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View Full Version : I-5 bridge collapses in Mount Vernon WA.



FORD
05-24-2013, 12:47 AM
http://media.komonews.com/images/130522_bridge_collapse_2a.jpg


Cars, people sent tumbling into Skagit River as I-5 bridge collapses
By KOMO Staff & news services Published: May 23, 2013 at 7:39 PM PDT Last Updated: May 23, 2013 at 9:44 PM PDT

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. -- The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed Thursday evening, dropping three vehicles into the water and injuring at least three people.

Both the northbound and southbound portions of the bridge collapsed into the river sometime before 7 p.m., according to Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis.

Marcus Deyerin of the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team said a number of cars were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, and three vehicles were dumped into the river.

Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.

"It doesn't look like anybody's in danger right now," Grospe said.

Rescue crews in at least three boats were able to pull three people from the semi-submerged vehicles, which are tangled in the wreckage of the bridge.

All three were taken taken to a local hospital and the extent of their injuries is not known. Nobody was killed in the collapse.

Bart Treece with the Washington State Department of Transportation was unsure when the bridge was last inspected.

"All of our bridges in the area are pretty old," he said.

The bridge is not considered structurally deficient but is listed as being "functionally obsolete" - a category meaning that their design is outdated, such as having narrow shoulders are low clearance underneath, according to a database compiled by the Federal Highway Administration.

The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data, but 759 bridges in the state have a lower sufficiency score.

According to a 2012 Skagit County Public Works Department, 42 of the county's 108 bridges that are 50 years or older. The document says eight of the bridges are more than 70 years old and two are over 80.

Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state's bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington's 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.

WSDOT's Travis Phelps said his department is already speaking with contractors to rebuild the bridge, but he cautioned that the bridge will be out of commission for the foreseeable future.

"This is going to be a long-term situation, so don't expect this to be fixed by Monday," he said.

WSDOT bridge inspectors are now trying to determine what caused the collapse. They're investigating reports that an oversized truck hit a portion of the bridge just prior to the collapse.

Officials from Seattle City Light say the Army Corps of Engineers has not asked them to reduce water discharge from SCL's Skagit Dam.

Southbound traffic is being routed off at State Route 9, while northbound traffic is being routed off at George Hopper, according to WSDOT.

FORD
05-24-2013, 12:49 AM
Thankfully, nobody got killed, but goddamn it, this is what fucking happens when you let Repukes pillage a state treasury and you don't keep the goddamn infrastructure up to date.

How many more goddamn bridges need to collapse before people WAKE THE FUCK UP???

ELVIS
05-24-2013, 12:50 AM
Obomba said the shovel ready projects weren't as shovel ready as he thought...

ELVIS
05-24-2013, 12:51 AM
:elvis:

ELVIS
05-24-2013, 12:54 AM
So if repukes never existed the bridge would be standing today ??

FORD
05-24-2013, 12:59 AM
If the state still collected enough revenue from licensing luxury cars, SUV's and fucking luxury RV's that cost over $100,000, then there would be enough budget to fix the infrastructure.

But thanks to that teabagging, self-promoting, piece of shit Eyman, it's the same license tab fee whether or not you own a used Yugo or a goddamned brand new $250,000 land yacht. That fucking bastard has robbed millions from this state. And tonight he came close to committing murder.

And should be charged accordingly.

LoungeMachine
05-24-2013, 01:00 AM
So if repukes never existed the bridge would be standing today ??

Yes.

The GOP is long gone, replaced by bought and paid for puppets of the likes of Grover Norquist and the NRA.

You really think lack of Infrastructure Funding is a DEM problem?????

:gulp:

Taxes keep bridges up.

FORD
05-24-2013, 01:03 AM
So if repukes never existed the bridge would be standing today ??

Considering how long it took to fix the Huey P. Long bridge, do you REALLY need to ask that question???

LoungeMachine
05-24-2013, 01:05 AM
If the state still collected enough revenue from licensing luxury cars, SUV's and fucking luxury RV's that cost over $100,000, then there would be enough budget to fix the infrastructure.

Shit it shouldn't even be that focused...... cheap cars drive roads and bridges too.

