#9, Hawthorne Bridge, focus on the circle between the eastbound & the westbound ramps and/or the intersections of the ramps with the surface streets

I took these photos on Thursday, December 1, about 7:30 a.m.


A close view of the finished sidewalk around the edge of the circle. This sidewalk is a massive improvement over what used to be there. I imagine its being there will encourage people to walk on that side of southbound MLK. The trees next to the sidewalk were planted early this week--the holes were dug last Wednesday, a day of high wind and rain. No one worked on Thanksgiving Day, plus I noticed that the trees were still lying on their sides, just like they'd been left on Wednesday. The street that goes out of sight beneath the westbound ramp of the Hawthorne Bridge is SE MLK. If you look closely, you can see the Big Pink rising in the distance at the left side of the photo.


Another edge of the circle where you can see three of the built-into-the-curb drains, the rock placed between the plantings strip and the curb. That angled strip of gray is the rock-filled run-off from the drain you can see in Wednesday, 11/30/2011's post, the third of three photos. In this photo the cars and the truck with Milky Way written on it are stopped at the light at SE Grand Avenue and SE Madison. The traffic goes one way north on SE Grand.


And here we have the completed sidewalk across from the circle. The crosswalk is completely new, the handicapped ramps, the truncated domes matts, and the stripes on the street. The Hawthorne Bridge with the arrow pointing left takes drivers around the circle and onto the westbound ramp--that's where the white car is headed. The white tractor is headed south on SE MLK. By the time the streetcar is operational next September 21, the traffic signal will be functional so that people who exit the streetcar on the far side of SE MLK will be able to cross safely. The streetcar stop is just out of sight to the right edge of the photo.

Now, the posts about this transformation are finished. Until something else major happens, we'll say good-bye to this subject which totally intrigued me throughout.

#8, Hawthorne Bridge, focus on the circle between the eastbound & the westbound ramps and/or the intersections of the ramps with the surface streets

It's Theme Day at lots and lots of City Daily Photo Blogs. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants who have posted an Action Shot for your enjoyment and/or edification.

A - Angle of the raised dump truck bed.
C - Circle being reworked for to the fall, 2012 arrival of the Portland Streetcar Eastside Loop.
T -Tamp Tightly like the man with the shovel in the top photo.
I - Interest I have taken in these goings on.
O - One of these days this series of posts will be complete.
N - Not a moment too soon, I'm sure some frequent visitors will testify.

S - Smoothing accomplished by that wheeled contraption in the bottom photo.
H - Hot asphalt.
O - One more sidewalk to finish; take a close look at the bottom photo.
T - Tell me what you think of my ACTION SHOT, please and thank you!

The person closest to the back of the dump truck operated some sort of latch which opens some sort of chute and allows the hot asphalt to stream out onto the street, in a narrow, elongated hump-like shape. Looks to me like the next man is tamping it down with a shovel, tight as he can get it against the new curb on the new sidewalk on the inside of the circle.


Next thing I know, the first-laid asphalt has been rolled over by that wheeled contraption the man is riding and driving. See how smooth it looks up against the curb? You can sort of see the slight dip for the truncated domes matt at the handicap section of the sidewalk, too. Now the wheeled contraption is flattening the asphalt up against the newly formed curb across the street. And asphalt is being dropped out of the dump truck to complete the entire surrounding of that point of curb. There is still no concreted sidewalk completed there, though. Up on the eastbound Hawthorne Bridge ramp you can see two men working with a traffic diversion sign of some sort, so you know that work surely continues at or close to the intersection of SE Hawthorne and SE Grand.

#6, Hawthorne Bridge, focus on the circle between the eastbound & the westbound ramps and/or the intersections of the ramps with the surface streets

On such a sunny day, working outside with a task one could accomplish must have been a rewarding activity.

I took this photo later in the day from when I took the photo on Monday's post, a little over four hours later. A crew poured the rest of the sidewalk on the inner edge of the circle. The white truck is pulled to the curb on SE MLK, which is a one-way street, southbound. The bridge ramp above it is the eastbound exit ramp of the Hawthorne Bridge. The Ross Island Sand & Gravel truck is pulled to a stop on the circle. The man on his knees is creating a recess for the installation of the yellow vinyl section of truncated domes, that rectangle that looks sort of like permanent, wide-spaced, opaque, yellow bubble wrap which you see along the edges of subway stops and in the handicapped ramps from sidewalks down to street level. Truncated domes, which meet ADA requirements, serve as a detectable, tactile warning surface for the visually impaired. I myself like to stand on them at corners while I wait for the light to change, unless there is a visually impaired person there, too. My feet enjoy the massage. You can see what looks like two pieces of yellow, one on each side of him as he scrapes and smooths. I for one am glad to see that the sidewalk is as high off the surface of the circle as it is--I doubt that rain will stand on that sidewalk, ever.



The truncated domes matt has been installed, near the end of the plank the man is standing on near the bottom center of the photo. Now these men are continuing to finish the sidewalk's surface. The man on the left is using a pad attached to the extended-length handle. The other two men are on their knees, smoothing by hand.


In this photo you see more finishing work in progress. The man walking on the plank is crossing back to the street because he has finished using the extended-length handle and pad on the concrete. And you can see the slightly different colored rectangle to the left of where steps, there in the gray concrete. That is the truncated dome matt. The planks that cross from one side of the sidewalk to the other were moved to the right a few feet, and the work continued.