Wash. patrol chief: Oversize load on truck hit I-5 bridge north of Seattle, caused collapse

[warrior1]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-patrol-i-5-bridge-over-skagit-river-collapses-in-nw-wash-vehicles-people-in-water/2013/05/23/ef618aaa-c41c-11e2-9642-a56177f1cdf7_story.html

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A truck hauling a too-tall load hit an overhead girder of a bridge on the major thoroughfare between Seattle and Canada, sending a section of the span and two vehicles into the Skagit River below, though all three occupants suffered only minor injuries.

It happened about 7 p.m. Thursday on the north part of the four-lane Interstate 5 bridge near Mount Vernon, about 60 miles north of Seattle, and disrupted travel in both directions.


The Interstate 5 Bridge over the Skagit River in Northwestern Washington State collapsed on Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the river. State troopers are not certain if there were any injuries or deaths. Editor’s note: no audio.



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[laundry_queen]

1. CBC just reported that the driver of the truck

was from Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada. It's unknown if he was familiar with the bridge, but it is supposed to be a main route between Canada and Seattle so maybe he used the route before? Apparently the trucker didn't even know he had struck the bridge until he was flagged down later.

[treestar]

2. So amazing no one got killed

Thank the FSM and/or God.

Canadian truck, eh? And there was all that fuss about Mexican trucks.

[Mopar151]

3. Any idea what the load was?

Or why the trucker did'nt know to the inch how tall the load was?

[pokerfan]

5. They haven't yet said what the load was

That bridge didn't have a uniform clearance across the width of the bridge, i.e. it was higher in the middle and lower to the sides. An eyewitness said that if the truck had been in the inside lane, he probably would have cleared the truss. NTSB will be investigating.

[pokerfan]

8. The Kenworth semi was towing a drilling rig

The Kenworth semi was towing a drilling rig and was on its way to Vancouver, Washington when the upper corner of the rig caught the superstructure of the bridge, according to police.

The driver of the semi is listed as 42-year-old William D. Scott of Spruce Grove, Alberta – an employee of Mullen Trucking, south of Calgary.

http://globalnews.ca/news/587470/alberta-truck-driver-struck-collapsed-washington-state-bridge/

ETA:

Sgt. Kirk Rudeen says Scott was heading south with a large steel casing for a drilling rig when the right front corner of the load struck a support girder.

Rudeen says the collision appears to have led to the collapse of the span just seconds later and two vehicles plunged into the cold swift-flowing river.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Washington+State+Patrol+chief+says+bridge+collapse+caused+truck/8430406/story.html

[oldhippie]

4. So it really wasn't decaying infrastructure .....

... that all the alarmists were touting this morning.

[Dreamer Tatum]

7. It really doesn't matter

Anytime a bridge suffers so much as a crack, it's crumbling infrastructure.

Anytime a tornado more powerful than a kitten fart hits, it's global warming.

Being alarmist about EVERYTHING makes it difficult to know when alarmism is required.

[dsc]

9. well I have to wonder about a bridge that gets hit by a truck

and proceeds to fall into a river. I would think that being struck by a truck might be a fairly common occurrence for a bridge.

[JHB]

10. ...unless that was the difference between a damaged bridge and a collapsed one.

This is one to leave to the engineers investigating it.

[chknltl]

6. No fatalities, 3 injured, 2 cars in river, NTSB Gold team on scene, investigation ongoing.

Accident and bridge collapse happened a little after 7pm Pacific time. Made headline news here in the Pacific Northwest with KOMO AM 1000 providing non-stop coverage until midnight. Bridge was built in 1955, inspected last in 2009, considered functional but obsolete. It was known that the bridge girders overhead if struck, could cause catastrophic collapse which is what experts suspect happened. Truck driver hauling the oversized load pulled over and is fully cooperating with authorities. WSP confirms this.

Some callers to KOMO news reported bridge had been moving more and more over years when heavy loads crossed. One witness report claimed bridge was collapsing as truck with oversized load was passing over. (This is the only contradictory report I heard while following the story last night.)

Of the three survivors one provided a personal story in an interview a few hours after the collapse. While crossing bridge he saw a puff of smoke directly ahead and felt deck drop out. He braced himself as car fell the 40-50 ft into river. When things stopped moving and with cold water coming in he checked on his wife and found her stunned. He then popped his dislocated shoulder into place reached over and unbuckled his semiconscious wife and helped her out of the vehicle. Once out and now on top of his vehicle he saw the third victim exiting his own vehicle. All three victims were quickly rescued and taken to nearby hospitals suffering non-life threatening injuries.

This and more I gathered while listening to KOMO AM 1090 news radio last night as the story unfolded.

[Johonny]

11. If that too tall load just happens to damage vital infrastructure and plunge a bridge into a body o

that is just a risk we have to take for our freedom.

Rand Paul America