The cherry blossoms are blooming

 The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Bethesda now.  If you get a chance look for some.  A great place to see them is along the Capital Crescent Trail near Dorset Avenue.

The demolition of Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School

Montgomery County Public Schools is replacing the former Tilden Middle School (At Charles W. Woodward) with a new high school.  Before it was Tilden, it was Woodward High School.  The building is being razed and a new building will be raised. It will re-open as Woodward High School in a few years.

 

Demolition is well under way at the site. There are piles of rebar, metal beam, and other bits of the building. Here you can see some what good venilation they have for these classrooms.

The far wall of this exposed hallway has red and yellow lockers lining it. There are piles of rubble in the foreground on both sides.

 

A section of the wall has been torn out to allow work crews to access the building more easily.

A foggy morning in Bethesda

This morning was a bit dreary and rainy.  During one of the breaks in the rain I went out to look around.  The clouds were low enough to the ground that you couldn't see the tops of some of the taller buildings.

 

Little Falls Trail construction (update number 2)

 

Work continues on the bridges over Little Falls branch.  As you recall from last update the bridge closest to the Dalecarlia tunnel has been replaced and is open.

The bridge closer to Massachusetts Avenue  has been replaced, but there is still work to do before it can be opened.

The approach to the bridge on the opposite side of the creek from the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) still needs to have the path created up to the bridge so there isn't a step.

The side closest to the Capital Crescent Trail has been graded so it smoothly transitions to the bridge.  However, there is still a bright orange fence blocking the trail so you can't access it from the CCT yet.

The Little Falls Trail still is being worked on.  Between the two bridges the trail is somewhat blocked (with a marked detour around it) and covered with a thick layer of mulch to protect the ground when heavy equipment is being used.

Near the bridge is a small drainage creek that is being widened and rebuilt.

Security fences around the U.S. Capitol

 

After the January 6th insurrection, security fences were put up around the U.S. Capitol building.  Last Saturday, I took advantage of a break in the rain to walk around the perimeter and take some photos.  In this first photo, fences and trucks block Pennsylvania Avenue.

There are several different types of fences in different areas.  This is one of the less common ones.  It is on the National Mall, directly in front of the Capitol.

Here's another view of the Mall and the Capitol.  People have adjusted to the fences and still come down to walk around and play on the Mall.

National Guard troops are monitoring the fences, there are a lot of them standing around and keeping an eye on things.

I find this juxtaposition of a high end restaurant and fences with barbed wire so close to each other.

I went down expecting the fences to be just around the United States Capitol building, but they were much more extensive. The closed off several parks, all the buildings related to the the legislature and a few more places. The fences go to Union Station, behind the Supreme Court, and even block off the Botanic Garden.  It took me an hour and a half to walk the perimeter.

Here's a reflection of the top of the Capitol dome in the windows of the Teamster's uniton.  The first floor of the building was still boarded up.

Little Falls Trail construction update

 

 

 The construction on Little Falls trail that started in September continues and significant progress has been made. One of the bridges has been fully replaced and re-opened for people to cross. This is bridge P17-01 near the Dalecarlia tunnel that connects a neighborhood to the Capital Crescent Trail.

The trail between the two bridges is closed, however there is a marked detour so you can still traverse the area, just not on a paved trail.

The other bridge has been fully removed and has not yet been replaced. You can not cross the stream here.

Was "The Hulk" here?

 I was walking by the old Ourisman dealership on Motor City Drive up by the Home Depot and Montgomery Mall and saw this. It sure looks like the Incredible Hulk busted through this door to escape.

 

 

Another accident at the big curve

 

Another rainy day, another accident on the outer loop of Interstate 495 at the "Big Curve" in Bethesda, MD. Traffic is backed up past Old Georgetown Road and the backup continues to grow, even though some lanes do get by. According to WTOP, this happened about 10 minutes until 1pm and the two left lanes are blocked.

Construction closes a portion of the Little Falls trail

 

The Little Falls Trail bridge closest to the Dalecarlia tunnel has been closed for some planned improvements.  I posted about this construction back in September, and it has now started.  This bridge (P17-01) is being replaced, the trail in the area will be repaved, and there will be drainage improvements and stream channel stabilization.  More information is available on the county website.  

Removing the demolished WMAL radio towers

 After the WMAL radio towers were demolished Wednesday morning, they almost immediately started cutting them up and removing them.  The three near Greentree Rd were removed on Thursday and Friday, then on Monday they returned to remove the tower near Renita Ln.  By Monday evening there was just a small amount of cut-up steel lying on the ground.

 The powerful machine you see here would cut through the tower, breaking it down in to a managable size.  It could then pick it up and move it out of the way. the segment looks small, but notice at the bottom part you can see the ladder that went up the tower, this is a good sized chunk of metal.

 While one machine was cutting the tower up, another would scoop up the cut metal debris and move it to the edge of the property for pick-up.

 Here the machine reaches out and takes a bite from the tower. Another tower lies in the background.

 As powerful as the machine is, it can also gently grasp the fallen metal and pick it up, moving it away from the main tower. At this point there is just a stub remaining.

 After the tower was completely cut up, the only thing remaining was to pick up piles of metal and move them to the edge of the property.

 The once majestic towers are reduced to piles of metal like this, just waiting to be picked up and disposed of.

 

If you missed it, you can read my post about the demolition and the field of fallen giants