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$300,000+ worth of work on the Herbert Hoover Highway ruined?

lucas80

HR King
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Jan 30, 2008
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I cannot find anything on line, but some co-workers who live in West Branch say the opening of refurbished portions of the road has been pushed back due to an elderly driver somehow getting around barricades and driving through freshly laid cement?
@jamesvanderwulf what are you hearing from your sources inside the cement industry?
 
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Oh gosh.


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Update: So, the guy who drove through the fresh pavement has been labeled a local crank by some of the West Branch people I know, and someone who has been vocally against a lot of projects. His farm is down the road from the new pavement, and had agitated against the project. The damage was done at night after the work crews had left for the day, and the question is, did the workers properly put the barriers up when they left for the day?
Stay tuned.
 
It was a 91 year old guy. Happened a couple weeks ago. He drove around the barricades, thinking it was open I guess, and drove in fresh concrete.
They arrested him and he faces up to a year in jail.

I would have thought the road construction company could afford to leave a $12/hour employee on the clock to protect $300,000 in fresh concrete for the night. But, they threw up a couple cones and went home it seems.
 
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It was a 91 year old guy. Happened a couple weeks ago. He drove around the barricades, thinking it was open I guess, and drove in fresh concrete.
They arrested him and he faces up to a year in jail.

I would have thought the road construction company could afford to leave a $12/hour employee on the clock to protect $300,000 in fresh concrete for the night. But, they threw up a couple cones and went home it seems.
They are going to have to prove that he intended to drive through the fresh pavement and damage it.
Who winds up paying for this will be interesting.
 
HHH has been shut down for what seems like a decade for this project. Giant pain in the rear end.
 
I cannot find anything on line, but some co-workers who live in West Branch say the opening of refurbished portions of the road has been pushed back due to an elderly driver somehow getting around barricades and driving through freshly laid cement?
@jamesvanderwulf what are you hearing from your sources inside the cement industry?
****ing boomers, am I right?
 
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I have nothing to add other than the whole north and east side of Iowa City is all kinds of ****ed up due to road construction. 1st Ave in CVille may be worse.
Coraville is going to be a disaster for awhile while they redo the overpass/80 interchange at the River Landing exit.
 
A few years ago there was some radical nut that drove a semi eastbound in the westbound lanes of 1-80 near West Branch, iirc.

Do we blame this on Cedar County rednecks or just your everyday Cedar County resident?
 
So? .....

Did he make it all the way to his house, leaving a couple of ruts in the pavement?

Or? ... Did he sink into the pavement up to axle level, and have to be air-lifted out?

How did they know who to arrest?
 
So? .....

Did he make it all the way to his house, leaving a couple of ruts in the pavement?

Or? ... Did he sink into the pavement up to axle level, and have to be air-lifted out?

How did they know who to arrest?
Not sure. From what I heard he ruined about 50 feet of the new pavement, and originally they only knew it happened between 6-11 pm. I assume 6 pm is when the workers left, and 11 pm is when it was discovered.
 
Not sure. From what I heard he ruined about 50 feet of the new pavement, and originally they only knew it happened between 6-11 pm. I assume 6 pm is when the workers left, and 11 pm is when it was discovered.
This happened over two weeks ago. I thought you had your pulse on everything Iowa City?
 
I have nothing to add other than the whole north and east side of Iowa City is all kinds of ****ed up due to road construction. 1st Ave in CVille may be worse.
Cville is putting in a so called diamond exchange. We are so cutting edge in Cville, it's scary.
 
I cannot find anything on line, but some co-workers who live in West Branch say the opening of refurbished portions of the road has been pushed back due to an elderly driver somehow getting around barricades and driving through freshly laid cement?
@jamesvanderwulf what are you hearing from your sources inside the cement industry?
Despite being married to a WB gal for 20 years I know nothing of this incident. Big time roadwork could be contracted to out of state contractors at the low bid. Get what you pay for. Remember when Low Ball Construction got the bid for the wall dividing New Springfield from Old Springfield? Didn’t end well when the Who cranked up the volume…
 
Happened to a section of highway 14 in Grundy county a couple years ago. They threw a big dollar amount on it but didn’t do anything to fix it. Said it wouldn’t last as long.

Very superficial. Of course this incident might be a lot worse.
 
Happened to a section of highway 14 in Grundy county a couple years ago. They threw a big dollar amount on it but didn’t do anything to fix it. Said it wouldn’t last as long.

Very superficial. Of course this incident might be a lot worse.

Yeah, I'm sure it'll buff out.
 
It was a 91 year old guy. Happened a couple weeks ago. He drove around the barricades, thinking it was open I guess, and drove in fresh concrete.
They arrested him and he faces up to a year in jail.

I would have thought the road construction company could afford to leave a $12/hour employee on the clock to protect $300,000 in fresh concrete for the night. But, they threw up a couple cones and went home it seems.
Do you really think concrete crews hire an employee to watch the concrete dry? that's some stuff right there.
 
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Do you really think concrete crews hire an employee to watch the concrete dry? that's some stuff right there.
Could have spent less than a couple hundred bucks to prevent 300k in damage and months of work. Would have been a good investment.
 
Could have spent less than a couple hundred bucks to prevent 300k in damage and months of work. Would have been a good investment.
Dumb ideas are still dumb, and this idea is one of the worst. I can't believe you are doubling down on your stupidity on this one.
 
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Could have spent less than a couple hundred bucks to prevent 300k in damage and months of work. Would have been a good investment.

They're already paying for insurance against this sort of thing, so why hire someone to stand around and do nothing all night?
 
They're already paying for insurance against this sort of thing, so why hire someone to stand around and do nothing all night?
To prevent 300k in damage and months of tearing it out and having to pour it again?
 
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