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Railroad bridge construction

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Railroad bridge construction
Posted by schlimm on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 8:36 AM

C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan

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Posted by Bruce Kelly on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 8:55 AM

When I shared this with some working and retired railroad friends a couple weeks ago, they were quick to point out the flagrant disregard for worker safety. Lots of live bodies running around out there with no signs of fall protection/prevention whatsoever, at least not to my eyes. Not asking for a nanny state, but a tiny fraction of what was spent on that mechanical marvel could have bought a couple dozen harnesses as well.

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Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 9:33 AM
That is amazing technology.  Here is another video that is longer.  I am not sure if it adds much.
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Posted by MidlandMike on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 8:13 PM

The same process was used in the US 30+ years ago to build the I-75 bridge across the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee, Mich.  The machine was more skeleton-looking.  It had to clear Great Lakes and Seaway freighters.  Something partially collapsed during construction, but it was eventually completed (the bridge that made Zilwaukee famous).

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Posted by schlimm on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 9:36 PM

Maybe the notorious Bad Axe Syndrome spread west?  Pretty close to Frankenmouth and Midland, too.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 11:49 PM

Bruce Kelly

When I shared this with some working and retired railroad friends a couple weeks ago, they were quick to point out the flagrant disregard for worker safety. Lots of live bodies running around out there with no signs of fall protection/prevention whatsoever, at least not to my eyes. Not asking for a nanny state, but a tiny fraction of what was spent on that mechanical marvel could have bought a couple dozen harnesses as well.

Yes in dictatorships like China the value of human life is not as high as it is in a Democracy.    Observed the same thing with the Soviet Union when it was in existance.   They cared not one iota about the survival of their military troops in the crappy tanks they made, they only cared about presenting them as a large overwhealming force of numbers.    Interestingly now the Soviet Union has collapsed and it is back to Russia now.....still a dictatorship but they are more concerned about casualties and survivability now vs sheer numbers......which is interesting the current Russian dictator keeps a close eye on that.    They still make crappy tanks but they are engineered better as time goes on to cut back on required labor and focus on survivability more.

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