Instead of bombing countries and rebuilding them with billions, how about the FED just take care of the INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

[ Built by a GOP POTUS ]

:gulp:

LoungeMachine
05-24-2013, 01:06 AM
And fuck Tim Eyman

:gulp:

FORD
05-24-2013, 01:13 AM
Shit it shouldn't even be that focused...... cheap cars drive roads and bridges too.

Instead of bombing countries and rebuilding them with billions, how about the FED just take care of the INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

[ Built by a GOP POTUS ]

:gulp:

I don't disagree with that. Just saying we used to have properly maintained roads and bridges in this state, and that all went to Hell after Asshat Eyman started raping the state budget.

Every last one of his badly written initiatives needs to be repealed. Before somebody actually dies the next time this shit happens.

conmee
05-24-2013, 01:30 AM
Well they better replace the 520 before that bitch sinks... I figured if I'd stayed with Microsoft that I'd die on that bridge or some freak dormant volcano eruption....

That is all.©®™

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FORD
05-24-2013, 01:41 AM
520 is under construction, but of course given the volume of traffic that goes over that bridge, and all the connecting highways on a daily basis, they can only really work during the weekends, so it's going to be a long project....

But at least it's getting there.

They also had to make it a toll bridge to help finance it. Just as they did with the Narrows Bridge when they built a second bridge there a few years back.

None of which would have been needed before Eyman pillaged the treasury.

Romeo Delight
05-24-2013, 01:48 AM
What about that ancient bridge in portland? I grip all the way over that pile of junk

conmee
05-24-2013, 01:53 AM
Yeah I was back there in Jan 2012 shortly after the toll was introduced and I knew there wasn't a toll when I left in 2008. Got dinged for tolls by Hertz. There's a good chance a moderate earthquake or really rough storm will partially sink it before completion of new bridge.

So I guess the tunnel to replace the viaduct kicks off soon or has it already?

That is all.©®™

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FORD
05-24-2013, 02:06 AM
What about that ancient bridge in portland? I grip all the way over that pile of junk

Yeah, that one is getting pretty bad too. Last I heard they were working on a replacement, but they might have to put up some sort of "temporary" bridge first, so they can tear down the old one and put the new bridge in the same spot. They can't just detour everyone over to 205, because that's way over on the east end of town.

And of course there, you have the added bueracracy of two states being involved.

Romeo Delight
05-24-2013, 02:07 AM
We built a new bridge from Surrey to Vancouver...it is the widest bridge in North America I believe.

Well in winter it had icicles the size of harpoons falling through windshields...they learned to heat those cables pretty quick

http://www.surreyleader.com/news/184171091.html

FORD
05-24-2013, 03:30 AM
News coverage from earlier tonight.

Northern Girl
05-24-2013, 08:10 AM
Lucky no one died. I think 15 died when this happened in Minneapolis. :(

ELVIS
05-24-2013, 08:41 AM
Repukes are making bridges fall...:biggrin:

ELVIS
05-24-2013, 08:43 AM
You really think lack of Infrastructure Funding is a DEM problem?????

:gulp:



It's not a left or right problem, dumbfuck...

conmee
05-24-2013, 12:13 PM
Apparently some guy (liberal union type) drove a wide load with drilling equipment over the bridge and knocked out one of the cross-beams which weakened the bridge and initiated its collapse... So looks like if was a Demo/Union cause those time around, though there was already Repub/Capitalist decrepitation ongoing. So I'm reaching across the aisle today and blaming both parties.

That is all.©®™

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ashstralia
05-24-2013, 12:22 PM
there's quite a few ancient wooden bridges in my shire; but the council are gradually replacing them all.
the fact that they're still solid after 80 odd years is testament to the engineering and craftsmanship of the original builders.
and quality local hardwood.

there's a local guy who salvages the timber and makes furniture out of it. he does extremely well for himself.

nothing the size of that though. those big ones are immaculately maintained, since we're the major route from sydney to brisbane.

cadaverdog
05-24-2013, 12:28 PM
I used to drive over that bridge several times a month when I lived in Oak Harbor. It's not very high but the water looks treacherous below it. Lots of whirlpools which tells of a dangerous undercurrent. The Deception Pass bridge was much scarier. I doubt you'd survive the impact when you hit the water because it's so high. The road surface across it looks like shit. And the railings don't look very sturdy at all.

