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View Full Version : I-5 bridge collapse in WA state



redfox
5-24-13, 12:01am
I have driven this literally thousands of times. Insanity.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/05/bridge-collapses-on-interstate-5-over-skagit-river/

Tussiemussies
5-24-13, 12:45am
Just saw two pictures of this on Facebook. They said no one died...thankfully...

redfox
5-24-13, 1:13am
An architect friend posted this, after talking with a structural engine friend of his:


"wow, sounds like an oversized load vehicle hit the bridge, damaged the truss, made it over the bridge and then the whole bridge came down. human error, not deteriorated structure this time around. really knowledgeable eye witness talking to King 5 at the moment. experienced truck driver who was just in front on the truck when it hit as he watched in his rear view mirror."

ApatheticNoMore
5-24-13, 3:22am
Yea crazy, for anyone not west coast familiar, the I-5 is THE major interstate running north past the Canadian border and south I don't know how far south, past the Mexican border maybe. And yes, it just decided to collapse today. I was like, I know we live in more and more of a 3rd world country and all that, and the infrastructure is falling apart, but really?!? Not just a bridge somewhere, but a major interstate. Interesting if it wasn't crumbling infrastructure.

lhamo
5-24-13, 4:38am
Maybe now those idiots in Olympia will stop all this silly business about "we can't raise taxes" and actually get back to the business of governing the state and making the difficult choices that need to be made so that everything doesn't just keep crumbling and disintegrating around us. It is ridiculous how our politics/tax system has come to be controlled by Tim Eyman and the Tea Party and how the part of the state that generates most of the tax base isn't even allowed to tax itself when it wants to to improve its infrastructure.

Thank god nobody was seriously injured or killed.

Rosemary
5-24-13, 8:00am
It was over 5 years ago that the bridge collapse in Minneapolis occurred, and they rated all the bridges in the state, and found that a huge percentage of them were in need of serious repair or replacement. Some of them have had attention since then, but I think most have likely been forgotten...

sylvia
5-24-13, 9:23am
This was totally unacceptable. There was a show briefly on the Discovery channel called "The crumbling of America". It showed the magnitude of outdated bridges that needed repair(which local governments pleaded with the feds to only get declined for federal assistance).The cause has no yet been determined however it is clear that structural integrity was at question here. Even if a truck is oversized the bridge must have handled it in the past many times. Now it couldn't do it anymore because it needed to be shut down due to age and wear. Thank God no one died however will it improve anything? Does someone really have to die to wake people up?

bae
5-24-13, 9:35am
This is a bridge on the federal Interstate system, and as such the Feds pay for 90/95% of the costs. So I might look to blame Washington DC and the idiots there who throw away our money on our war machine, before I got all upset with Tim Eyman (a fellow who writes citizens's initiatives, that the people of the State then vote on...) and the "idiots in Olympia".

redfox
5-24-13, 10:37am
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/video-of-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/?hp

iris lily
5-24-13, 10:37am
It's amazing that no one was killed. Amazing!

citrine
5-24-13, 10:57am
I saw this too and it is absolute craziness! I am so thankful that no one got hurt...but it is time to wake up and start addressing the crumbling infrastructure. There is a saying that charity begins at home....time to do that.

AmeliaJane
5-24-13, 11:42am
There will be many things to say about government and infrastructure related to this incident, but I do think it was nice to have a little miracle this week (in that no one was killed or critically injured) after the devastation in Oklahoma.

ApatheticNoMore
5-24-13, 12:13pm
I'm not sure it goes to repair enough bridges or that the infrastructure is in any better shape but it doesn't seem that difficult to raise taxes to pay for infrastructure in CA. It doesn't go through the state legistlature (but can be directly voted on), and it doesn't have to be done at the state level - still that addresses population centers, not the entire of the interstate, some of which is rural, which I get the impression this bridge was (?).

JaneV2.0
5-24-13, 12:25pm
This is going to be a huge inconvenience to N-S freeway traffic--the detours are circuitous and bound to slow everything down. I feel sorry for anyone who has to travel that way on a regular basis.

I'm glad this didn't involve heavier traffic and worse injuries. All the mayhem caused by the Mississippi Bridge disaster in Minneapolis hasn't kicked off WPA-level infrastructure repair, and I'd hate to see more lives lost to the cause.

I've now seen the Skagit River I-5 bridge from every conceivable angle save from under water...

SteveinMN
5-24-13, 10:41pm
It was over 5 years ago that the bridge collapse in Minneapolis occurred, and they rated all the bridges in the state, and found that a huge percentage of them were in need of serious repair or replacement. Some of them have had attention since then, but I think most have likely been forgotten...
My understanding is that they've inspected every bridge in Minnesota and that repairs have been ranked according to the severity of the problem(s), the amount of traffic the bridge carries, and the alternative routes available to travelers who normally would use the bridge. That's why a huge chunk of money went to the Hastings bridge on US61. There being only so much money available for repairs, other bridge repairs are getting spaced out. In addition, as bridges receive attention, it makes sense (logistically and financially) to address other deficiencies, like lighting or pavement or lack of breakdown lanes, etc. For everything that's involved in routing traffic away from a bridge under repair and for as much as it costs to get the specialized machinery and workers on-site, it makes sense to do as much as you can in one shot and not have to do things twice. But, yes, it does make it seem like many bridges are getting no attention at all.

bae
5-24-13, 10:44pm
This is going to be a huge inconvenience to N-S freeway traffic--the detours are circuitous and bound to slow everything down. I feel sorry for anyone who has to travel that way on a regular basis.


