We took I-65 south and breezed along fairly well in spite of the potholes, pavement upheavals and generally a poor road.
I-65 passes over the Kankakee River and it was flowing nicely. The river originates near South Bend, IN and flows into the Illinois River 133 miles later.
A couple weeks ago while the construction company was repairing a northbound bridge it began to sag.
"Engineers closed the bridge late Tuesday afternoon. Construction workers adding a third lane to the structure felt unusual movements on the bridge as traffic moved over it.
"As they were working on one of the piers, the roller bearings fell from this one pier," said Debbie Calder with INDOT.
Four of the five steel bearings fell out. They sit between the steel beams and the concrete pier, allowing the bridge to expand and contract with changing temperatures.
The bridge is 46 years old. INDOT engineers suspect its age, combined with the heavy construction work, caused the bearings to fail. They don't have enough information yet to know whether this is an isolated problem, or a warning sign of similar problems with other bridges."
We drove by the bridge and Gerry managed to get a good photo of it as we whizzed by. Notice the big sag in the middle of the bridge as the piling sank into the ground. Think about it as you motor down the interstates. Many bridges are nearing 50 years old and have taken a pounding over the years.
I-65 northbound is closed from MM140 past MM 178 until further notice. It was really strange driving down the road and not seeing any vehicles in the northbound lane for almost 40 miles. Traffic was rerouted and it took a lot longer to make the trip north.
We skirted north of Indianapolis and caught I-70 East with Richmond, IN being our destination for the night. Reservations had been made at Grandpa's Farm and it was nice getting off the highway after our 210 mile drive. We had a nice pull thru campsite waiting for us and I opened a cold one to celebrate our arrival here.
In 1995 we left our home in Maryland on our first ever time in our new motorhome, We drove 500 miles after leaving around 1pm. It was dark when we arrived then and the real Grandpa directed us to our site. He was directing me into one site and Gerry was directing me into the site next to it. I almost ran over a table and tree before it was discovered what was happening. From that day on I have always paid attention to Gerry's directions when backing into a site. Ah, the memories! Now the son of Grandpa and his wife are running the campground.
We were very tired and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. A busy day was in store for us the next day and we needed the sleep.
That was our day, how was yours?
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