Washington State Patrol confirms an I-5 bridge over the Skagit River has collapsed and at least two cars with people inside are in the water.
The incident has closed all northbound and southbound lanes.
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
Looks like The Long Emergency has reared its head.
This is what happens when you build more and more roads while your tax base to pay for maintaining those roads gets smaller and smaller (fewer cars that get driven fewer miles and get better and better MPG).
1 – Klownservatives like our trolls don’t want to pay more gas tax or do any sort of meaningful tax reform to fund proper infrastructure maintenance..
It’s klownservative bullshit that’s at fault when it comes to crumbling infrastructure.
And unfortunately it’s going to take a lot more of these failures before people finally wake up to this obvious reality.
Just remember, government does nothing productive. We didn’t really need that bridge after all.
I’ll just pray that everyone gets out of the water alive.
Everybody wants it cheap. Everybody thinks that government spending is evil and bad and corrupt. But nobody really cares.
Those truss designs were meant to be temporary, that is, they were designed specifically to be replaced every 40 years or so. That bridge is at least 50 years old now. You asshole conservative nutballs going to pony up for replacements now Because the Lewis and Clark bridge (Hwy 433) and the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia river are even older, and of similar design.
You fuckers better think about how destructive your economic “policies” are. All you are good at is neglecting shit and opposing any effort to improve or even basically maintain what we already have. If it can’t be used to murder brown people, butcher little babies in some foreign land with oil or phosphorus or hardwood timber you assholes just aren’t interested in doing it. You’d rather kill babies than maintain our house.
You fuckheads will step over a dollar bill to pick up a nickel, just so you can hand that nickel over to some rich prick who is just going to spend it on a new high speed yacht thats not even built in this country.
Why should I let the government steal my hard earned non union money and spend it repairing a bridge that I won’t use?
We are going to have tolls soon for every bridge and GPS tracked taxes for every mile of road. Because there will be no more paying for the common good. Pay as you go baby.
Sheesh…everybody relax.
The invisible hand of the market will fix the bridge. Some day.
@6 Jawohl, we don’t need no frickin’ STIMULUS spending, we need to cut the deficit!!!
Clearly the US Department of Transportation has targeted Glenn Beck’s home town of Mount Vernon for this disaster.
You have to ask…when did Obama learn about this, and why has he been covering it up????
According to my map, Bellingham is cut off from the outside world, and will have to be supplied by sea or air. Well, we pulled off the Berlin Airlift, so maybe we can feed Bellingham for the six months or so it’ll take to build a new bridge.
I hope they find everybody. I heard that the utility that controls the dams upriver, has lowered the flow to assist in rescue efforts. Skagit River, that would be Seattle City Light.
11: Sea, air or, shudder, Canada.
11) The BNSF bridge is intact. Perhaps BNSF can cull all extra boards for spare crews and get them here. As for commuters, I a shuttle train can be assembled with spare SOUNDER coaches and locomotives.
Obama totally did this so that the people of the Skagit Valley would rise up against the government and then the government could take away everyone’s guns.
If it’s the bridge in Mount Vernon, there are a couple possible detour routes, but someone who lives north of the river and works south of the river, or vice versa, will have to drive 15 miles each way just to get across the river. It’s going to be a nightmare for Mount Vernon residents and a major inconvenience for a lot of the people living and working (or attending school) in Skagit and Whatcom counties.
@11
There’s a couple other crossings. But, it does beg the question: if Bellingham was cut off from the rest of the state would most B’hamer’s notice or care?
Or, you know, they could use the Riverside Drive bridge right next to it, which is just fine.
This is exactly why you can never trust the government!
I was checking around, in All Aboard Washington’s Facebook page, that the PM departure out of Pacific Central Station in Vancouver bound for Seattle has been halted while the railroad bridge is inspected.
@15 Maybe the Skagit County Posse Comitatus can shoot their way out of this.
The bridge was rated “functionally obsolete” by the WSDOT. According to the WSDOT website, this includes:
I’ve driven over that bridge a number of times, and the lanes are quite narrow.
KOMO 4 reports,
“The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80 … but 759 bridges in the state have a lower sufficiency score.
“According to a 2012 Skagit County Public Works Department, 42 of the county’s 108 bridges are 50 years or older. The document says eight of the bridges are more than 70 years old and two are over 80.
“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.
