Hammond-Munster (Northcote) bridge crossing closed

Hammond-Munster bridge crossing closed
BY TIMES STAFF | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 | (1 comment(s))

The Northcote bridge was closed Tuesday afternoon because of concerns raised by the rainfall, the Munster Police Department said.

The bridge, which spans the Little Calumet River and connects Munster and Hammond, was closed about 5 p.m., and it's unclear when it will be reopened.

Some residents in Munster's Wicker Park neighborhood made a plea to Munster Town Council members Monday night to close two streets to Northcote Avenue bridge traffic.

The Northcote Avenue bridge has been the subject of discussion for many months, following the September rain and subsequent flooding that damaged hundreds of homes and businesses in Munster.
http://www.nwi.com/articles/2009/03/10/updates/breaking_news/doc49b6f7534e33e878920021.txt

Now if the levy is built and they still need to sandbag, it is stupid.

either raise the bridges or get rid of them.

Closing the streets wont accomplish anything. The amount of sandbags they had at the bridge will not offer much resistance if the water was to crest over the bridge (which I think it wont). Putting sand bags first and covering it with sand is the way to go...clay works even better. All to do about nothing!

I just saw the photo...what the hell is that thing ? Wonder how much that cost? Bet I could get a load of sand cheaper.

I dont know how much it cost but munster took the opportunity yesterday to test a new product they are considering purchasing for flood prevention. its a bladder that can be filled with water from a fire hydrant. if they purchase it the intent would be to use that instead of sand to block the bridge from potential water overflow. i dont know how the test went, but munster believes they can fill the bladder and have it in place, quicker than they could put up an artificial sand barrier. ive heard many times that munster insists they need 4 hours and a number of volunteers before they can protect the bridge area.

in hammond. experience has shown clay and sandbags seem to make more sense. all we need is a truck, a high lift, and a couple of city employees to get our barriers up in about a half hour.

in either case though, the barriers are temporary and easilly removeable so that the road can be reopened when the flood threat ends.

as for the flooding situation on the little cal. at last report to me (around 6 pm last night) things looked ok. the water is high, maybe within a foot of the bridge, but since the brunt of the rainfall had ended early tuesday the level was expected to drop throughout the night last night.

Well boys...in case you missed Channel TWO in Chicago...how embarrasing!

They showed the exit by I-65 with squirrels of hoses, pumping out the water. The Borman wherever it leaves off, it still is scary. Everytime I want to visit my parents in Michigan, I have to wonder....

I realize it is bad out there. I wonder what global warming has to do with this. To give you an idea, we had two old cottages on flat land, and the last time I remember Christie Lake over-flowing was many moons ago. My dad filled the flat land up, made a monsterous hill; built a beautiful home for all of us to gather in. He built a retaining wall, higher than my 5'2 frame, and he just called to tell us that the water is now up to the retaining wall. No problem, except the extent of the damage is due to come. The "crawl space" in the garage, where they house their canned goods is sure to get hit hard, whcih means the sump pump may not handle it. They, nor us kids have never heard such bad news other than the electric being cut off, but had neighbors helping out to savage right away what is in the two freezers in the garage; the house refrigerator, freezer.

In all my memories since the '70s, nothing like this has happened. The house was built on tons of dirt to make it way above lake level. I found out the low-lying homes that were built without buffing up the land are in misery. Water is in there homes/crawlspaces, basements, etc.

What disturbs me most was shown on the news tonight...the same old....the I-94 east shut down again.That scares me, cuz I was about to leave to visit my parents and in this news report tonight, it showed hoses sucking up like snakes on a freeway, trying to dry out the path I wanted to take tomorrow. I can't imagine the folks having to suck up water in 2009. Notta. We have all kinds of money for politicians...but this tops the cake.

From what I have heard the "bladder" was an experiment from a company wanting to sell it to Munster. If that is the case I hope they are smart enough to decline. If the water got high enough wouldnt it just carry the bladder away? Plus how would it conform to the curb? From the picture it would seem that it was over filled and to short...thankfully it wasnt needed!

Ugh! That sounds gross, Voter3! A "BLADDER"? A RUBBER would make more sense.

Absolutely amazing that the Lake County Commissioners could not find the balls to rule on the Northcote bridge. For Gods sake what are they there for. I would rather have them decide to close it rather then defer the responsibility to Munster and their residents. At least then you would know who was for and who was against...COWARDS!!