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Post by jakesrocks on May 23, 2013 22:43:38 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on May 23, 2013 22:55:19 GMT -5
Bump. Hope our Washington members check in and ley us know they're OK
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Post by tntmom on May 23, 2013 23:38:46 GMT -5
From what I am hearing on the news, an oversized box truck with a pilot car in front of it caused the collapse. The pilot car was not far enough in front of the over sized load and by the time the pilot extension pole hit part of the bridge the over load truck was too close to stop at 60mph and knicked a part of the bridge. The overload truck made it across the bridge before the collapse. Three people have been rescued and no one knows if any other people/vehicles are in the water. No fatalities have been found at this time. They have slowed down the dams so that divers can get into the water.
This is the main corridor from Washington to Canada. Well, actually Mexico, to Cali, to OR, to WA and then BC. Wowzers, I can't even imagine what is going to happen now. The other bridge across the river is a small 2 lane. Wonder if it can handle the 71,000 vehicles a day?
I'm just glad my parents didn't leave for Lummi Island tonight (they usually leave Thursday and pick up dinner on the way), the bridge collapsed at 7pm. Instead they had some business quotes to do and decided to leave Friday morning. Don't think they will make it there anytime soon though now...... BUT they're safe!
Even though this is going to be a nightmare for many many people, it looks like no one died! (Praying!!!)
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Post by jakesrocks on May 23, 2013 23:51:10 GMT -5
Glad you and your parents are safe Krystee. Just wish the rest of the Washington folks would check in.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 0:07:50 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 1:23:50 GMT -5
King5 is reporting no casualties I hope that proves to be correct come morning. Terrible!
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rxscram
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 484
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Post by rxscram on May 24, 2013 9:39:04 GMT -5
My brother goes across that bridge twice a day to/from work... glad he's okay!
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Post by Rockoonz on May 24, 2013 11:26:28 GMT -5
I have not been that far north in years. Whoever owns the oversize truck that clipped the bridge is gonna be in deep doodoo.
Lee
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 13:10:23 GMT -5
CNN seems to be reporting no fatalities as of an hour ago. www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/us/washington-bridge-collapse/index.htmlHopefullly you washingtonians can see what happened here in LA after the earthquakes. They got bridges re-built in days, not weeks. Of course our bridges were not over water and that could complicate things.
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bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
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Post by bhiatt on May 24, 2013 13:14:19 GMT -5
My brother goes across that bridge twice a day to/from work... glad he's okay! that is crazy. glad he wasnt on it. The local news here has been showing coverage of it quite a bit.
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Post by parfive on May 25, 2013 13:36:23 GMT -5
Been a good week for infrastructure. If ya know what’s good for ya, avoid trains & bridges this holiday weekend. Connecticut, last week – Commuter trains collide after derailment, northeast rail corridor closed for days. Somehow, I-95 overpass escapes unharmed. ;D Texas, last Sunday, Monday – About 300 yards of railroad trestle bridge goes up in flames and collapses like dominos, @ 1:05 on the video. www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Fire-Consumes-Central-Texas-Railroad-Bridge-208191871.htmlWashington, Thursday evening – Qanuck truck driver wipes out I-5 bridge into Skagit River. Missouri, this morning – Two freight trains collide, collapse highway bridge. usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/25/18490608-seven-injured-in-missouri-as-trains-collide-trigger-highway-bridge-collapse?lite
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Post by parfive on May 26, 2013 23:10:21 GMT -5
F’n idjits can’t even blame it on the metric system. [NTSB] Investigators said this weekend that the driver had a proper permit for a load measuring 15 feet, 9 inches. He said he had rechecked the height of his load several times along his route.
But the bridge, at its lowest point, is only 14 feet, 6 inches high — which isn't posted anywhere, the NTSB said. That's because Washington state law doesn't require the clearance height to be posted unless it's less than 14 feet, 5 inches.
