The best-laid plans of mice and men and of Arkansas' highway department oft go awry. For a bridge that was supposed to be unsafe to cross, the old Broadway Bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock is proving remarkably durable.
The 93-year-old structure, opened to great fanfare in another century, refuses to die in ours. Explosives could not completely destroy the northern-most footing of the old bridge last week, and plans to place the second arch of the new bridge had to be postponed until after Thanksgiving.
According to the highway department, the decision to postpone the placement of the new arch wasn't made until the night before the arch was to have been placed. The outfit that won the $98.4 million contract to replace the bridge--Massman Construction Company out of Kansas City--was "meeting with the demolition contractor to figure out a way to remove the structure, all of which is underwater." In other words, this mercy killing was successful in every way, except the patient lived.
An estimated 25,000 cars, trucks, SUVs and other vehicles crossed the stubborn old girl every day till somebody decided it had to be blown away. The whole project is supposed to be completed in six months from Oct. 1, but everybody surely knows by now how fluid government deadlines can be, and the clock is already ticking away on this one. "There she goes!" onlookers ashore were prepared to yell, only this one wasn't ready to go anywhere just yet. The underwater photos showed that its remains were still in place.
Neither carrots nor sticks have been enough to give the old bridge a decent funeral. Massman must close the old bridge, build its replacement, and open the new one by or before March 29, 2017, or be penalized $80,000 a day. Yes, the company is to collect $80,000 for every day it finishes this Herculean assignment early. But those payments are limited to a total of 50 days' worth of advances. At this point, all of that seems as unlikely and unworkable as Obamacare.
Gawkers we will always have with us, but their numbers seemed to diminish daily.
One them was Bobby Walker of Little Rock, who was recording the non-event from his perch on the still-standing Main Street Bridge complete with his digital camera. "I am here to see history made in Little Rock," he said, "I've not seen something like this in my life. It's been a great experience." Even if it hadn't been experienced yet.
The new bridge, if it ever does get built, should be thing of beauty and a joy for a while--until some other mastermind comes along to condemn it, too. It's supposed to be topped of with two basket-handle arches, as if a giant had come along and set it down while he went off to pick the flowers that bloom in May, for even giants may have errands to run, blooms to sniff and deadlines to meet.
Much like Old Man River or the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, this bridge-renewal project just keeps rolling along.
And it's still a long, long away from The End.
Editorial on 11/26/2016