An Overpass collapsed in Oklahoma today

[malaise]

after a truck hit it.

http://fox4kc.com/2016/05/19/dramatic-photos-overpass-collapses-onto-oklahoma-city-expressway/
<snip>
A large section of an Oklahoma City overpass pancaked down onto an expressway Thursday.

Initial reports indicate the bridge collapsed around 2:40 p.m. after a tractor-trailer heading westbound crashed into the bridge, according to sister station KFOR.

The driver of the truck told police he passed under the other side of the bridge earlier with no issue.

No injuries have been reported at this time.

May Avenue and the Northwest Expressway are closed in all directions where they intersect due to the bridge collapse.

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Keep on focusing on the unborn you stupid ReTHUG fucktards.

[uppityperson]

1. ETA, thank you all for replying. I am glad no one was hurt.

Last edited Thu May 19, 2016, 08:43 PM - Edit history (1)

[Ed Suspicious]

2. Well we might want to collect some revenue and bolster

our infrastructure, but that can't happen when we worship the almighty small government tax breaks for the people who have the Lions share of the money.

[Baobab]

4. They want to extract rents.

Difficult choices must be made. Starve the patient while bleeding it dry

[scscholar]

3. They put money in their pockets instead of building things for the people

That's how. It's their fault.

[uppityperson]

6. A big truck hit it. How is that their fault? Or should they build so it wouldn't fall down? I

honestly don't understand. I know infrastructure in the country needs a lot of work, but don't get the complaint of something falling down after being crashed into.

[mopinko]

40. yes, a bridge should take a substantial hit from a truck,

an earthquake, a flood, a severe storm.

there is a bridge at the end of my block that has been hit at least a dozen times since i have lived here. sometimes at a pretty high rate of speed, tho this is a city street.

really, the trailer of a truck is not very substantial. they are pretty thin metal, and when the top gets peeled off, the box just crumples. unlike an earthquake, it is a perfectly predictable occurrence that is routinely engineered for. if that is all it take to take a bridge down, it was in a serious state of disrepair.

[uppityperson]

48. I agree, but it also was a backhoe the truck was carrying, if i read right.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. Really?!

[uppityperson]

7. Yes, really.

A big truck hit it. How is that their fault? Or should they build so it wouldn't fall down? I

honestly don't understand. I know infrastructure in the country needs a lot of work, but don't get the complaint of something falling down after being crashed into.

[PasadenaTrudy]

8. A truck

shouldn't take down a bridge! Money for infrastructure is needed, and is being blocked by Rs. Simple as that.

[avebury]

27. " A truck shouldn't take down a bridge!"

If a semi is hauling an item that is taller than the bridge clearance what exactly do you think will happen when said semi attempts to go under said bridge? The driver should have paid more attention to bridge clearances as he drove along and he should have adjusted his route accordingly. Given the circumstances, the result was predictable. That is a reality of life.

There definitely needs to be more money put into the infrastructure of this country but that has absolutely nothing to do with what happened today.

[WhiteTara]

31. Usually it rips the top off the truck

One hit a bridge so hard in another state that the front end of the truck rose in the air about 4 feet and then came back down. The overpass did not collapse.

[avebury]

35. A few years ago we had a barge hit a bridge pylon

and it caused a section of the bridge to come down taking with it several cars resulting in loss of life. Some impacts are going to do serious damage to a bridge and that is just the way it is. We has Senior Management on site 24-7 until the bridge was repaired because it was on Interstate I-40, a major east-west route. The detours that had to be used did a real number of the roads due to the type of traffic I-40 carries.

It is not always about not taking care of our infrastructure (though I totally agree that we don't put nearly enough money into maintaining it). Sometimes shit just happens.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. And sometimes bridges become weakened through heavy use and lack of maintenance

And sometimes bridges can take hits from dozens of trucks and still manage to stay intact.

[avebury]

52. Bridge are built for a certain capacity (load and volume). You can make a

best effort to project future need but capacity can easily exceed expectations putting a greater burden on a bridge. Add to it the volume of earthquakes now occurring in Oklahoma. Bridges are not built to last forever and, when transportation dollars (state or federal) are taken away from State DOTs they have to the best they can with what they are given to work with.

Frankly it can be short sighted to take dollars away from a State DOT to keep a hospital open if the bridge needed to get to that hospital is closed because it is deemed unsafe (this is purely an analogy but I think that you get the drift).

A country (or state) needs decent infrastructure in order to thrive in the long run. As another DU member said recently something along the lines of if we cannot educate our children, provide for our elderly, provide healthcare and decent wages for our people, provide equal treatment to everyone , just what is our military protecting with all the billions of dollars we spend on them?

[Dont call me Shirley]

19. Before your edit you asked how it was the repubs fault. Hence my answer.

[malaise]

9. So every American should expect an overpass to come down

if a truck hits it. How did the truck fit on one side but not the other - who the fugg built that and cut corners?

[uppityperson]

10. I guess they aren't all like 11'8. Some are aging and unable to stand if hit by a semi

And yes, sometimes they are different heights. We had one nearby going over a bridge hit the top structure because it was mislabeled.

And yes, there has not been enough put into keeping infrastructure in shape, thanks starting during Reagan times and it put my family's business out of business. So I guess it is ok to blame the repubs.

