Posted on 08/01/2007 4:28:27 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....
Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......
Just now breaking.......
I've been driving over the Mackinaw Bridge (webcam) since the early 70's and scares the life out of me every time I cross it.
I no longer count my birthday as it doesn't matter, but crossing the Mac at night, in the dead of winter, with high winds, with a trailer, is pure white-knuckle terror.
Those, I count.
hehe
by the way, it’s a cool word
I think it has something to do with pile driving... :)
Has anyone seen any -live- footage over the last half hour?
95 when I left work at 3:00.....
Its raining or will be soon..
hopefully the evidence wont be washed away..
There’s a difference between rivets and bolts...More than likely, this bridge is a bolted structure...
And yes, any tearing type stress, enough to cause structural failure those bolt failures would sound like a staccato of jackhammer like bangs...
I’m thinking this structural failure was brought about by the use (reduced traffic) of the bridge and the construction/repair being done at the same time...The vibrations, the shifting, swaying of the bridge over the month that this was going on could very well bring about a moment like this...
Just remember bridges are not rock solid structures, they flex and move fairly perceptably...
Even the smaller bridges (overpasses) in cities all around the country...Soil conditions, subsidence, useage...These factors play into the integrity of the structure...
It will be interesting to see what is found out about this...
But the loss of life, and rescue of those in need takes priority over anything at this time...
I just wish the lookie loos coming to the scene on the other bridge would have been turned around...
That scene is not a friggin zoo!
Reports say that three Amish courting buggies were seen crossing the bridge moments before the collapse.
Thankfully, the Homeland Security has already determined this was not linked to terrorism.
Yeah, but it was only a single deck and there was no pancaking. Relatively easy to check all vehicles still above the water.
After a while, you can assume that anyone still in a vehicle underwater is going to be dead. Two hours is sufficient time.
KTPS has it.
Well, I don’t travel that bridge frequently, but my hubby does almost every day! He is on vacation this week.
I would say that we feel very blessed.
OOH! Just heard that the storm is breaking up. They may avoid the rain, after all! Praise God!
I hardly ever do, though I reaqd it daily. But sometimes it is neccessary before they disappear into the “memory hole” and are denied to have ever existed later on.
I was visiting London in ‘97 during a heat wave (31 C, 88 F) It actually caused Blackpool Tower to raise an inch. Its metal-work had expended to 518’10”.
No, but, twilight doesn’t provide good tv pictures.
No Fox 9 has the engineer guy on again...
with drawings
It didn’t take me a little bit, you just don’t run into the World Trade on a spotless day. And my company was in four of the buildings, I was there every week; I knew how big the hole was. If you hadn’t been there and knew how tiny the windows were with the space they represent, you had no idea of the perspective so on TV it may have looked like a small hole from a small plane.
yep...
The storm has stalled out.
Didn’t I just read that they had decided to drop their suit against the passengers?
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