RattlerGator Blog

Reconstruction of Jacksonville's Overland Bridge

Here's a nice, quick video demonstrating the modifications that will be made in Downtown Jax as a result of the reconstruction of the Overland Bridge crossing the Southbank and into the Southside:

Slowly but surely we're getting there in Downtown Jax, slowly but surely. Now if only Shad Khan and a few other folks can make something spectacular happen with the Jacksonville Shipyards site, the place will really start popping.

For an outstanding overhead picture mapping the existing roadway flow and the new construction that will complement or transform the existing flow, take a look at this.

Kudos to FDOT and the design-build team they assembled. Final completion won't occur until 2016, however. Also, if you're interested in Downtown Jax like I am, you might also want to take a look at this MetroJacksonville report on the possible redevelopment of the Jacksonville Landing.

Big Duval -- yeah, I love the place.

Cascades Park - Spring 2013 Photo Update 2

Cascades Park in Tallahassee continues to progress toward completion. What promises to be the iconic centerpiece of the park is the amphitheater that sits adjacent to the spot that serves as Florida's prime meridian. This is the second in a series of posts that will showcase at least one photo including a current shot of the amphitheater and at least one photo of current progress elsewhere in the park.

Today -- the view of the amphitheater from the rear (the north) and, looking through the amphitheater, the backside of the park to its southern edge:

Once filled with people, this is going to be a spectacular sight. July 4th might really be special in this spot. Below is a picture that captures the reconfigured intersection of East Lafayette Street with Franklin Boulevard where they both touch the DOT parking lot and eventually merge with South Meridian Street.

That's Apalacheee Parkway, of course, on the left side of the photo behind those trees.

When it's all said and done, Tallahassee is going to have a pretty special park with an extremely unique Florida vista.

Cascades Park - Spring 2013 Photo Update 1

Cascades Park in Tallahassee continues to progress toward completion. What promises to be the iconic centerpiece of the park is the amphitheater that sits adjacent to the spot that serves as Florida's prime meridian. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts that will showcase at least one photo including a shot of the amphitheater and at least one photo of progress elsewhere in the park.

Tonight -- the view of the amphitheater and the city scene to its rear:

It's clearly going to be beautiful and I can already imagine some of the performances that will take place there. July 4th might really be special in this spot.

Of course, Cascades Park already serves as a stormwater management area and proved to be of great benefit already. In late February we suffered through a period of record rainfall that would have previously left the Franklin Street area completely underwater. Now, no issues at all were encountered in that area. Although the picture below doesn't quite do it justice, Franklin Street's reconstruction is nearly complete and the stormwater now flows entirely below the street above and into Cascades Park:

That's Apalacheee Parkway, of course, overhead.

When it's all said and done, Tallahassee is going to have a pretty special park with an extremely unique Florida vista.

Incredible Animation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Thanks to Michael Yon, I was prompted to watch this incredibly good animation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that does an outstanding job presenting a visual display of what makes NASA's Curiosity Rover so amazing -- including how it got to Mars, and what it will be doing there. Check this out if you haven't seen it:

 

If you aren't geeked by that you must be working far too hard at ignoring what it takes to get from the initial idea to the reality on the ground.

Congrats to all involved who made this happen.

Atlanta's "Diverging Diamond" Interchange on I-285

I'm fascinated, oftentimes, by what fascinates me -- okay? That's what this post is about.

I noticed this morning an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the "Diverging Diamond" construction set-up at Atlanta's notorious Ashford-Dunwoody Road interchange on I-285. The article was informative but I couldn't quite get what they had accomplished until I watched the YouTube video:

Brilliant !!! Although, the alternative name for the design (double crossover) works better for me.

I love it when practical engineering creates a genuine solution to an everyday problem that benefits the average person. And, to me, this clearly qualifies. Kudos to the Missouri officials who (apparently) first came up with this solution in America and the French officials who appear to have been the inventors of the idea.