BREAKING NEWS: Tanker Explosion Causes Freeway Collapse

nbc11.com ^

[WSGilcrest]

Tanker truck explosion caused part of the upperdeck of the maze approaching the Bay Bridge to collapse.

Watch live coverage starting at 7 a.m. on NBC11

What was initially reported to the California Highway Patrol as a fire at around 3:42 a.m. Sunday quickly escalated to an explosion and roadway collapse on roadway that connects eastbound Interstate Highway 80 to eastbound Interstate Highway 580, according to a California Highway Patrol dispatcher.

WATCH LIVE VIDEO

According to the dispatcher, the roadway was destroyed after a tanker caught on fire and exploded, causing the driver to suffer second degree burns.

The tanker was under the overpass.

Chopper11 showed at least two sections of the maze collapsed.

The dispatcher said there is no word on when the roadway will be open and it could be days if not months before traffic resumes as usual on this stretch of road.

Stay with NBC11 and NBC11.com for continuing coverage of this breaking story.

[ThePythonicCow]

Matching this map with the nice picture in Post #8 above, it looks like the ramp connecting 80 westbound to 880 southbound collapsed onto the ramp connecting 80 eastbound to 580 westbound.

This is relatively good news.

The bottom ramp, 80 east to 580 west, should be able to be reopened fairly soon,...

Wrong.

Looking again at the close up Google map The Maze, it seems obvious that the top ramp, the one that will take months to rebuild, is the one for traffic coming on Interstate 80 East over the Bay Bridge (from San Francisco) and going to Interstate 580 East (to most of the East Bay.)

The petro trucks from the Richmond refineries to the north, traveling on Interstate 880 south to most of the Bay Area, should have their section back as soon as they clear the collapsed overpass rubble.

But the evening commute out of San Francisco is going to suck big time for months, in all directions.

[chiefqc]

And we all know that lezbo rosie is always right and knows everthing about everthing.

[racing fan]

True. I was thinking about the like to the Golden Gate Bridge when I wrote. The link will never be built unfortuately.

The cost alone would be a fortune if they just did one connection to the Golden Gate Bridge (either CA Highway 1 or US Highway 101). If it were to happen, it probably be US 101.

Maybe they could use the Great Highway for part of it?

Here are some links of designs of unbuilt San Francisco Freeways.

http://www.pcpages.com/sanfrancisco/

http://cypress.he.net/~arch21/A210702.html

[Ieatfrijoles]

Oh my, all the carbon emissions in those jams. Glad I’m not a delivery driver anymore. The good news is that Berkeley residents will probably be ‘hardest hit.’

[NRA2BFree]

That only took em 8-9 years to rebuild(under 3 miles of work), hopefully Caltrans can get on this a little snappier.

WoW! I bet that was a nightmare for commuters! I hope they didn't rebuild it one on top of the other? I was glued to my TV watching that whole thing. I felt traumatized just watching it.

[mysterio]

Thank God this happened early Sunday morning.

Agreed. And that the trucker wasn't killed.

[Ieatfrijoles]

When they figured out the cost, it came in at $40,000 per inch to rebuild. The new version is mostly at ground level and in a different path. The old Cypress was creepy to travel under as a child and it’s completely gone.

[SierraWasp]

Hay! That’s excellent, Tubular One!! Ha Ha Ha!!!

[SierraWasp]

Yeah! Like the Yoonyun Goons coming up with that phony "bad welds" garbage that delayed and cost at least another stupid billyun big ones on the delieriously beautiful, but still unfinished Bay Bridge!!!

Yes, you are toadaly correctomundo, fearless fly fisherman!!! Oh! And I almost forgot how the toadaly run-down ten ants who lived under this now collapsed ramp to the 580 held that job up until they got everything they wanted from Cal-Trans and the CA taxpayers... Judas Priest!!!

[processing please hold]

It exploded causing the overpass to collapse. Excellent timing.

[ThePythonicCow]

Four images from KCBS.COM of the burning freeway and the collapsed remains:

[Polynikes]

“It will take Caltrans ages to fix this mess. The still haven’t finished the eastern span of the Bay Bridge and it has been almost 18 years.”

That is probably due to local bay area governments pimping the feds for reconstruction funds for friends companies. They of course have to have the contracts distributed according to diversity and affirmative action standards. They drag it out as long as possible with retro fits that take decades or the next big earthquake,which ever comes first. Notice how soon Caltrans got the freeways up after up after the Northridge earthquake something like 6 to 12 mos.

[mewzilla]

Thanks for the info. Jeez, I would hope that in the case of someone driving a tanker or a hazmat load, the English proficiency requirement would be a must. Sigh.

[mewzilla]

...According to Cross, the driver was not intoxicated but was traveling at an "unsafe speed," lost control and overturned.

Hope this driver and the company he works for gets a proctoscopic examination from the state and Feds.

[papasmurf]

Based on my experience of 20+ years of owning transportation company's and lifelong involvement in the industry through family and friends, I agree with you. But the lic'g scandal is only the tip of the iceberg.

I've been trying to make the point with FMCSA, that their accident causal studies are flawed and bent toward a predetermined outcome.

It's my opinion, and I have well more than a million miles under my butt, that local and regional drivers are more dangerous and more accident prone. This accident only bolsters my opinion.

Local and regional drivers, especially of petroleum, agriculture, and forestry products trucks (which have a convoluted myriad of exemptions), are the least regulated and watched in the industry. They also kill people more frequently than the OTR guys.

Yet the State's and Fed's continue to over-regulate the otr guys and under-regulate the locals. They still DO NOT require or maintain any statistics, whatsoever, that would help in determining which class of drivers and/or truck-trailer combinations are most risky.

Understand this. Most local/regional drivers do not even need a log book, only a time sheet, and in Calif. he can drive for 12 hours (10 for tankers w/more than 500 gallons) under the 100 mile rule, 16 in some cases.
An OTR guy must maintain a logbook, current to his last change of duty (rest time, fuel, meals, load/unloading, etc) and may drive only 11 hours. And this, only after having 14 hours off duty or in the sleeper.

So, what's the answer? The answer, in part, is to have a system that more thoroughly reports all data from trucks involved in accidents, i.e. Type of CDL, class of truck, number of miles from terminal or home, type of trailer, in addition to the data they already collect. As well, the accident studies include all "Large Trucks". This is misleading, as a large truck is classified as a truck or truck tractor that has a GVWR of more than 10,000 pounds. This would, and does, include many pick ups and vans. If you dissect the A.T.R.I. and U.of M. studies, you'll see that there are 100's of "Large Truck" deaths a year that can be attributed to pick ups and vans that aren't a part of the transportation industry and do not require a special license, fall under any regulation, or require training to operate.

:O)

P

[Ditter]

Of course locally it is referred to as the “bay area” but last time I looked FreeRepublic was read world wide. California is not the center of the universe, neither is NYC. Everyone knows the center of the universe is Texas! >>//smirk

[mewzilla]

...that local and regional drivers are more dangerous and more accident prone.

Don't most MVAs occur within a mile of the driver's home? Familiarity may breed contempt and a driver might let down his/her guard.

[Diver Dave]

Let’s see now. One (1) tanker truck explosion oughta cause a spike of at least ten (10) cents a gallon at the pump throughout Northern CA.

[papasmurf]

Yes, that's what we've known for, what, about 45 years now?

Do they think truckers are immune from the complacency syndrome? We're not.

:O)

P

[Ditter]

If you want to know the truth, I didn’t know the names of those 2 tall building in NYC and I have been up in them twice. Once for dinner and once just sightseeing. I guess I knew the name at the time, but it wasn’t important to me so I forgot.