Posted by Rick Denney on December 05, 2002 at 20:40:27:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Where's the tuba?!! posted by Joe Baker on December 05, 2002 at 15:04:54:
If it's a joke, I'm not in on it. I grew up in the shadow of that interchange--literally three blocks away. I'll be there for a visit with my folks tomorrow night.
The interchange was designed by Bill Ward, who was in charge of the Houston Urban Project of the Texas Highway Department. It was built in 1959, and was one of the first high-capacity single-ramp four-level directional freeway interchanges in the country. Yes, there were inside merges at every ramp, but this was not unusual in the 50's (and in the east you still see it). And, yes, the slope failed on the 610 north approach and had to be rebuilt several times. But for many, many years, the 610 bridge over the Southwest Freeway was the tallest bridge over land in the world, and that interchange carries close to half a million cars a day, making it a long-standing member of the most heavily travelled half-dozen freeway interchanges in the country. It's bridge piers were strong enough to survive a direct hit by a full ammonia tanker that departed one of the ramps at high speed, creating a toxic cloud that killed a dozen people as I recall. I was in high school at the time, and not allowed to go home.
I videotaped that interchange to gather data on traffic weaving for some research I did on highway capacity. I set up my camera on the 59th floor of Transco Tower. That was in, perhaps, 1997.
The Southwest Freeway is being rebuilt now, but I've completely lost track of TxDOT's Houston activities in the last decade or so, except for the regional traffic signal system, for which I'm a minor member of a very large team.
The interchange of U.S. 59 and 610 on the north side (where U.S. 59 is the East-Tex Freeway), was designed by--now the name has escaped me--under Bill Ward's supervision. It was a newer, better design, using the dual-ramp concept that had been pioneered in Dallas in the 60's. But this one had more capacity than the LBJ interchanges in Dallas. That interchange was built around 1980. I can tell you how thick the concrete is, heh, heh.
Bill Ward retired from TxDOT in about 1982 or so, and went to work for UT. I was sitting in his office at UT chatting when the Challenger blew up (funny how you remember things like that). I was working at TxDOT and working on and advanced degree at UT in the evenings at the time. I don't believe I've talked with him since that day, and I've lost touch.
So, I suppose I'm missing the joke, heh, heh. Tell me.
Rick "who laid out the double spiral for U.S. 59 at 610 north, and who drew up all the finished grade elevations" Denney