I-10 closed at collapsed bridge in Desert Center (CA)

[Newsjock]

Source: The Desert Sun

One person has been rescued from his or her car with moderate injuries after a bridge collapsed on Interstate 10 in Desert Center.

Fire officials described the collapsed bridge as half a mile east of Eagle Mountain Road near the Tex Wash.

The Tex Wash bridge is listed as functionally obsolete in the 2014 National Bridge Inventory. Built in 1967, the bridge was listed as no longer adequate for its task. However, it was not listed as having structural defects that needed to be fixed.

All I-10 traffic is closed near Eagle Mountain Road. Eastbound traffic is closed at Chiriaco Summit and westbound traffic is closed at Corn Springs.

Read more: http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/07/19/desert-center-bridge-collapse/30395123/

[Journeyman]

1. Well, this will certainly add to the excitement in the low desert this week . . .

Unbelievable.

[BlueJazz]

2. "bridge is listed as functionally obsolete in the 2014 National Bridge Inventory"

Built in 1967, the bridge was listed as no longer adequate for its task.

Which I'm sure is why California did absolutely nothing about the bridge.

[former9thward]

5. Except this is California.

So its California that "did absolutely nothing about the bridge".

[Aerows]

7. I-10

has become one of the most decrepit roads in the country due to the amount of transport, travel and the fact that it sits baking in the sun for nearly 8 months out of the year.

Huge chuncks of concrete improperly laid, or even properly laid undergo severe degredation due to our heat/humidity table.

[jwirr]

48. Sounds like that road would be a good place to test out the new solar tiles that were posted here

on DU a long time ago - do not remember what they are called but they allow the road to produce energy.

[Aerows]

8. P.S. I-10

Is a Federal Interstate that spans from California to Florida, so I'm really not sure why you are blaming California without blaming Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Oh wait. It's Federal.

Not, but used to be.

[former9thward]

10. P.S.

The poster I was replying to blamed Texas for the collapse. I wonder why you didn't point out it was federal to him? Oh no I don't wonder at all. It is ok for him to blame Texas for something happening in CA but not ok for me to use his exact words and blame CA for something happening in CA.

[Aerows]

13. I lived in Texas, and love the state.

I don't live there now, but why on earth would you leap on me as being a person that despises Texas?

I'm two doors down. Hint: to the East.

[former9thward]

14. My posts have nothing to do with you attitutes toward TX.

And you know it. You ignored the poster who claimed TX was at fault for a collapse in CA and criticized me for using that posters exact words to blame CA. Everyone knows what is going on....

[Aerows]

16. Honestly

I really don't.

If I offended you, my apologies, but my point was that I-10 all the way needs work.

[former9thward]

19. No one on DU ever offends me.

No matter what is said. I am a big boy. I do agree I-10 needs work. I take I-10 when I go to LA or Portland.

[Aerows]

21. You take 1-5

Unless you are going from LA to Portland, ME.

[former9thward]

23. I take I-10 from Phoenix to LA and then go up I-5.

[CreekDog]

34. what about I-210? It's a little easier than taking I-10 all the way past downtown LA to I-5.

[cui bono]

35. All of you are wrong.

It's THE 5, THE 10 and THE 210.

We don't say I-5, I-10 and I-210 round these parts.

[CreekDog]

37. you'll call it whatever the people supplying your water want you to call it

[cui bono]

54. Good idea!

[former9thward]

42. I don't speak LA.

[Igel]

44. True.

Used to say "I-5" when I lived in Eugene. Had to get used to the difference when I moved to LA. I still say "the 5", mostly because where I live now there is no I-5.

I live in Houston now and have to say "I-10". It's a couple of miles south of my little ol' homestead.

When I lapse and say "I took the 10" people around me look at me with an expression that says, "What did you take 10 of?"

When I lived on the East Coast we just said the #s. "Take 95 north, then 3 east."

I've always, it seems lived within 5 miles of a major interstate.

[SwankyXomb]

49. Or they refer to it by the official name designation

No one calls it "the San Gabriel River Freeway", it's just the 605. Way back when I had XM radio, their traffic channel for LA would do that. After a few months they changed to the more familiar numbers, but every once in a while, they would call the 10 the "Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway."

[KamaAina]

52. the "Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway"?!

That needs to be renamed pronto!

[bluedigger]

15. Nope.

Interstate highways and their right of ways are owned by the state in which they are built. Your friendly state DOT is responsible for maintenance usually.

[Aerows]

18. I made that clarification in my post

afterwards, but there are federal monies set aside for upkeep, and heaven knows I-10 is one of them.

[bluedigger]

25. Sorry, I missed that.

Yes, most DOT projects are heavily subsidized through federal funding - on the order of 80%, I believe. Mostly through the federal fuel taxes. The states get to prioritize their spending, though. From the looks of the photograph of the bridge in question, I'm guessing the "local constituency" didn't have much of a voice in Sacramento.

[Travis_0004]

11. I would be willingto bet Texas has not fixed a single bridge in California.

[BlueJazz]

17. I would not take that bet.

[yuiyoshida]

20. And we will see more of this...

across our nation as our infrastructure begins to rot...Thanks to butt head Republicans who think rebuilding a bridge or shoring one up is a waste of money and effort.

[Travis_0004]

22. Even if it was brand new, record flooding could have still destroyed it.

[yuiyoshida]

24. Perhaps in this case but my statement still stands...

And you can bet your bottom dollar there will be more and more of this to come. Bet on it!!!

