Just another brick in the Mall...

From an engineering standpoint I am glad that the pavers serve as a sentinel. Short of a structural bridge under the crosswalk, the venturi effect that syphons fill causes voids. Perpetual repair "works" to keep a huge sinkhole from developing without Trimets' knowledge.

Time to make our elected officials answer to this. Is this costing the city every time a repair is done, or is the contractor eating the costs because they didn't do it right the first time. All electeds should have to be notified of this project, because public works contracts usually require at least two votes - one to kick off the project, and another to close it out and pay the final money. And frequently there's a change order somewhere in the middle to adjust the contract amount due to extenuating circumstances.

Jack, would you kindly run this down for us?

Again,Portland missed a money making opportunity. Back in 1983 I paid $25.00 to have my name placed on a brick to last forever in Pioneer Square. Now factor in for inflation over the past 28 years, at $100.00 per brick that could help Portland's bloated pension debt!.
Of course we are now talking about hundreds of thousands of bricks here.
Still......Cheaper to go by street car?

cc: @mayorsamadams

What's that old definition of insanity again?

You don't understand - These are the new SUSTAINABLE bricks made by child-free factories in diversity-celebrating factories that are powered by windmills and unicorn dung.

Dear god, where's the FLUSH handle for Sam and Randy?

I think they should constantly turn all of the bricks over too.

Kind of like rotating your tires.

That would make them last longer and save millions.

A few weeks ago I got a postcard from trimet about "warranty work" on the transit mall. (who knows why i got it; I live in NE) I bet this is it, and the contractor is paying for it.

Until you people quit electing the same do Democrat party leaders in Portland garbage like this will continue.

Dear Sigma: Could you link me/us to the Trimet transit mall "warranty work" postcard? I Googled same and stopped at contract pdf's

How do you link to a postcard?

It was an actual postcard, that I got in the mail, presumably because I was on the project mailing list way back when. I threw it out, but trust me, it existed.

This project I assume is considered "sustainable" because the runoff from rainfall is able to penetrate the permeable brick surface, thus "filtering" the storm water through the soil. Washing out the foundation material under the brick is apparently and unintended consequence, one that we can not afford...

In Germany I saw many sidewalks and plazas were laid with concrete pavers rather than poured concrete - when underground excavation was needed, just lift up the pavers, do your work and reset. Pretty ingenious.

Here, it seems that anything common sense is not...put down decorative brick in a high traffic area (where it's clearly not intended) so it has to be frequently replaced; while areas that tend to be dug up a lot are poured (concrete or asphalt) just to be dug up again and again. It's sad to see a brand new street laid, only for utility cuts to appear six months later.

Unfortunately, Lather, rinse, repeat...
not only works for projects, but for the public process (or lack of) as well.
What a formula has been cooked up for us!
Those who have been down their merry little path know of what I write...

Until you people quit electing the same do Democrat party leaders in Portland garbage like this will continue.

Do yourself a favor and google "Texas budget shortfall." Ain't just Democrats.

Dave J.
I think people are finally getting it that D and R and their platforms are not what we had. It is now in my view kabuki theater and we the people have to stop playing around and entertaining ourselves, with hopes that somehow it will go back, or a leader will fix....

"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all." Sproul Hall Steps, December 2, 1964[6]
Mario Savio quote

"We can't afford not to" fix the bricks.

Didn't the other day we cover the subject of speed bump lines being painted before speed bumps are even installed?

Classic BOJACK!

The bricks are placed on sand which in turn is laid on poured concrete; thus rainwater does not filter through to the soil, or lead to washouts of the substructure. As I recall, the reasoning behind this construction technique is to reduce the difficulty and expense of making repairs. Bricks in the old bus mall were cemented in place, and repairs were slow in coming. I remember many intersections in the original bus mall with broke, crushed and sunken brickwork.

Dave J - google unemployment, tax rates and personal incomes in Texas while you're at it.

Are these more of those red bricks like those put on the sidewalk in the vicinity of the Greyhound and Amtrak stations? They are slick as ice when wet and that means quite often. I'm sure on my feet but still have to walk very carefully on them. If a private company put these in and someone slips and breaks some bones, it's lawyer time. But the city will do it! Looks over safety.

Bob T
Portland

Bob, same as the cobblestones in the Georgetown district in WashDC: slippery as eel grease when wet, and cobblestones are rounded surface, to boot! In that city the horsey-set coaches go clackity-clack on the cobblestones which is somehow a premium for tourists' buggy rides which maybe pay some liability insurance premiums for just the missteps you speak of.

Steve, that is funny, made me laugh. child-free factories powered by unicorn dung Keen haiku.

Hey, you may say I am predisposed to notice this, but .... In each photo the workers are not looking at their brickwork as much as they are looking over their shoulders or 'surveiling' something (traffic?) along the street.

So, I ask are they really there to redo bricks or is that merely their undercover mask? If the brickers are the feds then it should cost the CoP zip, eh? If there's another incident later, our correspondent might need to ask to see some I.D. and authority papers and street permits for Portland .... Patriot Actors go home.

Oh, what's that you say? Those are real CoP-paid bricktrickers? Oh. Nevermind.
What are they all looking at?

What's weird is they are supposed to have a port-o-let and a food cart at every all-day work site, I think. Someone needs to ask to see some papers.