“WSDOT’s Travis Phelps said his department is already speaking with contractors to rebuild the bridge, but he cautioned that the bridge will be out of commission for the foreseeable future. …
“Southbound traffic is being routed off at State Route 9, while northbound traffic is being routed off at George Hopper, according to WSDOT.”
http://www.komonews.com/news/l.....60201.html
Don Joe,
An important thing to know about “functionally obsolete” is that it is not a structural rating. It just means it doesn’t meet functional standards (boat or vehicle clearance, lane size, shoulder width) of contemporary bridges.
The minimum clearance under the bridge is (er…was) 14′ 3″ in one direction and 14′ 5″ in another). That is low.
Maximum vehicle height (without a special permit) is 14′, so that doesn’t leave much room for error (the minimum clearance published is 3″ less than the measured value). I point this out because there is speculation that an oversized trick may have hit some part of the bridge.
SCL is now saying it was the daily schedule to reduce flows, any level change at Gorge, Diablo, and Ross would take 7 1/2 hours to be noticed down river.
Obviously, the bridge collapse could have been averted if we all had more guns!
This was posted in the (un)SP comment thread this morning.
“The I5 bridge has at least 50 yrs of life left …”
The commenter is referring to a different bridge; but still, if he can do that with the stock market too, I’d like to meet him to discuss a business arrangement …
@24 As any vehicle passing under that bridge will need a ferry or barge under it, 14′ of clearance doesn’t leave room for anything but a sports car convertible with the top down.
28)I believe that the Double Deck buses Community Transit uses are about 14ft tall, as an example.
I have an idea. Instead of the Federal Reserve printing another trillion dollars and giving it interest-free to the banks why not use that money to hire construction workers and replace old bridges? We’ll get something useful for it, and unlike shoveling money at banks that don’t lend it out but just sit on it, it’ll actually help the economy.
Darryl @ 24
An important thing to know about “functionally obsolete” is that it is not a structural rating.
That is absolutely correct. It’s not a structural rating. It does, however, mean that the bridge cannot accommodate certain oversized loads–on I-5.
If this was, in fact, caused by an oversized load, then the scope of “infrastructure” problems would extend well beyond structural issues.
@29 These look like they could pass under it — that is, the part of it that’s still standing.
http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/
KOMO News Twitter feed is says that WSDOT has confirmed that the collapse was caused by an oversized load:
KING 5 News reports southbound I-5 traffic is backed up all the way to the Canadian border.
@30. Oh hell no. I refuse to have my money go to Union jobs.
WSDOT Twitter feed contradicts KOMO/KING tweets:
@ 33
Oh, good, that means some dumbfuck’s insurance company will pay for the replacement. Hopefully the State will get it’s head out of it’s ass and build it up to eight lanes where it should be.
We lucked out there.
The halting of Amtrak Cascades 516 as a precaution seems to be CYA mode. The rail bridge is 2000ft down river. 516 is the afternoon Portland-Vancouver BC run. There is also a n evening southbound trip affected.
http://transitsleuth.com/2013/.....rth-bound/
King 5 is also mentioning the rumor that an oversized load may have caused the collapse. They had a photo of blue truck load.
@35 Maybe you can persuade North Korea to lend you some political prisoners. They’ll be happy to get out of Camp 22 for a while.
@37 Yeah, this could turn out to be another Captain Rolf deal. I’ve always said they should’ve named the new bridge for him.
http://www.historylink.org/ind.....le_Id=2421
41)That one happened the day before I was born.
I just learned from All Aboard Washington’s Facebook page, Amtrak Cascades 516 is now on it’s way to Vancouver.
Don Joe,
“It does, however, mean that the bridge cannot accommodate certain oversized loads–on I-5.”
Yes…loads over 14′ which always require a whole new level of permitting anyway. Either way, the law is crystal clear that the issuance of a permit is not a guarantee that an oversize load will fit. It is always the responsibility of the permittee to do test runs and measurements to ensure a load will fit. They publish quite detailed specs for each potential problem area.
But there are alternative explanations. For example, the bridge may have had a structural failure that lowered the clearance, causing a <14' truck to strike the upper structure. I think this is not the most likely explanation.
Here is my prediction: The truck swayed to the extreme right edge of the roadway. The upper structure is curved downward so the clearance is probably lower than 14' right at the edge. I can't really tell for sure, but it looks like the load being hauled by the truck is something with a steel frame. That might well have caused enough damage to collapse the bridge. But I couldn't find clear visual evidence to support this theory.
From Carl many moons ago on HA
So Puddy concludes the bridge collapse in outside of Mount Vernon, WA is a direct result of a decades long campaign of DUMMOCRAPT Bullshit.
