It made Yahoo too
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2628&ncid=2628&e=79&u=/ap/20060117/ap_on_re_us/geocaching_prosecution

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Originally posted by QwertyToo:
The thing about this one that makes me mad is that it never would have been aproved because it was on a bridge.

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Ummm.. does a walking bridge count?

Yikes!

Like QwertyToo said, this would never have made it through the approval process…I hope.

There are so many types of bridges. Which ones does the Bridge rule apply to? Good question.

It obviuosly applies to highway bridges. Highway bridges are inspected on a regular basis. Inspectors go over the bridge with a fine tooth comb looking for cracks and defects. A geocache would be discovered during the inspection and would probably cause alarm in today’s climate.

I have seen many geocaches submissions that were placed near bridges. When reviewing the cache, I take into account how likely it would be to get discovered during an inspection. Is it actually part of the bridge structure? If the geocache was located and someone thought it was a bomb, would it’s placement blow up the bridge.

It gets pretty tricky to review these sometimes. We always error on the side of safety. We really don’t want to see any of our friends getting arrested.

Per personal “taste” would be that if I place anything “close” to a bridge or under a “foot path” bridge … not that I have as of yet … I would select a “non-threatening” containter to help error on the side of caution.

A small clear tuperware, magnetic key case or film cansiter just has to raise less alarms than a “green pail” or metal ammo can.

[This message has been edited by EnergySaver (edited 01-18-2006).]

FWIW, recreational bridges (such as rails to trails ones) are a different “type” than a highway bridge. If you look at the intent, avoiding placing near infrastructure that could be a terrorist target is the idea, right? I have one placed on an old railroad bridge that is now part of a rec system and the approver had no problem with it when I detailed where it was located, that it was not used for traffic, etc. Oh, and it is not an ammo can. I don’t get hiding under an interstate overpass calling it an “extreme cache” myself. Cest la vie.