Thanks for all the civil replies to all who replied to me.

[malaise]

11. You're a good DUer

I read your posts

[uppityperson]

12. And back at you, with thanks

[n2doc]

18. Yeah, they don't build them like they used to

http://11foot8.com

[avebury]

28. I think that the driver was probably going at a pretty high rate of speed

which would have increased force impacting the bridge when it was hit.

[avebury]

37. This was not the first time the bridge had been hit and the last time

they literally rebuilt it.

There is another bridge not far from where I live. I had no idea how bad a shape it was in until some paperwork from the Consultant hit my desk. The scope of the project to fix the bridge expanded quite a bit.

[LiberalElite]

14. I believe Malaise was referring to the news today that the OK legislature

just voted to make abortion a felony.

[malaise]

15. Rather than focus on keeping people alive

they are voting to restrict women's rights

[LiberalElite]

17. They're all for us for the first nine months - then we're on our own eom

[malaise]

20. Not just on your own

They set traps to kill us

[stillwaiting]

44. Pro fetus; Fuck the newborn. That is their attitude.

Actually, I take that back. They are not even pro fetus since they do not care about providing all pregnant mothers with adequate health care. So, they are not even pro fetus.

Horrible people really.

[Dont call me Shirley]

22. So utterly bizarre! The ultra-rich are becoming so insane they are turning their tools crazy too.

[tabasco]

16. Are you kidding? Any state that comes under republican rule

for an extended period suffers neglect of infrastructure, denial of basic services, and devolves into third world status. All in the name of "cutting taxes on the rich."

[n2doc]

13. Yeah and over in Kansas they are cutting the road repair budget even more n/t

[malaise]

23. Guess they fly in theit private jets - I do wonder how they get to the airport

Helicopter?? They don't give a flying fugg about us peons

[antigop]

21. omg! I know EXACTLY where that is and have driven through there many times. nt

[former9thward]

24. The overpass did not collapse.

An irresponsible truck driver smashed into it and it fell down as a result. If a truck driver smashed into your house and it fell down would you say the house collapsed as if it happened on its own? Truck drivers are required to know their rig can get under a bridge. It is all on them as it should be. His excuse won't fly even if you believe it. Just because you can get under one side of a bridge is no guarantee that you can get under it going the opposite direction.

[teamster633]

29. I can't comment...

...on the state of repair (or disrepair) of the bridge in question, but you are absolutely right about the driver's responsibility in this situation. I've been driving commercial vehicles for over 30 years. One of the most certain ways of getting taken off the road is misjudging the height of a bridge. Low clearance is typically clearly posted. If there's any question, you find an alternate route. And you always know the height of your own vehicle.

[malaise]

41. Wasn't one side shorter than the other?

Did he know that?

[teamster633]

46. Apparently that is the case...

...but it is no excuse. If the bridge wasn't posted for low clearance that would mitigate his legal liability, but I know my employer would still hold me responsible for the error in judgment. When I was scouting the test site for my CDL-A, I noticed that the road I planned to drive in on had an underpass with a 13' 6" clearance. Needless to say I found an alternate route to drive my 13'8" rig through.

[former9thward]

49. It is his responsibility to know that.

[Egnever]

25. OMG!

I played on that bridge as a child when my family first moved to Oklahoma we stayed in one of the hotels you can see in those pics and my brothers and I walked to that bridge and watched the traffic zoom by underneath us.

That was a long time ago but I never forgot playing on that bridge.

[malaise]

34. Wow!

keep those pics

[CBGLuthier]

26. It wasn't the truck that hit it. It was the forklift the truck was hauling.

Said forklift still being buried under the rubble.

This road is about a mile and a half from me and gets a lot of traffic on both roadways.

I think someone hit the same bridge a few years ago and damaged it but it did not collapse.

The bridge clearance is 4 inches shorter in the direction the impact occurred. The driver had earlier cleared in the opposite direction.

[malaise]

32. Thanks

Why is it shorter???

[Codeine]

53. Presumably the roadbed is a bit higher in the lanes going that direction. nt

[xocet]

36. Has the increased seismic activity in OK significantly weakened the infrastructure? Or caused any...

nonuniform settling or other damage to structures?

[avebury]

30. I can tell you the the reaction at the agency I work for was

probably along the lines of:

Oh shit!
Who will have to deal with getting it fixed? The City of OKC.
Thank God!

(We have enough of our own problems do deal with.)

[malaise]

33. I hear you

[Iris]

38. And by all means, let's keep fighting amongst ourselves so that Trump can put his list into action.

n/t

[joeybee12]

39. Glad no one is hurt...the irony is incredible

Nice priorities you shithead Oklahoma legislators.

[LisaM]

42. NO KIDDING.

My thoughts exactly.

[IronLionZion]

45. Trump will make America great again

by deporting truck drivers or some such nonsense.

[Arugula Latte]

47. At least they got government off their backs!

[Jitter65]

50. Damn! All that infrastructure and job creation money passed by Congress going to waste.

Oh, wait...

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. I know exactly where that is.

The way the thing fell over in a sheet, pancaking, instead of crumbling somewhat when the truck hit it, would infer to me that the whole bridge was weakened, not just the part the truck it. I'm no engineer.

[malaise]

54. Thanks

Neither am I