Puddy remembers the I-35 collapse threads and the rush to blame Pawlenty and Republicans by the most useless of HA libtards. Puddy noticed the I-5 blame game by the same most useless HA libtards yesterday, except DUMMOCRAPTS are controlling Olympia.
There was $9.9 Billion allocated in the 2011-2013 biannual transportation fund. How much is available to fix the bridge?
My idea is to take a few hundred of those M1 A1 Abrams tanks that we are building that the Army doesn’t want or need and drive them into the river where they could be used as a roadbed support. Perhaps we can convince the teahadists in the house that Acorn is doing something north of the Skaget and a new bridge I’d the only way to stop the organization. Think outside the teabag folks!
There was $9.9 Billion allocated in the 2011-2013 biannual transportation fund. How much is available to fix the bridge?
You mean how much is left after the RETHUG WELFARE counties get through sucking up the money? Not much.
@47 This idea has been floated on HA before, but why not spend transportation dollars in the counties where they’re collected?
Then listen to the “self-made and self-sufficient” types howl. You know, the ones who think Othello subsidizes Seattle.
We on the West Side should be very proud of the roads in the Eastside RETHUG WELFARE counties. After all, we pay for them. OUR tax dollars at work.
[Deleted]
Recap: An overheight (and wide) load appears to have struck the bridge, causing it’s collapse. The bride tresle is lower on the outside edges, which means that the truck is supposed to move to the left, taking up both lanes if necessary. Why it didn’t do so, and why the car leading it didn’t spot the problem, is up for grabs – maybe a car tried to pass to the right at the wrong time, making it impossible for the driver to move over.
Either way, this bridge, and hundreds more along I-5, were built largly with federal tax dollars in 1955 to accomodate the expected traffic flows at the time. There were expectations that they would be replace long before now, and at the time the commercial traffic between Vancouver B.C. and Seattle (and points south) was miniscule. But nothing has been done – it seems the money which was readily available during the Eisenhower administration (high taxes on the wealthy) has dried up decades ago (Regan and Bush administrations and Repubublican congresses).
The next problem is that roadbed (the part below the asphalt) is crumbling, and needs to be replaced. It was supposed to last only fifty years, and handle less than a quarter of the existing traffic. We can’t put it off much longer.
From 51,
Isn’t asphalt made from petroleum? That might be a problem if oil gets more expensive.
Why does rhpee6033 deliver shovel loads of BULLSHITTIUM… cuz he knows nothing else.
We were told that the Obummer Purkulous and Son of Porkulous bills were to have shovel ready road project jobs. Put over 400,000 people to work on those shove ready road projects. So where did this money go?
Well rumor has it 80% of the two Porkulous bills went to Obummer’s union buddies and no real road work being done. And we see rhpee6033 has no memory…
So all that money allocated by Obummer was NOT used for roads and bridges rhpee6033! So what federal monies from the Porkulous bills under Obummer are left to repair this INTERSTATE bridge rhpee6033?
Yeah seen the gas prices lately? Bridge repairs will get eerily more expensive… Butt, if they were performed in 2009-2010 who knows how much cheaper they could have been?
When will this bridge be fixed? Puddy and Mrs Puddy loves Vancouver BC!
# 55: Probably never, if the Republicans in the state Senate are consistent with their philosphy of budget cutting.
Caveat to # 56: There’s an awful lot of Republican territory north of Snohomish county. Those people will be hurt by the reduction in traffic to places like Mount Vernon, the Cascade Mall, etc. So Republicans principles will probably be set aside to make sure that the bridge is re-built quickly, using state and federal money.
Now if a bridge fell in Seattle, they would claim that Seattle would have to pay for it itself.
Already there is a push for more Amtrak service North of Everett. I could go for a temporary third trip on that strerch.
http://m.bizjournals.com/seatt.....rvice.html
You still didn’t answer Puddy’s question about Porkulous monies left from those two bills rhpee6033. Since it’s a federal highway… what did Obummer do and when did he know about the Porkulous spending?
Category – – – – Funds Paid Out
Tax Benefits – – – – $290.7B
Contracts, Grants, – $253.2B
Loans
Entitlements – – – – $249.5B
Shovel Ready Projects – – $0B for bridge and road improvements and repairs!!!!
So Obummer gonna hit Congress for the money rhpee6033? Stop this Republican crapola. Your guy got funds and wasted them on his union pals. Now there is a need for a new bridge. As stated above… Puddy concludes the bridge collapse outside of Mount Vernon, WA is a direct result of a decades long campaign of DUMMOCRAPT Bullshit.
