[Kanda444]

woah!! that fuckin sucks..... though, the bridges here dont get much maintenance that i've seen...

[Hunted]

.

[Faline]

Glad no one died

[Pie]

Wow, extremely poor maintenance if I ever saw it, wonder how many people are going to sue.

[ices]

The first thing the police did were to question the driver of an 18-wheeler.

Fuck right off!

Regardless of the truck being too heavy, that bridge should have not given way or been allowed to get into such a structurally unsound condition.

Structural surveyors are around for a reason, I bet budget cuts or similar are to blame. Hey nobody will notice if we dont check bridges!

Typical government. Structures dont stay sound forever dipshits.

[gatagato]

The problem with the truck (and with its driver) is that it actually caused the collapse, not because it was too heavy, but because it crashed into at least one (but likely multiple) support beams.
It was also oversized but Mullen Trucking (which employed the truck driver), said state transportation officials had given clearance to take the oversize load across the bridge.
Structural health monitoring, stress load testing are studied to estabilish whether the bridge is structurally deficient or not, and if it's able to withstand some max. weight, but not if it's able to withstand such collisions. However, it's not a nice idea to keep in use structures built with such obsolete criteria, as not only a collision but also tremors / vibrations caused by the traffic may start a chain reaction which may cause the collapse.

[DiamondSmiles]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...s-weekend?lite

Elaine Thompson / AP

A truck carrying an oversize load struck the four-lane bridge on the major thoroughfare between Seattle and Canada, sending a section of the span and two vehicles into the Skagit River below Thursday evening.

All three occupants suffered only minor injuries. At an overnight news conference, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste blamed the collapse on a tractor-trailer carrying a tall load that hit an upper part of the span.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

The Washington State Bridge collapse that spilled two cars into the Skagit River could give Americans pause as they hit the roads for Memorial Day holiday travel.

With good reason.

This weekend, millions will cross 66,000 bridges that the federal government has deemed, "structurally deficient," meaning key elements are in poor condition.

The Federal Highway Administration hastens to note that label doesn't mean they are unsafe or in danger of collapse, but transportation advocates say it highlights a growing crisis of aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance and rebuilding, and design flaws.

"We don't expect an epidemic of collapses — that's the extreme," said Dan Goldberg, communications director for Transportation for America, a coalition that identified the busiest deficient bridges in the nation in a 2011 report.

"We are going to see probably some more of this, but the more likely scenario is contending with the issues of decay that happen before the collapse."

Big potholes, weight restrictions and lane closings are some of the inconveniences bridge users face unless reconstruction and replacement is ramped up across the nation, Goldberg said.

The Interstate 5 Bridge in Mount Vernon, Washington, which apparently crumpled after being hit by an oversized truck, was not on the Federal Highway Administration's structurally-deficient list.

Famed spans aren't the problem. San Francisco's Golden Gate, for instance, is in pretty good shape. The Brooklyn Bridge is undergoing a massive rehabilitation project to correct its deficiencies.

But hundreds of less glamorous bridges — many of them generic overpasses that take commuters over cross streets or other highways — remain vulnerable.

Here are six crossings, together used by more than 1 million vehicles each day, that don't make the grade:


I-76 over Klemm Ave. in Gloucester, NJ:

The deck and superstructure are in poor condition on this 11-lane interstate overpass that dates to 1956. More than 191,000 vehicles use it every day, and $30 million has been earmarked for deck replacement.

IS-695 over Milford Mill Road in Baltimore, MD:

Built in 1961 and reconstructed in 1979, this eight-lane overpass on the Baltimore Beltway has a deck and substructure in poor condition. But good news for nearly 190,000 vehicles that cross each day: It will be replaced in a two-year project starting this summer.

Halona St. Bridge in Honolulu, Hawaii:

Built in 1938, this slab bridge over the Kapalama Canal is not slated for replacement until 2019. Some 184,000 vehicles travel the two-lane crossing, which has a deck and substructure in poor condition.

I-70 over Havana St. in Denver, CO:

This 10-lane structure, which has a deck and substructure in poor condition, is slated for a rebuild in the next few years. Built in 1964 and reconstructed in 1978, it services 183,000 vehicles a day.

I-278 approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island, NY:

On an average day, 182,700 vehicles take this overpass to a majestic double-decker bridge. The substructure of the two-lane approach, built in 1961, is in poor condition.

I-95 over Hendricks Ave. in Jacksonville, FL:

The deck is in poor condition on this nine-lane section of interstate that handles 121,000 vehicles a day. Built in 1959 and reconstructed in 1989, it is undergoing a replacement.

Source: Information about the structures was compiled by Nationalbridges.com, a website that analyzes data in the Federal Highway Administration's national bridge inventory.

The north end of the Interstate 5 bridge crossing the Skagit River lies collapsed in the water on Friday, in Mount Vernon, Washington, photo below.

[kellyhound]

This weekend, millions will cross 66,000 bridges that the federal government has deemed, "structurally deficient," meaning key elements are in poor condition.

[Ozzman]

Didn't it collapse because the trucker didn't heed height restrictions and his load hit the overhead supports?

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Ozzman ↗

Didn't it collapse because the trucker didn't heed height restrictions and his load hit the overhead supports?

He did, as gatagato explained in a post three above yours.