GSA Architect Saves Atlanta Drivers from Hazard
October 25, 2012
Nothing could have prepared Brian Kimsey for the danger he and other drivers faced recently during what seemed to be a normal trip to run errands.
While driving down Atlanta’s Piedmont Road, the Regional Chief Architect for GSA’s Southeast Sunbelt Region encountered road damage along the busy corridor that split the side wall of his front right tire and caused it to blow. Kimsey continued to drive a few more miles to the safety of
his home, not realizing what caused the explosion.
“I knew I’d hit something pretty substantial,” Kimsey said. It wasn’t until Kimsey drove back to the site in a different vehicle that he discovered the gaping holes that damaged his car.
“There were holes on the bridge along the expansion joint,” Kimsey stated. “In some places there was no concrete, just steel [reinforcement bars]. It was a pretty dangerous situation that was getting worse every time a car passed. I could see water from the creek below through the holes.”
Kimsey said the bridge’s condition was quickly deteriorating. He saw concrete fragments falling into the creek as he stood nearby. Kimsey took pictures and emailed “Commuter Dude” John Gerard, a reporter turned road hazard sleuth for an Atlanta television station.
“It was frustrating to know that people were going to keep hitting it and damaging their vehicles,” said Kimsey.
Gerard contacted the Georgia Department of Transportation, which immediately sent crews to repair the state road, and later aired a news story about Kimsey’s experience. Kimsey said he was relieved that he reached out to Gerard first because he was not aware that the street was
under the state’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Kimsey remains modest about his ordeal. Recently, when a colleague suggested that the measures this architect of more than 40 years took to protect other drivers from an increasingly dangerous road hazard was akin to “saving lives,” Kimsey calmly responded, “This
was a lot more about saving tires.”
He later confessed, “I just think I did the right thing.”
Check out news footage about Kimsey’s experience.
By Saudia Muwwakkil, Regional Public Affairs Officer
