Friday, August 19, 2011

In the news

Three workers have died in on-the-job accidents at the Jeffboat yards at Jefferson, Indiana, in the past 16 months, including one this week.

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"Pittsburgh's bikeways, walkways lure businesses and homeowners" says the headline. One of the trails runs along the Ohio River. It's good to see some places have these things. Around where I live, most of the roads were built for cars only, and pedestrians and cyclists definitely do not belong on them.

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Ohio will take bids in October to replace the 89-year-old Ironton-Russell Bridge. It was the first  highway bridge over the Ohio River between Wheeling and Cincinnati. It's showing its age. The sidewalk was closed years ago. I don't know if it was for structural reasons or because of a pair of hawks that nest there every spring. They don't pedestrians near their young. If you want to see my most recent photo of the bridge, check it out here.

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As usual, I'll be spending part of Labor Day weekend in Point Pleasant, W.Va., for the annual Tribute to the River festival. This year I can spend longer in the evening and try to get some nighttime photos of the towboats that are there. Adam hopes AmherstMadison will have the O. Nelson Jones there for public tours, but we're not getting our hopes up.

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Speaking of Point Pleasant, for my day job I'm doing an article on the pilot simulator at the Point Pleasant River Museum. If any of you have tried it and have thoughts you would like to share, drop me a few words.

Tweets

OK, I've finally joined Twitter, mainly to help me at work. But my first tweet was river-related. It's not replacing this blog, though. If you want to follow me, my handle-name-whatever is JimRoss9.