Chat with Brendan Keefe

Chat LIVE with Brendan Keefe after tuning in to his I-Team report on the safety of bridges in the Tri-State.

Hello everyone! Brendan Keefe here.
Ask away

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:32:19 PM
How high up were you on that bridge?

by Scared of Heights 2/19/2013 11:39:13 PM
It was pretty scary -- just don't look down!

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:39:27 PM
239 feet above the Little Miami River to be exact. Wow, what a feeling!

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:41:04 PM
What's the difference between structurally deficient and functionally obsolete?

by Interested 2/19/2013 11:48:24 PM
Good question. Structurally deficient refers to the overall condition and safety of the bridge. Some engineers say such a bridge has already technically failed, because it can no longer carry the load it was designed to handle. Functionally obsolete refers more to the capacity fo the bridge (number of vehicles), meaning its lanes are too few or too narrow.

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:50:51 PM
Thanks

by Interested 2/19/2013 11:51:30 PM
Could you break a leg??

by You could break an arm 2/19/2013 11:51:39 PM
Do you mean on the catwalk?

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:51:57 PM
yes

by yes 2/19/2013 11:53:46 PM
Sure. It's fairly dangerous, but we were wearing safety gear. I did bump my head a lot, but the hard hat helped.

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:54:23 PM
Would it be safe to wear earrings??

by yes 2/19/2013 11:55:53 PM
I don't wear earrings so the subject never came up.. now about bridge safety....

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:56:24 PM
How does Ohio compare with other states? Are there more bridges that need repair? Less?

by Interested in Bridges 2/19/2013 11:58:31 PM
Another good question -- Ohio has 27,403 bridges under ODOT control. 23% are "deficient" That's about average.

by brendan.keefe 2/19/2013 11:59:40 PM
Ohio inspects EVERY BRIDGE EVERY YEAR, while federal guidelines require inspections only every other year.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:00:09 AM
30% of Kentucky bridges are deficient. A little bit higher.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:00:42 AM
sorry

by yes 2/20/2013 12:01:00 AM
We were surprised to find so many bridges being replaced across the Tri-State -- it looks like the tragedies of the past combined with the recession to provide both the demand and the funding for new bridges.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:02:40 AM
Are you likely to avoid any of these bridges now that you have done this report?

by Jon Nicholas 2/20/2013 12:05:07 AM
Jon, it certainly makes me more aware. There was no clue driving over the Morrow bridge/I-71 that it was in such poor condition underneath.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:05:40 AM
Some inspections are done with a pair of binoculars, but fracture critical and structurally deficient bridges get an up-close inspection annually.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:07:12 AM
Did you think twice about going up on the bridge? Made me nervous watching your story.

by Vertigo 2/20/2013 12:08:40 AM
The video is from a GoPro camera mounted on my hard hat. It does amplify the sense of vertigo. There were good handrails and a steel-mesh "floor" so I felt fairly safe. I'm not afraid of heights, but I have a respect for them!

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:09:34 AM
Where did you find all the old video of the bridge collapses?

by Vertigo 2/20/2013 12:12:21 AM
The 9 On Your Side archives are extensive. All the video came from our tape room. The film of the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse was transferred to digital video by Al White, one of the original employees of WCPO

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:13:10 AM
the bridge was biult by the Oregonia Bridge Works in Lebanon, Ohio. My dad did drafting for Oregonia Bridge Works and we had to visit the bridge while under construction... pretty scarey to a little kid. It has held up well since it was erected. My dad would be amazed at the rebiuld.

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:13:12 AM
ironmaiden, you must be proud of your father's work. The bridge has stood for 50 years!

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:13:41 AM
We've got another five minutes on the chat....

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:15:00 AM
yes...it was a huge undertaking for such a small company. looking at the footage shown of the Silver Bridge collapse brought back memories too my dad's cousin drove a shipment of explosives over the Silver Bridge just before it fell into the river.

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:16:09 AM
We've got raw film of the Silver Bridge on the web story. Amazing.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:16:32 AM
the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge always scared me as a child, I was glad when they finally got the job of putting the fourth floor on Shillito's (now Macy's) at Tri-County Mall, a much better place for kids to visit!

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:18:31 AM
The new Morrow bridge is a very interesting design -- something you see more down south. Officially it is "concrete box girder cast in place cantilever with steel post-tensioning"

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:19:54 AM
What are you working on next? More bridges? Or something new?

by Live in Ohio 2/20/2013 12:20:56 AM
We've got a pretty interesting story next Monday on protecting yourself against credit card theft/fraud

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:21:21 AM
I am petrified every time I go across a bridge.

by donna 2/20/2013 12:21:52 AM
what will happen to all of the old steel? is it something that can be recycled somehow?

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:21:58 AM
They usually do recycle the steel. The Morrow will be taken down piece by piece over the river, the rest can be imploded

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:22:31 AM
If you've got more questions, I'll stay on a bit longer. Fire away....

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:23:36 AM
maybe they can let me have a piece of it for sentimental value!

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:23:39 AM
ironmaiden, that's a good point. The contractor on the new Morrow is a company called Kokosing. Their trailer is down the acc
ess road from the northbound rest area just south of the bridge.

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:24:28 AM
sounds like a roadtrip to me!

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:25:22 AM
Any other questions before I sign off?

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:26:50 AM
not from me, I will try to find the access road & see what happens!

by ironmaiden 2/20/2013 12:27:34 AM
Thanks everybody!

by brendan.keefe 2/20/2013 12:27:51 AM