"Might Be," You Say? "Might Be"?

Last night, to conclude his DPW report to the Common Council, Rob Perry spent a minute or two talking about the Ferry Street bridge project.  He included this: "The bridge physically is done.  There might be some minor punch list items.  We don't know if DOT has conducted their final inspection; we don't think so."  (Who is this "we" anyway?  And has Mr. Perry (or they) conducted his own inspection to look for any "minor items" that might need attention?  Or is he hoping DOT will take care of that for him?)

Given the amount of cracks in both long concrete sidewalks leading to and over the bridge that I noticed this morning and which could not have appeared overnight, you have to wonder if Rob Perry is blind.  While he did provide a few pictures of details of the bridge (some while standing on the sidewalks) during his bridge     update, he did not include any pictures of the sidewalks FULL OF FUCKING CRACKS on the brand new bridge that was opened to vehicle and pedestrian traffic less than 2 months ago even though DOT may or may not have conducted its final inspection of the bridge.  So reassuring!

Let's see how well the concrete portion of the 
driving surface holds up.

Of the 11 concrete pads over the tracks on the north sidewalk, every single one of them is cracked, some horribly. Of the 11 pads on the other side, I counted just 5 that were cracked. One pad, on the north side near Front Street, has the worst, most distinct crack of all. It is the welcome mat to our new multi-million dollar bridge with no sign on it anywhere welcoming people to the Hudson River waterfront or telling them which way to turn for the park and which way to the boat launch!  It's about as bland as can be.  And full of cracked concrete.

Do you think Rob Perry failed to notice this crack when 
he recently took pictures of the bridge for his report?

Our friends at Colarusso built the bridge, and I have no doubt that they also handled both the paving of the vehicle surface and creation of the lengthy concrete sidewalks (they are a paving contractor, after all).  The concrete sidewalk pads over the tracks are in much worse cracked condition than those beyond the main structure of the bridge.  They also have a slightly darker tone, as if they were done at a different time.  I seem to remember the concrete on the bridge curing during a cold spell early this year.  Colarusso brought in enormous heaters to combat the cold so that the concrete could cure properly.  If that was the case, it appears their efforts failed miserably.  Why they would have opted to pour the concrete sidewalks in the winter is beyond me; they should have known better.  Perhaps they were in a rush to finish up.

Now, as part of their final inspection, will DOT only be concerned with the structural integrity of the metal bridge and nothing else, including the concrete on the bridge?  Or might they note the badly cracked sidewalks and require them to be redone properly?  Or will it be up to Rob Perry to call Colarusso and ask them why both sidewalks over the bridge they just built for us are full of cracks and what they plan on doing about it?

Would thoroughly cracked sidewalks be considered a "minor punch list item," a major item, or no item at all to Mr. Perry?

Does anyone else think it is really odd that a) our DPW Superintendent, who for a year or more has been giving often very extensive monthly updates on the progress of the bridge, doesn't know if DOT has yet made their final inspection of the bridge; and b) that the bridge has been open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for several weeks without having passed its final inspection indicating everything that Colarusso created is safe and sound?

All of this bad concrete in the city's west end is so bizarre and discouraging, but par for the course in a world that seems to be coming apart at the seams.  Can you imagine if Colarusso and Luizzi were to come back to town at the same time to replace the junk they left us?  Let's hope so!