KCRag Forum

Nice pics Joe! The new bridge is looking good! It'll look even better once the old clunker next to it is taken down!

"Old cllunker?!"  The Paseo bridge is a graceful beauty.  I like the contrast between the 2, the Paseo being light and curvey, the Bond angular and rigid.

do you suppose they have any idea how they are going to take the old one down? 

enough wrote: do you suppose they have any idea how they are going to take the old one down?  

This doesn't answer your specific question, but I am sure they have a plan, and I will be ready to watch it come down.

Q: Does the existing Paseo Bridge have to be torn down?

A: Yes. Our U.S. Coast Guard bridge permit states that when the existing bridge is no longer used for transporation purposes, it must be removed in its entirety within 90 days. Removing the existing Paseo Bridge's old piers is necessary to maintain the Missouri River's navigational channel. Additionally, from March to September 2007, MoDOT advertised both locally and nationally the availability of the existing Paseo Bridge for adaptive reuse at an off-site location, but received no responses. A new owner would have been required to disassemble, move, reassemble and then maintain the bridge in accordance with established standards for historic bridges -- theoretically possible, but at an unfathomable expense.


A: We will be taking down the Paseo Bridge once traffic is moved over to the new bridge in 2011. About 6,000 tons of material from the Paseo Bridge will be recycled.

Here's a few pics I took this morning around 3 am.

Used to be able to get a great postcard shot of the skyline and Paseo bridge from the north bank of the river to the east of the bridge with the skyline framed under the bridge.  Wonder of this will be possible with the Bond?

moderne wrote: Used to be able to get a great postcard shot of the skyline and Paseo bridge from the north bank of the river to the east of the bridge with the skyline framed under the bridge.  Wonder of this will be possible with the Bond?

Not unless they cut down the trees or open up the levee.

When and where was someone able to get what you describe? The trees and the levee fence have been there for quite awhile. You got me curious now. The closest open area that I've seen lately east of the bridge on the north side is down by Harrah's  

This is the best post card shot that I've been able to get.

The photo I am looking at is from a 1970 publication "Deluxe Picture Book Kansas City-a pictorial guide 34 pages in natural color."  Conditions and access on the levee probably have changed in 40 years.  The photo has the skyline framed under the north portion of the span.  There is the north tower and bridge, the skyline under, a sliver of river and some greenery in the foreground.  The first land pier after the north tower is in the right of the photo.  Since the single tower of the Bond is further out in the river than the north tower of the Paseo, it seems there could be some great angles for a similar shot when the old bridge is razed.  The 1970 photo just seems to be a shot that emphasizes KC as a river town.

moderne wrote: The photo I am looking at is from a 1970 publication "Deluxe Picture Book Kansas City-a pictorial guide 34 pages in natural color."  Conditions and access on the levee probably have changed in 40 years.  The photo has the skyline framed under the north portion of the span.  There is the north tower and bridge, the skyline under, a sliver of river and some greenery in the foreground.  The first land pier after the north tower is in the right of the photo.  Since the single tower of the Bond is further out in the river than the north tower of the Paseo, it seems there could be some great angles for a similar shot when the old bridge is razed.  The 1970 photo just seems to be a shot that emphasizes KC as a river town.

This pic is the best I've been able to get that meets your criteria, but after being told once by the 2 Northtown cops who were driving up and down on the levee looking for me not to come back, I haven't. They told me that they could arrest me for just being on the levee. Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't, who can tell. Half of their job is to be full-of-shit, but I find it's always smart to stay as far away as you can from a cop, his handcuffs and the pokey.



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Feel free to dig through the 200+ pics that I have taken since June of '05.

#1 - Taken on June 13, 2005



#208 - Taken on July 16, 2010



The rest are here. http://tinyurl.com/33q4sdl

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Do you know which bridge this is?

Harry S Truman bridge?  Nice job of documenting the construction of the Bond Bridge.  Someday those photos of the new and old together will be rare and sought after, and the next generation will lament the loss of the Paseo.

Why is the levee off limits? I would think it would make a good trail.

Fear that it will be damaged.

When I lived in Lawrence, I loved to walk along the levee and look at the river.

I can't imagine that allowing people to walk or bike along the levee would easily damage it.

mudjack wrote: When I lived in Lawrence, I loved to walk along the levee and look at the river.

I can't imagine that allowing people to walk or bike along the levee would easily damage it.

The Riverfront Trail will be extended east along the south bank, behind Isle of Crap and the KCPL plant, all the way to Chouteau.  The north bank is managed by the City of NKC and so far they have resisted public access on the levee.

Just got an email reply from Laura Wagner at kcIcon about my question on what kind of lighting and/or other visuals that the bridge will have when it's done.

Quoted text;

"About the lighting on the Bond Bridge:  Each of the 40 cables will be illuminated with cannon lights.  This will eliminate the need for streetlights (like the Paseo Bridge has on the roadway).  Additional aesthetic lighting features a kinetic lighting system with diode panels mounted to the edge girders to allow an infinite number of lighting shows across the length of the bridge, from simple one-color panels to complex color changing events that complement seasonal changes and special community events.

The blue paint you see on the girders now will be the color for all the girders.  It is Regatta Blue by Sherwin Williams.  The pylon and cables will remain the colors you see now."

All the girders were supposed to already be blue when they got here, but manufacturing did not meet the needed construction deadlines, so they will paint them "in the field."

Final outermost cables going up today on north end of span.

"Why is the levee off limits? I would think it would make a good trail."

I suspect that the levee is off limits for the same reason the Jackson County Sports Authority was completely unwilling (in my opinion) to entertain the idea of a downtown baseball stadium:  turf protection.

missingkc wrote: "Why is the levee off limits? I would think it would make a good trail."

I suspect that the levee is off limits for the same reason the Jackson County Sports Authority was completely unwilling (in my opinion) to entertain the idea of a downtown baseball stadium:  turf protection.

I don't follow.

Oh, just grinding an ax of mine.  My point was that I agree that the tops of the levees would make great path locations and don't think a properly maintained path would be a danger to the levee.  I don't think that the members of the levee authority really think it would be problem either.  I guess they don't have a shred of evidence to the contrary.  I guess I think  - cynical ol' me - that their opposition is just knee-jerk, turf protecting response to someone else getting involved in their business.  Support for this beyond my own musings?  None.

The only real thing this issue has in common with the baseball stadium is my cynicism - I felt the same way about the Sports Authority's hands-down, no discussion opposition to the downtown location.  I thought, ok, this is a bunch of old guys who get a real kick out of being the guys that run the stadiums.  They're the stars of the locker room at their country clubs.  They're the guys in the know.  It's great personal social capital for them.  And by golly, no one was going to tell them where to put a stadium.  Did they have real points of opposition?  I don't think so.  Did they really consider what would give the community the best return on its investment?  I don't think so.



That's it.