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Post by chokai on Oct 23, 2007 11:50:50 GMT -8
For my own education... Other than the more than one flooded compartment issue what about the design (not the condition) of the SEs makes them not pass the inspections without the exemptions? I'm assuming there are also some accessibility issues also such as stairway width and # etc...
Can someone point me to a doc listing the deficiences perhaps?
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Post by Barnacle on Oct 23, 2007 13:14:00 GMT -8
Is the shallow draft of the ferry needed for Keystone Harbor a contributing factor in the famous "bumpy ride" that is frequently encountered on the PT-Keystone run? If so, it seems that we wouldn't want to recreate that effect in either a new or used replacement vessel. Or is the ride due to something else specific to the steel-electrics? Or, would the Issaquah bounce around out there like a buoy on some days, too, just like the s-e's? (I'm kinda doubting this one.) Well, anything that gets built for that run and will have a capacity equal to the Steel-Electrics will be wider than a Steel-Electric (those lanes are pretty narrow) to meet the needs of commercial traffic, two-person-plus wide stairwells, elevators etc., and yet the bottom of Keystone Harbor is still bedrock. So the boats will be even more bathtub-like than the Steel-Electrics and, unfortunately, that will exacerbate the bumpy ride. It's pretty much unavoidable. And there are days when an Issaquah would also get bounced around like a pea on a drum. It's nearly open ocean out there, and sometimes the Pacific... isn't.
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Post by zman on Oct 26, 2007 9:21:24 GMT -8
Wider lanes on the auto deck would also be somewhat helpful. Also, higher auto deck clearance...that could make the boat a little top-heavy though...hmmmm
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Post by Barnacle on Oct 27, 2007 9:08:14 GMT -8
Especially given the shallow-draft requirements that a forced move of the terminal would eliminate. Hmmm...
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Post by SS Shasta on Nov 18, 2007 14:59:39 GMT -8
It might be interesting to examine the maintenance budget and record for the Steel Electrics for the five or so years prior to the 2007 problems. Did voters in Washington State reject a plan for their replacement several years ago? Could WSF Management have seriously underfund their annual maintence during this period?
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Post by Barnacle on Nov 18, 2007 15:31:53 GMT -8
It might be interesting to examine the maintenance budget and record for the Steel Electrics for the five or so years prior to the 2007 problems. Did voters in Washington State reject a plan for their replacement several years ago? Could WSF Management have seriously underfund their annual maintence during this period? (1) No. (2) No more so than any other vessel. Five years ago Washington State Ferries was run by a man named Mike Thorne, who was given his orders: cut the budget. He did so, producing a smaller budget at the cost of preventative maintenance. I'm savoring the irony that Washington State Ferries, twenty years ago, was lauded for its fiscal conservativism for renovating four rather old boats instead of trying to replace them. And WSF admitted that the work would extend the lives of the boats twenty years... the last one was completed 21 years ago, and everyone's acting surprised. Stop looking for conspiracies; they're simply old boats that have been pushed well beyond time.
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Post by old_wsf_fan on Nov 18, 2007 22:03:56 GMT -8
If anyone is interested, the Everett Herald has obtained the results of all of the hull surveys of the Steel-Electrics.
It is pretty interesting reading and there are photos of each of the vessels inner structures.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Nov 18, 2007 23:21:25 GMT -8
Is it on there website old_wsf_fan? That sounds fairly interesting since no other media organization I would have believed would have done that sort of effort in reporting about the Steely's.
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Post by BreannaF on Nov 19, 2007 1:25:48 GMT -8
Is it on there website old_wsf_fan? That sounds fairly interesting since no other media organization I would have believed would have done that sort of effort in reporting about the Steely's. There are links to all of the reports at www.heraldnet.com/article/20071118/NEWS01/711180117 and you will want to look under the section that says "Additional Items". The report for each boat runs 125 to 160 pages for each ferry. However, there is also a copy of a 33 page summary report that was sent to lawmakers who only wanted to deal with the executive summary. All are in pdf format.
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Post by Barnacle on Nov 19, 2007 7:40:19 GMT -8
Oh, my. I think I'll grab those for a look-see... not all in one go of reading, mind you.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Nov 19, 2007 12:19:32 GMT -8
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Post by Barnacle on Nov 19, 2007 21:29:55 GMT -8
Good call, that. Prolly waiting to see how deep they ultimately get on the Quinault, money-wise, and comparing repair costs of the Nisqually to those of the Klickitat. I strongly suspect there won't be money to do both.
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