Happening at the very beginning of our tourist season here, and being right smack in the middle of the route to the ferry to my county, it will pretty much wipe out the season if not dealt with shortly. Last time we had a minor nuisance, a ferry dock out of commission, it killed 30% of the businesses on my island. This could well nuke the county.

Tradd
5-24-13, 11:04pm
Did I hear correctly on the radio that the WA governor said they were scouring the country for a used bridge span to hopefully temporarily repair the bridge with?!

redfox
5-25-13, 1:08am
Did I hear correctly on the radio that the WA governor said they were scouring the country for a used bridge span to hopefully temporarily repair the bridge with?!

You did indeed. I am waiting for the deets on that one!

Bae, two friends from Lopez, one of whom performs at Folklife, got on the 1:30 today. They rolled in about 8:00, with a stop for dinner in the UDist. Yikes. (For context, it's a 45 minute ferry rode, and at it's worst, a three hour drive. More commonly, two hours, as I am in SE Seattle. Five hours?!?!? Oh dear...)

I have many friends with small businesses on Lopez, who depend upon the summer folk. I too am worried... As well, the small businesses in Mt. Vernon & Burlington. What a blow.

CathyA
5-25-13, 7:31am
There would be plenty of money for infrastructure, if our taxes weren't constantly wasted.

creaker
5-25-13, 8:54am
Did I hear correctly on the radio that the WA governor said they were scouring the country for a used bridge span to hopefully temporarily repair the bridge with?!

That's just crazy - even if there was, the time and cost and logistics of doing that would not be worth it.

freein05
5-25-13, 12:58pm
I say give up the bomb building business and put the money to use rebuilding America.

bae
5-25-13, 1:39pm
I say give up the bomb building business and put the money to use rebuilding America.

A single F-35C fighter plane costs $280 million-ish...

That's a fair bit of bridge repair.

CathyA
5-25-13, 1:48pm
What a silly country we are, to be letting our infrastructure (and education, etc., etc., etc.) turn to crap, while doing all this other foreign rebuilding/fighting, etc.
What's it going to take to get us to get some common sense?

redfox
5-25-13, 3:46pm
That's just crazy - even if there was, the time and cost and logistics of doing that would not be worth it.

This route is such a major international one that repairing it in weeks instead of months is critical. I just hope it's safe & sound!

bae
5-25-13, 3:53pm
This route is such a major international one that repairing it in weeks instead of months is critical. I just hope it's safe & sound!

I will be taking the back roads down to Seattle from now on :-)

Lainey
5-25-13, 5:53pm
I say give up the bomb building business and put the money to use rebuilding America.

+1

redfox
5-25-13, 8:09pm
I will be taking the back roads down to Seattle from now on :-)

The back road to Mt. Vernon should be adequate!

bae
5-25-13, 9:21pm
The back road to Mt. Vernon should be adequate!

From what I've heard, it's a total disaster in the Mt. Vernon area, with people using all the side roads to get N-S. The best bet seems to be to skirt the whole mess and head further south. Luckily, those other roads are really pretty and fun to drive on.

KayLR
5-26-13, 12:01am
Bae, do you have to go down to Seattle often? Man, what a pain.

Of course this has caused a big broughaha down here in SW WA/PDX because the I-5 bridge between WA/OR (over the Columbia) is also rated similarly (even lower--also "functionally obselete") than the Skagit bridge was. And there's been an ongoing controversy over the proposed bridge replacement for several years as it is. Now it seems to be more urgent in some minds. The addition of light rail to the mix is the sticking point for many.

At any rate, if some random big rig inadvertently nicked one of the girders down here....talk about a mess!!

AnneM
5-26-13, 11:58pm
My dad lives on the east side of Mt. Vernon just south of the bridge collapse (College Way). He called a car dealership west of the freeway on Friday to take his car in for service. They told him not to bother because the traffic was too horrendous. He went anyway, as the car dealership is about 3 miles from his house. It took him over an hour to get there. Costco and the outlet mall are north of the collapsed bridge. He is essentially cut off from there unless he is willing to sit for hours in gridlock. I hope the Feds get the bridge fixed quickly. It is crazy how something like this 160 foot span of missing bridge is affecting so many people and businesses.

flowerseverywhere
5-27-13, 7:06am
That's just crazy - even if there was, the time and cost and logistics of doing that would not be worth it.
actually years ago in upstate NY they relocated a bridge. They built a new bridge and took the old one, refurbished it in pieces and floated it down the river and trucked pieces to a new area where there was a one lane bridge. It saved millions and was cool to watch the barges float down with huge pieces. Recycling at a high form. Of course, where it was relocated to was a low use area, nothing like what is being described here. I tried to find an article or pictures about it but this is all I could find, the proposal which is very interesting for some of you engineering type people. it is a NY department of transportation presentation https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/structures/repository/events-news/presentations-05/belgium_bridge_lbc2005.pdf