Breaking: Walkway at Botanical Gardens in midtown Atlanta has collapsed...

Fox 5 Atlanta | 12/19/08 | Phoenix11

[Phoenix11]

This just breaking on Fox 5 in Atlanta. No word yet on injuries/details.

[drjimmy]

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution website, there was construction work taking place on the bridge when this happened, and it is probably workers who have been injured.

[silverleaf]

another tragic example of America’s long neglect of its infrastructure under the eeevil Republicans

s-a-r-c

[KC_Conspirator]

Lol! If only we had changed lightbulbs or made a more energy efficient walkway.

[Red Badger]

How tall is...er, was it?........................

[NCjim]

Workers hurt in construction accident at Botanical Garden

Emergency crews and ambulances were called to a major construction accident at the Atlanta Botanical Garden shortly after 9 a.m. Friday.

Details were not immediately available, but about a dozen ambulances were on the scene at 9:30, with more arriving. Some workers were being brought out of the accident area on backboards.

The Botanical Garden had issued a press release saying that crews would be pouring concrete for a new 600-foot, 45-foot-tall “canopy walk” on Friday. The attraction is designed to give visitors an elevated view of new gardens.

[edpc]

Breaking news.....literally.

[reagan_fanatic]

Prayers for those involved that no one is killed or seriously injured.

[silverleaf]

Obama will rebuild it greener better stronger
Jobs for Americans! Viva!

[TornadoAlley3]

1 killed, at least 15 injured at Botanical Garden

[Larry381]

Bush’s fault © ™ ®

[theDentist]

The attraction is designed to give visitors an elevated view of new gardens.

Apparently they'll also get a "close up" view as well.

I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll find wrong or faulty bolts supporting the structure, and once the weight and pressure exceeded interity, it just pulled the rest with it.

[Sacajaweau]

Can you say “Pork”?

[hoe_cake]

I’m not sure there will be loads of fault in the existing construction of the facilities. Atlanta takes very good care of the Botanical Gardens. Much better care than we do of our roads and other infrastructure.

[Phoenix11]

Latest update from Fox5: As TornadoAlley3 pointed out 1 fatality, 15 others injured. However, rescuers believe there may be more people trapped in the collapse.

[Dianna]

Details were not immediately available, but about a dozen ambulances were on the scene at 9:30, with more arriving.

Sounds like someone is expecting a lot of injuries. Prayers...and so close to Christmas. I hate that.

[org.whodat]

Subcontractor and his illegals. LOL

[Walmartian]

ATLANTA -- A pedestrian bridge at Atlanta Botanical Gardens has collapsed. Initial reports stated that at least 15 people had been injured. Multiple ambulances were been dispatched to the scene. At least one person has been killed in the accident. The bridge that collapsed was under construction; today was a scheduled event -- a large concrete pour for a 45-foot-tall, 600-foot-long canopy walk -- and the public was invited to attend. The collapse occurred during the pour. One witness told 11Alive's Marc Pickard that the collapse sounded like construction at a building. "I thought, 'what on earth could that have been?'" she said. "Then I heard somebody yell and saw someone doing construction at the park running in." 11Alive's Jaye Watson talked to other witnesses who said street surveyors near the entrance saw the entire incident. They saw the bridge go down, heard it hit, and then heard people screaming. An officer in the vicinity ran into the Botanical Gardens, followed shortly by the fire department and ambulances. The Atlanta Fire Department described most injuries as fractures and bruises, but could not say if anyone was critically injured in the incident. The victims were taken to several hospitals including Grady Hospital, a level-one trauma center. The bridge is located at the southern end of Atlanta Botanical Gardens, near Piedmont Park. It was set to open in Spring 2009. The bridge was designed by Halvorson and Partners, and construction was being done by Hardin Construction Company, LLC. Stay with 11Alive and 11Alive.com for more information as it becomes available.

[Broker]

What's Happening Now? Is this the walkway that failed?

As of September 30, construction of sections of the walkway for the Canopy Walk has begun in Storza Woods. Unique in the U.S., the "treeway" will be a permanent, accessible, 12-foot wide and 600-foot long walk skimming 40-feet up through the leafy tree canopy. It includes safety railings, LED lighting and benches for seating. The last segment of the track-like scaffolding framework was put into place on Nov. 13, 2008. Click here to see the video.

[NonValueAdded]

A tragedy to be sure but will we see this repeated countless times in the future? Think about Obama’s infrastructure jobs proposal. There was something written yesterday, I think, about how 100,000’s of workers in white collar jobs will have to be flexible enough to take construction jobs temporarily. Holy carp, that is how we plan to keep the economy going, a 1930’s WPA approach??? And what will be the quality of work that gets performed? How many welds will fail? How much concrete fails due to misplaced rebar, voids, etc?