underneath from the bucket of an
under-bridge inspection vehicle,
or Aspen Aerial. “When you’re out
there over the deepest part of that
gorge, and you’re out there over the
side and those big trucks are going
along and they bounce you around
in the bucket, it kind of makes you
feel like you’re on one of the better
rides at the amusement park.”
While NMSU team members
inspected things like the bridge
deck, abutments, curbs, and railings,
as well as steel truss members just
underneath the bridge using the
Aspen Aerial, Ayres Associates’
team rappelled down to the bottom
chord from the deck at the middle of
the center span. Inspectors moved
along one bottom chord each day,
from the middle of the center span
to each abutment, documenting
conditions such as protective coating
failure, deteriorated fasteners and
corrosion and searching for any
potentially harmful cracks.
The team also took digital photos
and video, providing information
to NMSU to include in the overall
inspection report submitted to
the New Mexico Department of
Transportation (NMDOT). Hiring
experts to perform the bottom chord
inspections saves the University –
and ultimately NMDOT – money and
time because it’s an efficient and
cost-effective method to access that
portion of the bridge, White said.
“It’s very difficult to gain access
and be able to look at all of those
components from an arm’s-length
perspective,” White said. “The Rio
Grande Gorge Bridge is a great
example of that. No one is going to
go out there and look underneath at
the center of that bridge without the
right equipment.”
David Jauregui, NMSU’s department
head of civil engineering who directs
the bridge inspection program, said
he has been extremely satisfied
with Ayres Associates’ services. The
bottom chord inspections are an
important part of the overall bridge
evaluation, he said, and the Ayres
team has provided important details
and recommendations in reports.
“We hit the ground running with
Brian and Ayres,” he said. “It
was like we had been working
together for years. It has a lot to
do with the experience that both
agencies – Ayres and NMSU – have
accumulated over the years. It really
makes all our jobs easier to do. The
communication between Ayres and
NMSU has been second to none.”
Jauregui and Schroeder said the
Gorge Bridge is in great shape
overall. Schroeder said he used
lessons learned from the 2013
inspection to bring efficiencies to
completing this year’s work, such
as how to better maneuver on the
bridge and focusing on previous
problem areas to save time. This
year personnel from Abseilon USA,
an Arizona firm specializing in rope
access work, assisted Schroeder,
who said this inspection is one of the
highlights of his career.
“The view – you can see such a long
way. I don’t even know how to put
a number of miles on it,” he said.
“There’s a lot of passers-by, and
people get to see the view from up
above. But down below you have
fewer people obviously. You don’t
have cars passing by. It’s certainly a
quieter, more peaceful perspective.
"It’s some of the most beautiful
scenery I’ve ever seen," Schroeder
said. "I get to see a place that most
people don’t get to see.”
TRENDS
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