FORD
05-24-2013, 12:30 PM
It's not a left or right problem, dumbfuck...

Like Hell it isn't.

A right wing shitbag raped and pillaged the budget of Washington state.

Right wing shitbags raped and pillaged the budget of the United States.

Right wing shitbags in Congress consistently vote AGAINST infrastructure.

FORD
05-24-2013, 12:36 PM
Apparently some guy (liberal union type) drove a wide load with drilling equipment over the bridge and knocked out one of the cross-beams which weakened the bridge and initiated its collapse... So looks like if was a Demo/Union cause those time around, though there was already Repub/Capitalist decrepitation ongoing. So I'm reaching across the aisle today and blaming both parties.

That is all.©®™

Icon©®™

I haven't heard anything about the truck driver's political affiliation one way or the other, but I'm thinking he wasn't a Teamster, or he would have been properly trained enough to know he couldn't get across that bridge safely with that load.

And the trucker's negligence may very well have been the direct cause of the collapse, but it doesn't change the fact that this bridge was already known to be structurally obsolete.

Nitro Express
05-24-2013, 02:06 PM
The Democrats had their bases loaded. They proved they are just as corrupt as the Republicans are. Hey the US has been used for other people's ATM for a long-time. Blaming the other party isn't going to change a thing.

LoungeMachine
05-24-2013, 02:24 PM
Like Hell it isn't.

A right wing shitbag raped and pillaged the budget of Washington state.

Right wing shitbags raped and pillaged the budget of the United States.

Right wing shitbags in Congress consistently vote AGAINST infrastructure.

Exactly.

Meanwhile we have a glorified Monorail with no parking, and gridlock on 405, 520, 5, and 90 8 hours a day.

:gulp:

Moving out of the city after 45 years there just to get away from traffic was the last option.

LoungeMachine
05-24-2013, 02:31 PM
The Democrats had their bases loaded. They proved they are just as corrupt as the Republicans are. Hey the US has been used for other people's ATM for a long-time. Blaming the other party isn't going to change a thing.

3 on base, but never loaded. Fix the filibuster rule and then maybe the bases could be "loaded"

:gulp:

FORD
05-24-2013, 02:45 PM
And when the three on base are the likes of Harry Reid, Joe Lieberman, and Max Baucus, they're usually running backwards.

FORD
05-24-2013, 02:49 PM
I guess the only good news in all of this, is that they already replaced the old 99 bridge that runs parallel to this one, because that's probably where the detour is going to be.

That thing was so scary that there's no doubt the extra traffic would have made it collapse too. I remember being freaked out by that rusty old piece of shit back in the 80s.

FORD
05-24-2013, 02:53 PM
And BTW... regarding the I-5 bridge across the Columbia River to Portland.....

Half of that bridge (the north bound side) was built in 1915!

There should not be century old bridges on the main transportation/shipping corridor of the West Coast, for fucks sake.

FORD
05-24-2013, 06:29 PM
A little perspective on the USA's infrastructure after 32 years of BCE/Trickle Down/Reverse Robin Hood economic bullshit........

http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/50f72cc86bb3f7b451000016-1058-821-610-/screen%20shot%202013-01-16%20at%205.41.32%20pm.png

Hey.... at least we're still better than Malaysia and Slovenia. I guess that's something? :(

FORD
05-24-2013, 06:37 PM
This one's a few months old, but applicable to this situation......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wqqPJcPN3GM

ELVIS
05-24-2013, 09:51 PM
*yawn*

FORD
05-25-2013, 07:58 PM
<embed name="msnbc4cb436" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="640" height="480" FlashVars="launch=51996589&amp;width=640&amp;height=480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>

As usual, Rachel nails it......

FORD
05-26-2013, 03:22 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEteJA8Z_8

Satan
05-26-2013, 07:00 PM
Repukes have a bridge to sell you.......

<embed name="msnbc8a6835" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="640" height="480" FlashVars="launch=52009346&amp;width=640&amp;height=480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>