With all the talk about the need to replace the ailing Memorial Bridge, I hadn’t heard a peep about the good ol’ Grant Marsh lately. That’s why I was surprised to see this nastiness above one of the support columns, near the boat landing. That doesn’t look very healthy, does it?

I did a quick web search to see if there were any reports of this repair, but didn’t come up with anything before having to dash out the door. Thankfully someone’s getting after it. I don’t know how much of that eroded away naturally and how much was chipped away to begin repairs, but the fact that it had crumbled so badly is not very reassuring. It looks like the rest of the support is going to get a treatment as well, judging by the scaffolding.

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t such a great idea to have drainage hammering down on the end of that concrete support over the years. I’d chalk that up to a design problem. The black bandaid hanging there is supposed to help divert things, but I’m sure the damage had already been done long ago. Now it’s a matter of trying to patch it up.

I saw a report on TV many years ago (I think I was still with NBC, actually) that talked about the disrepair of the nation’s bridges. I thought it was a little unsettling then, but with two of Bismarck-Mandan’s major bridges showing such extreme wear I’m between unsettled and alarmed! Thankfully it looks like someone’s on the situation, and we don’t have to deal with the thing collapsing before paying attention to the condition of its supports.

In the mean time, maybe I’ll use the Expressway Bridge. 🙂