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Post by helens on May 26, 2013 23:40:29 GMT -5
money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=a7d06550-479b-4bc1-9aba-9814e3a505d6www.businessinsider.com/skagit-bridge-collapse-infrastructure-spending-2013-5Obama addressed the need for spending on our infrastructure last year in his state of the Union address. The Republicans called him a tax and spender. Poo poo poo. They could fix a whole lot of bridges with the money they're spending 'investigating' pointless crap in Congress. For the POLL MACHINE cheating the Republicans did during the 2012 election, the Democrats elected to let it go, because the nation needed the money too badly to waste on making a point. We have to pay our bills first, and well, the pittance we could allocate to fixing... BRIDGES! It's like spending money on a private detective to see if your wife is cheating out of curiosity, when you can't keep the lights on. What a bunch of stupid lamers Congress is full of. Get RID of these losers in 2014, so we can fix this country!!!
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bushmanbilly
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Post by bushmanbilly on May 27, 2013 1:11:24 GMT -5
money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=a7d06550-479b-4bc1-9aba-9814e3a505d6www.businessinsider.com/skagit-bridge-collapse-infrastructure-spending-2013-5Obama addressed the need for spending on our infrastructure last year in his state of the Union address. The Republicans called him a tax and spender. Poo poo poo. They could fix a whole lot of bridges with the money they're spending 'investigating' pointless crap in Congress. For the POLL MACHINE cheating the Republicans did during the 2012 election, the Democrats elected to let it go, because the nation needed the money too badly to waste on making a point. We have to pay our bills first, and well, the pittance we could allocate to fixing... BRIDGES! It's like spending money on a private detective to see if your wife is cheating out of curiosity, when you can't keep the lights on. What a bunch of stupid lamers Congress is full of. Get RID of these losers in 2014, so we can fix this country!!! ;D
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Post by helens on May 27, 2013 1:36:06 GMT -5
www.businessinsider.com/american-bridges-in-need-of-repair-2012-6?op=1Something that drives that point home is how badly some of our essential infrastructure has decayed. As of last year, 11.5 percent of US bridges, crossed by an average of 282,672,680 vehicles daily, were graded as "structurally deficient" by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The National Bridge Inventory is used by the FHWA to create a list of eligible projects for the federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program. According to the FHWA "HBRRP funds can only be used to replace or to rehabilitate bridges which are significantly important and are unsafe."
Bridges with a sufficiency rating of 80 percent or less that have not been built or significantly repaired within the last 10 years are considered "structurally deficient" and appear on the list.
From the FHWA's guidance on the program: "Those bridges appearing on the list with a sufficiency rating of less than 50.0 will be eligible for replacement or rehabilitation while those with a sufficiency rating of 80.0 or less will be eligible for rehabilitation."
Private construction is way up, but reduced public spending is a drag on the economy.
When we have 8.2 percent unemployment, historically low borrowing rates, and a stagnant recovery, we need to be fixing this and building better infrastructure for the future. Here's somewhere we can start.
Note on terminology: A sufficiency rating is a measure of a bridge's sufficiency to stay in service based on four separate factors. A deck is the bridge's supporting surface, the superstructure supports the deck, and the substructure is the bridge's foundation. Each of the following bridges is on the FHA's list, and has a sufficiency rating below 80, which is the threshold below which a bridge is considered deficient.
www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57489778/urgency-rising-to-fix-nations-crumbling-bridges/(CBS News) Every time you drive over a bridge, you might wonder how strong it is. The facts show America's bridges are getting weaker every day.
The federal government says 1 out of 8 bridges is considered structurally deficient.
The collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, five years ago last week, was the most dramatic and horrific example of what can happen.
"That bridge tragically cost the lives of 13 people and injured another 145," points out Barry LePatner, author of "Too Big to Fall: America's Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward."
He says the next disaster is much closer than anyone wants to believe. "Since 1989," LePatner notes, "we've had nearly 600 bridge failures in this country and, while they're not widely publicized ... a large number of bridges in every state are really a danger to the traveling public."
The most recent federal highway report, in 2009, found that, of the 600,000 bridges in the U.S., 72,000 were "structurally deficient," meaning in poor condition. Eighteen-thousand were deemed "fracture critical," meaning there's no redundancy: If one piece fails, the whole bridge does.
Nearly 8,000 bridges fell into both those categories, including the longest bridge in New York State, the Tappan Zee, which is now seven years beyond its intended 50-year lifespan and carrying much more traffic than it was designed to handle.
"It's a dinosaur -- that's the issue," says Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, who believes infrastructure has taken a back seat during tough economic times. Wonder how many people need to die before the Republican Congress will allocate repair money?
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 27, 2013 6:22:10 GMT -5
That is a shame.We would be crippled w/out I-95.Glad everyone is OK.
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bushmanbilly
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Post by bushmanbilly on May 27, 2013 9:31:41 GMT -5
money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=a7d06550-479b-4bc1-9aba-9814e3a505d6www.businessinsider.com/skagit-bridge-collapse-infrastructure-spending-2013-5Obama addressed the need for spending on our infrastructure last year in his state of the Union address. The Republicans called him a tax and spender. Poo poo poo. They could fix a whole lot of bridges with the money they're spending 'investigating' pointless crap in Congress. For the POLL MACHINE cheating the Republicans did during the 2012 election, the Democrats elected to let it go, because the nation needed the money too badly to waste on making a point. We have to pay our bills first, and well, the pittance we could allocate to fixing... BRIDGES! It's like spending money on a private detective to see if your wife is cheating out of curiosity, when you can't keep the lights on. What a bunch of stupid lamers Congress is full of. Get RID of these losers in 2014, so we can fix this country!!! Geez Helen, if your neighbor's dog crapped on your lawn. I bet you would find away to blame the republicans.There are 2 parties at fault here. Has nothing to do with politics. 1. The DOT employee that approved the permit for the truck is the number one a fault. The employee was not on the ball with the limits of the road. 2. The state is at fault for not posting the height of the bridge. The politicians were smoking crack when they passed the law that no overhead bridge below 14' needed signage. Don't be surprised if the trucker and trucking company files a lawsuit. This has nothing to do with Washington. But I guess since Barry is up to his neck in bullshit. And is dragging his party over a cliff for 2014. (disapproval rating at 51% and falling) All the Dem. propaganda machines are in high gear and in damage control.
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Post by helens on May 27, 2013 13:22:10 GMT -5
Repairing bridges have nothing to do with Washington, Billy:)? Who does it have to do with:)?
Obama's been calling for infrastructure repair since the day he took office. We spent months arguing about it here... hiring for bridges and rails and other infrastructure improvements would have hired a TON of people, since the economy was trashed mostly by laid off construction workers in many parts of the country. The Republicans wanted to get rid of Obama more than they care about the nation.
Why do you write about the US, when you obviously know little about either how it works, who does what, or well, anything else other than Koch and Fox News memes?
49% approval is bad, when George Bush won reelection with less than 47% of the popular vote, and Obama's APPROVAL rating is 49%? In Bush's 2nd term, his approval dropped as low as 23%. LOL!
And Congress matters because it's Congress who decides what money goes where. The President submitted a budget, including bridge and roadwork repair... and the Republicans removed it. We have the lowest spending on infrastructure for decades, with the last repairs done over 10 years ago.
Congressional Republicans seems to think the way you do, Billy... must more interesting spending our money on controversy and investigating lawyers instead of boring stuff like bridges. Besides, Obama wants to spend money fixing bridges, so of course he can't have any.
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Post by parfive on May 28, 2013 16:47:25 GMT -5
Holiday’s over, back to work . . . WHITE MARSH, Md. — A freight train derailed outside Baltimore after colliding with a tractor-trailer on Tuesday afternoon, sending a huge plume of smoke billowing from flaming wreckage.
Fifteen cars from the CSX-owned train were derailed and two were on fire following the accident, according to Baltimore County officials. Images from the scene revealed nearby buildings sustained substantial damage from the explosion.
CSX spokesman Gary Sease says in an email that sodium chlorate is on one of the trains. He says the Department of Transportation classifies it as a hazardous material.
But Baltimore County Fire Chief John J. Hohman says the chemical is not toxic when inhaled and fire officials did not order an evacuation.
They did encourage anyone within 20 blocks who can see the smoke to leave though. ;D
The derailment in White Marsh led to an explosion that rattled homes at least a half-mile away and collapsed nearby buildings. The National Transportation Safety Board also announced it was running out of teams to investigate accidents.
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Post by helens on May 28, 2013 16:52:42 GMT -5
And this is why we have to get rid of the money grubbing Republicans in office. As I said before, HOW MANY people must DIE before the Republicans in Congress will allocate more money to fixing our infrastructure than to 'investigate' stupid and pointless things that will lead exactly nowhere?
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