OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
AUGUST 1, 2014
OFFICE CLOSED FRI. The offices of Ocean City Today and Bayside Gazette will be closed Friday for a staff day off and will reopen Monday at 8:30 a.m.
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ZACK HOOPES/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Traffic comes to a dead halt Saturday afternoon when the Route 50 drawbridge became stuck in the “up” position during its scheduled opening just before 3 p.m.
STUCK Bridge malfunction, major Route 50 headache
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (Aug. 1, 2014) Following what was described as a “MacGyver” –esque repair, the Route 50 drawbridge is expected to function normally for next week’s White Marlin Open, after a five-hour mechanical malfunction this past Saturday created the worst traffic snarl Ocean City has likely ever seen. The articulating bridge became stuck in the “up” position during its scheduled opening just before 3 p.m. on July 26, and was only able to be lowered to allow traffic back through
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shortly before 8 p.m. Subsequent backups on Route 90 and Delaware Route 54 – the only other two east-west ways into the resort – were said to be up to 12 miles long Saturday afternoon. While no major injuries were reported, the Town of Ocean City had to make a number of close judgment calls through the incident, which resulted in more than a few irate visitors. Further, although it will not affect vehicle traffic, the bridge will need to undergo additional repairs that will keep it in the closed position while
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work is being done, likely an overnight job, according to the State Highway Administration. “When we come back in, we’ll replace all four of the main mounts, not just the one we patched on Saturday,” said SHA spokesman Dave Buck. “What we have left to do should really have a minimal impact. Our fix is perfectly good, and it could be fine for months.” Essentially, Buck said, the motors which raise and lower the two leaves of the bridge are each connected to the structure itself at two points – a gear on the north side, and another
on the south side, by which the motors’ drive shafts actually turn the bridge up and down. On Saturday, rust and years of wear caused the southwest mounting to break, and the bridge to twist out of alignment. When the bridge-tender tried to close the bridge, Buck said, a five-foot gap was still visibly present between the leaves, even though the electronic monitoring system was indicating that all the mechanicals were in the “closed” position. After raising the bridge back up, See BRIDGE Page 3
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