. Pedestrians and bicyclists dashed for shelter, and there was a rush of cars entering the nearest parking ramp. Traffic cameras on TV showed cars bunched up under overpasses to escape the damage, and they blocked freeways in the process. (Short Strib news story about Saturday’s storms is here, a story about hail is here.)

If you’ve got a tale of hail or high water on the road, links we should check out, or other thoughts, please share below. And keep an eye on the forecast — a stormy week is expected.

Alert reader Joe G has a question about stuff flying off trucks:

I unfortunately again this week found myself the victim of a shower of errant sand and pebbles from a gravel-hauling truck, and although my encounter with it was only fleeting, it has left a continual reminder in the form of a circular chip in my otherwise beautiful windshield.

I wasn’t tailgating, I wasn’t even going in the same direction, so I certainly don’t think it was my fault. But, if I did a u-turn to chase down the truck for a license plate number, etc., I probably would have gotten pelted with much more. And even if I had succeeded, I don’t know that it would have ever resulted in getting my windshield fixed.

So even though it’s too late for me, my question for the thread would be… Are haulers responsible for this kind of damage? Are they required to cover loads that are prone to being blown around? A co-worker of mine saw a motorcyclist get sandblasted in a similar way this past week as well, so it’s certainly a safety issue. Probably a question for the state patrol, but maybe others have some insight.

Roadguy was planning to call a state trooper about this on Thursday, but my colleagues were already tying up the State Patrol’s phone lines because of this story about the latest teen driving tragedy. If things ease up today, I’ll see what I can find out. In the meantime, please add your knowledge, thoughts and ventings below.

Roadguy spotted this do-it-yourself fix on I-94 on Memorial Day (click once or twice to enlarge):

At first glance, I thought some sort of straps were holding the trunk closed, but no — it was tape. It seemed to be doing a fine job, with no movement noted, though long-term, one wonders what sort of effect rain might have.

If you’ve got a story about an unorthodox car repair that got you where you needed to go, please share below.