I have not seen any updates from SKAT up in Skagit County, to see if they are even able to keep up with demand, and any delays, as I got an error message on their site. Whatcom Transit is reporting delays on 80X, Bellingham-Mt. Vernon, that they are turning back at Chuckanut Park and Ride, and having passengers transfer to SKAT 208.
http://ridewta.com/index.php?riderAlert=true
# 59: I see no compulsion to respond to your ignorant posts – especially since you failed to indicate a year or so ago whether or not you supported Glen Beck’s characterization of the Swedish teen victims of a white supremecist as “Nazi Youth Camp” attendees.
Grow up. Or at the very least, talk about the bridge collapse in an adult manner.
Oh gee whiz, Puddy didn’t deliver Facts to rhpee6033 in an adult manner? After you screamed like a little spanked brat the misplaced blame of “it’s the Republicans fault” in WA State? A state dominated by libtards?
CRY PUDDY A RIVER, you spoiled child!
Lessee, Puddy went to Obummer’s website and provided their adult numbers. Puddy didn’t find any adult “shovel ready road projects”. Why? Obummer claimed as an adult there is “No Such Thing as Shovel-Ready Projects”. Oh my that wasn’t adult for rhpee6033.
Sux to be him!
Oh and as Puddy said about Glenn Beck, he’s a grown man and what spews from his mouth is his issue. His advertisers either dealt with him or not as the libtards like to scream about Rush Limbaugh! Not Puddy’s job to rush out and condemn because you DEMAND it even when it’s something stupid Beck said! Puddy does what Puddy wants not at YOUR “beck” and call rhpee6033!
Turns out that the trucker was from Canada, Alberta to be exact.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/.....grove.html
As for the bridge being functionally obsolete, it should not have had anything to do with the collapse. Washington State Ferries has a boat that was built in the 1960s that is functionally obsolete and still runs. It’s the MV Hiyu, built for one of the Vashon runs, more of a trainer that can be used as a last resort.
Here’s an interesting proposal for funding infrastructure repairs.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100765477
I mean really, how much does it cost for two signs that say Maximum Height Allowed…”xxx”. There are no postings on that bridge
@63
Kitsap transit still uses a boat that was part of the Mosquito Fleet. I ride the Carlisle II about once a month.
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/.....z2UG9Pck4D
I think we should rename the bridge portion that is sitting in the river “The Tim Eyman Bridge”
I’m amazed no one was killed. That was indeed a miracle.
66) I forgot about that one, although the Carlisle II gets the job done. I like how adaptable their other boat, the Admiral Pete is, they added on to it. The Hiyu, not so much, as just about any route it is used on sees a capacity decrease now.
@52
While increased cost of supplies like asphalt is an issue, continuing to pave over every square foot of the planet and falling gas tax revenues (fewer cars, driving fewer, miles and getting better and better MPG) are a bigger issues.
@64
Sounds like a good plan. But, we really need to look at decommissioning quite a few of our roads as well.
@67 Damn good idea.
@52 Asphalt is recycled. They just scrape it off the road surface, grind it up, heat it, and relay it. The only cost is the equipment, fuel to run the equipment, and construction crew.
@55 Get in line with everybody else. You’re not special.
@70 Don’t worry, after you humans disappear, nature will eliminate all your asphalt in a few decades or so.
Just wondering…
Could you use BUTTPUTTY as an asphalt extender?
Or would it just smell too bad on a hot day?
What am I thinking?
BUTTPUTTY always smells bad.
Well there are special MAN-made mixtures in ekim’s hershey highway. Just tip him back and it will flow out!
Hurdles remain, but looks like running extra trains north of Everett on a temporary basis.
http://bbjtoday.com/blog/bnsf-.....aA8QjDn8a_
If General Patton were alive he’d have tanks rolling across that bridge in 2 hours. Just throw a Bailey bridge across the gap and you’re there.
79)That is true. Do they still use those?
@24, 44
Darryl, Lynn Peterson (DOT head) answered a question at the Friday news conference about the lack of warning signs. According to WSDOT rules, they are not required if the height is above a certain minimum. Even though the bridge is listed at 14’3″, the rules require a buffer of 15″ to allow for frost heaves (pavement movement during extreme cold). Peterson stated the actual height at the fog line is 15’6″.
@80 Yeah, and the governor is exploring that option.
http://seattletimes.com/html/l.....lyxml.html