As we arrived at the Walnut Street span and issued the customary long-short blast to request a bridge opening, nothing happened. The Wilmington fire boat was closing fast on our stern. I spotted the guy wearing his orange and black DelDOT T-shirt leaning out the bridge house window. His response to the horn signal was to raise his thumb skyward in a questioning manner. I responded in kind and the bridge went.
Hand signals are difficult to see at night.
A DelDOT district supervisor said signaling devices and other potential glitches, like the burned-out navigational lights, had been thoroughly inspected for the big event. But stuff happens. Another amusement on the Walnut Street Bridge was the method used to alert vehicles and pedestrians that it was about to be raised, to the astonishment, I'm quite sure, of many. It's an ear-piercing siren that instantly causes ladies in blue hair to pop their bobbie pins while small pets dash for cover. People in Newport can hear this thing and are probably still wondering where all the fires were.