[Agschmid]

3. Kick.

[James48]

4. Bridges are falling down-

This is the span that washed out today-



Meanwhile, Republicans continue to refuse to pass a Transportation funding bill that fixes broken roads and bridges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/us/politics/mcconnell-casts-doubt-on-houses-plan-for-transportation-bill.html?_r=0

And Rome continues to burn.....

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. That's not the one....

Here it is in Google Maps: <link>

33°42'15.1"N 115°26'31.3"W

[A HERETIC I AM]

47. Street view shot;

Google car was on the Westbound span, shot is looking north to the Eastbound span.

https://goo.gl/maps/EPTky

[procon]

51. Oooh... 3D maps! Thanks, I love those comprehensive views. nt

[Aerows]

6. I swear

this is about jobs jobs jobs that need to get done. If it isn't a roadway falling down, it is a sewage or water pipe.

We have not been investing in them since the age of Ronald "I'm from the government" horseshit.

This could employ hundreds of thousands of people, and spark an economic upsurge.

We need roads, we need water projects and we need to quit spending a paycheck we can't cash on wars we don't need to fight over there while letting our infrastructure crumble over here.

[davidpdx]

29. I was going to say it won't happen until the sewer pipes collapse under Congress

But the sewer is already above ground.

[AngryDem001]

31. The sewage comes out of Congress's mouth in any case.

[allan01]

9. and reading what the republicans said about the infastrcture .

[Warpy]

12. What do the plutocrats who own the government care?

They just fly over it.

[Cleita]

26. We love our rain when it comes but our infrastructure

sucks because of decades of neglect by Republican Governors and politicians.

[NCjack]

27. I suggest that bridge be named "The Speaker John Boehner Bridge." The next one to fall,

well, it should be "The Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Bridge."

[davidpdx]

28. It's about time we invest in infrastructure

The longer we put it off the more expensive it will get. Job creation from infrastructure would be a big boost for the economy. Even better if we get the minimum wage raised so people can buy houses, which would mean even more construction jobs.

[virgdem]

30. OMG..I just drove over that bridge last month...

on a trip to AZ and CA. Drove west from Phoenix to LA and up the coast to San Francisco. I will say that some of the roads are pretty dodgy, with much work needed, especially in the San Francisco area. A great trip though.

[AngryDem001]

32. Money to fix bridges? NOPE!

Money for more playing around in the Middle East sandbox?

YES! YES! YES!

[NutmegYankee]

36. A functionally obsolete bridge shouldn't collapse.

Functionally Obsolete

Functionally Obsolete is a status used to describe a bridge that is no longer by design functionally adequate for its task. Reasons for this status include that the bridge doesn't have enough lanes to accommodate the traffic flow, it may be a drawbridge on a congested highway, or it may not have space for emergency shoulders. Functionally Obsolete does not communicate anything of a structural nature. A Functionally Obsolete bridge may be perfectly safe and structurally sound, but may be the source of traffic jams or may not have a high enough clearance to allow an oversized vehicle.

It appears this bridge didn't have shoulder lanes.

[gregcrawford]

38. The first time I drove the 10...

... was forty years ago, and it was not in very good repair then. As long as low-wattage intellects continue to vote for malicious sociopaths like - well, hell, ANY fucking Republican - unbridled greed, pathological selfishness, and infantile pettiness will drive any and every spending decision. They would let their own children die before they would EVER vote for something that might make the "Democrat Party" look good, even if it's essential to the health and welfare of the country as a whole. THAT'S how rotten and putrid the very souls of these people are.

I can remember a time when you could at least carry on an intelligent conversation with a Republican, regardless of your differences. Those days are long gone. We can thank Ronzo Reagan and his abolition of the Fairness Doctrine for allowing Pox News to metastasize into the festering malignancy it is today, and allowing willful ignorance and outrageous lies to shout down civil discourse.

There have always been, and will always be, mean and stupid people poisoning political debate, but Pox News has done more harm to our society than any other single corporate entity in the past fifty years. Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes cannot get their express tickets to Hell soon enough to suit me.

Thus endeth my rant. Thanks for listening.

[gvstn]

43. Thank you for speaking. THE truth.

[gregcrawford]

56. You're very kind. Thank you!

[raven mad]

55. I like your rant.

As a matter of fact, I'm printing it.

Alaska needs people like you, YELLING the truth!

[gregcrawford]

57. I am honored that you would share it. Thank you.

[dembotoz]

39. Here in Wisconsin our highways r ranked 47th in the nation and the just raised the speed limit to 70

They should be considered unsafe at any speed

[bigworld]

40. Looking at the google maps image,

It's ironic that the decrepit old wooden bridge next to the interstate is still up.

[XemaSab]

41. On Google Maps, for the curious:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eagle+Mountain+Rd,+Desert+Center,+CA+92239/@33.704131,-115.442261,3a,75y,108.26h,79.86t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfRjvyW5Bq-yHnK41bN35VQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DfRjvyW5Bq-yHnK41bN35VQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D100%26h%3D80%26yaw%3D340.86285%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x80d088b0df9ad3cd:0x5eeb415d3a79c65f

[Igel]

45. The video footage is worth looking at.

If only because in the dozens of times I went over that bridge, I never saw it wet.

Beautiful country (I think so, at least), but the most I'd ever seen were clouds that probably were producing rain off over the hills miles away.

[HoosierCowboy]

46. Did anyone notice

that washed out bridge is in a desert? Climate change is here with a vengeance.

[former9thward]

53. Thunderstorms this time of year

and the flooding they produce has been going on forever in the desert. It is the monsoon season in the desert SW.

[CanonRay]

50. Our bridges won't get fixed until a couple of Congressional idiots get killed when one falls in