I-5 bridge callapse

[wannadrag]

Absolutely. In truss type bridges the entire structure is holding up the roadbed. The failure of any of the structural elements (steel girders in this case) can cause the failure of the entire span. It's almost like a house of cards, if one card goes down, the entire house goes with it. Newer types of bridge construction have a better chance of surviving an event like an earthquake, windstorm or the mechanical damage that this bridge had.

Totally agree,i just hate the demo on them as you just never know whats going to happen on a cut.Most of the time if the water is shallow we will flop them in the drink as its much safer.

 

[19polara64]

A couple of things, the opening was curved, lower on the outsides higher in the middle so if the truck moved just a couple of feet inboard it would clear the rest of the beams. On a side note, one thing I've seen happen, when they pave a road they don't always change the sign right away. If i see new pavement, I'm leery.

 

[pabster]

Pabster, please if you don't want to partake in political discussions where it's appropriate, please don't subject others here. Shame on you.

Sorry, I usually don't attack , but this really shouldn't be here.

Shame on me? Seems a bit harsh for an off the cuff comment. Here's how our infrastructure stacks up according to the American Society of Civil Engineers:

http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/home

Estimated investment in infrastructure needed by 2020- 3.6 Trillion dollars. We send Afghanistan 6.8 Billion dollars a year, Israel $2.8 B, Egypt $1.3B, Iraq and Pakistan $1B. A year. Ok, it's a drop in the bucket, but every bit helps, if you ask me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_aid

I'll take roads and bridges being maintained properly with our taxes over sending other countries that money. This bridge most likely would not have failed if the money was made available to maintain it properly, but politicians on both sides of the aisle have other priorities. Yeah, this is a political observation, but it is in regards to the original thread.

So take your shame and shove it.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Update: They are pulling the wreckage of the old bridge span out of the river right now and the WSDOT seems to think that they can have a temporary span built offsite, trucked in, placed on the old piers and have the freeway reopened by mid June. A new "permanent" span will be built next to the temporary span and placed sometime in September closing the freeway for another 2 weeks. I'm hoping that this timetable comes close to being accurate because the traffic around here now is FU#%*D.
It's inconvenient for most people around here, but I really feel for the small business in the area that are suffering because of this mess. Some places say that their business is off as much as 75% and I believe them. The NAPA store that I used to work at is on the detour route and it's almost impossible to make parts deliveries to the repair shops or for retail customers to get to the store.
The worst part (I'm just kidding here) is that I'm cut off from some of my favorite cruise spots and car shows until this is fixed. So Sad!

 

[pabster]

Moparsmitty- I lived in SEA for 8 years, I remember all the road trips to Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Canada well. There were so many bottlenecks on the drive up, Mt Vernon being one of them. Can't imagine how FUBAR your traffic is- hope they sort it out soon and you get your cruise back!

 

[Moparsmitty]

Update: The temporary I-5 bridge over the Skagit river in Washington opened up this morning. Amazingly the temporary bridge was installed by Bailey Bridge in less than a month. There is a big sigh of relief in the area now that things can get back to semi-normal. Many of the local businesses suffered huge drops in sales because of the traffic mess and I've heard that a couple of places that were kind of on the edge have gone out of business.
Contractors are starting to build the permanent replacement span next to the temporary span and it will be rolled into place this fall. They say that the change to the permanent span will take less than 12 hours. Amazing stuff.

 

[Photon440]

Amazing how quickly things get built when they just HAVE TO GET DONE. I'm glad the residents have that route open up again.

 

[A383Wing]

:headbang: