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Bridge Collapse in Skagit County, Washington

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_woLf said:
It's weird having something like this happen so close to home. I hope everyone is okay :(

Portland-GAF, the Interstate Bridge connecting Portland and Vancouver is built very similar to this bridge. I hope to god that this gets both Salem & Olympia talking agreements regarding replacing the bridge so we don't have to get to the point where it collapses like this.
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Yeah, I noticed the similarities immediately :\ There are far too many bridges around here that people depend on far to much for them to be in such shoddy shape. I really hope no one was killed :(

Then again, we're pretty much screwed when The Big One hits whether our bridges are retrofitted or not :|
 
Paches-EJ- said:
It is going to make the other bridge which connects the downtown portions of both cities a freaking nightmare.



Ah, '06 here. My brother was '02.
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Yeah, the problem isn't so much the distance. The detour wouldn't be very long, it's just that the detour that will be handling the traffic has MAJOR congestion problems as it is. We already have a hard time handling the traffic between our two towns.

Ugh, and right after tulip season too.

Oh, and Mount Vernon '08 here, since everyone else seems to be mentioning it. There's no reason to hate the bulldogs. It's not like we're even competition really, hahahaha.
 
Paches-EJ- said:
Galloping Gertie.

tumblr_lh3urfhBGM1qbbakzo1_500.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

Ironically enough, happened in the same state, just a couple hours south of this one.
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I want that picture framed.
 
Piecake said:
Dang, reminds me of the 35w bridge collapse

http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/03/17/20080317_bridge3_33.jpg[img]

Right in downtown Minneapolis :([/QUOTE]

I lived in Minnesota when that bridge collapsed, and now I live in Seattle. Everywhere I go bridges be dropping :(
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Foxix said:
Yeah, the problem isn't so much the distance. The detour wouldn't be very long, it's just that the detour that will be handling the traffic has MAJOR congestion problems as it is. We already have a hard time handling the traffic between our two towns.

Ugh, and right after tulip season too.

Oh, and Mount Vernon '08 here, since everyone else seems to be mentioning it. There's no reason to hate the bulldogs. It's not like we're even competition really, hahahaha.
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Yeah the way the streets are laid out on the north side of mt vernon near the bridge are really a clusterfuck.

At least we can all agree that Sedro-Woolley is the real enemy here.
 
Rocwell said:
Yeah the way the streets are laid out on the north side of mt vernon near the bridge are really a clusterfuck.

At least we can all agree that Sedro-Woolley is the real enemy here.
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Preach it, brother.

Actually it's kind of weird seeing how many other gaffers are from the area. I've probably met some of you if not had several conversations with you guys at some point.

*used to work at the Burlington gamestop across from bestbuy for a few years*
 
Foxix said:
Preach it, brother.

Actually it's kind of weird seeing how many other gaffers are from the area. I've probably met some of you if not had several conversations with you guys at some point.

*used to work at the Burlington gamestop across from bestbuy for a few years*
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Hah, then I bet we have seen each other at some point. And I third the anti-Sedro sentiment.
 
Honestly, doesn't look like the biggest drop ever so hopefully people make it out relatively unscathed. Though if that's not the case, I hope help gets there quick as I assume the sun is quickly setting now over there
 
TeegsD said:
Honestly, doesn't look like the biggest drop ever so hopefully people make it out relatively unscathed. Though if that's not the case, I hope help gets there quick as I assume the sun is quickly setting now over there
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Watching the live feed now they've already pulled out 3 people and are looking for others.
 
Jeez I'm so lucky my girlfriend stopped to get gas on her way home just now. She lives in Bellingham and commutes down here for work. If she hadn't stopped she would have been on or near the bridge when it collapsed.
 
Yeah seems pretty lucky that it happened after rush hour it could have potentially been way worse :(

On Komo they're saying a truck hit the overspan of the bridge causing it to collapse behind it...

Bridge was rated structurally sound in 2008.
 
A 2010 inspection described the Skagit River Bridge as "functionally obsolete," according to a federal report. The bridge's superstructure was rated in fair condition and the deck and substructure in satisfactory condition.

The Skagit River bridge was given a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100.

By comparison, the southbound Interstate Bridge has a sufficiency rating of 49 out of 100 and the northbound has a rating of 18.5 out of 100 as of May 2011. Both spans of the Interstate Bridge are rated as functionally obsolete.
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source

Fix your fucking shit, Washington.
 
I live up in Bellingham, my best friend/man I consider my brother went over that bridge at 6pm. You'd better believe I'm buying all the rounds at the bar for him this weekend!
 
My home town is pretty good about tearing down and replacing obsolete bridges, but there's a 'temporary' bridge that's been up for more than twenty years now I'm not sure I'll go over again.
 
Watching KING-TV livestream. Witness said a truck hauling a 14-foot-high container hit the bridge on the northwest corner (southbound lanes) and the truck almost tipped over, then the bridge collapsed.
 
I remember taking a course on the provincial maintenance program (Alberta, Canada) and watching a programme on the dismal state of US road infrastructure. It is pretty unnerving to know exactly how bad the situation is there and in Eastern Canada. The US simply overbuilt its interstate network in the name of defense and contingent redundancy, and doesn't have the dollars to maintain it now. I think there will be a huge amount of road-closing in the near future simply as a result of this, since I can't imagine that the money to maintain all that will come available and knowing that the network has started a death spiral.

toxicgonzo said:
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 or functionally obsolete.
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This is a pretty much middle of the pack - the ASCE gave the US a D+ for infrastructure (that's everything, not just bridges) in 2013, which was actually an improvement from the D they gave in 2012. Bridges got a C+, but that was following a huge spurt of funding and maintenance following Minneapolis. I remember my cousin in NYC commenting on how every bridge in the city seemed to be under rehab at one point. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57575112/u.s-gets-d-on-infrastructure-report-card/
 
Paches-EJ- said:
Hah, then I bet we have seen each other at some point. And I third the anti-Sedro sentiment.
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Fourthed. Oh god highway 20 from Sedro is really going to be the best way to Burlington for the next year isn't it

NihonTiger90 said:
Watching KING-TV livestream. Witness said a truck hauling a 14-foot-high container hit the bridge on the northwest corner (southbound lanes) and the truck almost tipped over, then the bridge collapsed.
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What the fuck
 
My friend just texted me this:
xoOUKFl.jpg
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Apparently he was at Docking Bay 93 (it's a local comic shop and arcade, seated right by the river) playing a game of Gauntlet when the power went out. They thought it might have been thunder or something until someone realized that the bridge went out and he snapped this immediately after.

Poor guy only got 5 minutes in, AND the damn thing ate one of his quarters.
 
Crumbling infrastructure + unemployment = omg we need to stop spending deficit deficit deficit

Yeah, no. We need to update and replace a lot of shit and guess what the federal govt can pay for that. All those civil engineers, construction workers and other can be a massive program like the WPA was.
 
Foxix said:
My friend just texted me this:

Apparently he was at Docking Bay 93 (it's a local comic shop and arcade, seated right by the river) playing a game of Gauntlet when the power went out. They thought it might have been thunder or something until someone realized that the bridge went out and he snapped this immediately after.

Poor guy only got 5 minutes in, AND the damn thing ate one of his quarters.
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Shit. He'll be in my prayers.
 
Scary, I use that bridge quite a bit when I head down south. Hope no one is seriously hurt or worse...

I-5 is a fucking shit highway though. I get its quite busy but the lanes are so worn out, in the rain it's a dicey drive.

Radio said 150 bridges in WA are 'deficient'. Maybe invest a little money?
 
bjb said:
Does anyone have Bridgephobia?

Also known as Gephyrophobia.
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I do. It is more for foot bridges than car bridges, but this doesn't help. I have a bridge not far from my home that looks quite a bit like that one, too.

I really hope no one was seriously hurt in this accident.
 
On KIRO 7 we got shots of the truck, it made it off the bridge. Also there doesn't seem to be any fatalities, but that might change.
 
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