There's plenty to show for it. Just none of it highways.
Posted on 05/24/2013 12:18:57 AM PDT by djf
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A portion of an Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River, about 60 miles north of Seattle, collapsed Thursday, sending three vehicles and people plunging into the cold water at least 50 feet below.
Amazingly, there were no fatalities, Skagit County authorities said. Three people were pulled from the river and taken to Skagit Valley Hospital and United General Hospital; two were reported to be in stable condition, the other had minor injuries and was being released Thursday night.
The survivor who was released was identified as Dan Sligh, 47. His wife, Sally Sligh, 56, remained in the hospital. The other injured person was reported to be a 20-year-old man.
Both the northbround and southbound lanes of the northern section of the bridge collapsed at about 7 p.m.
This section of I-5 runs between the Washington cities of Burlington and Mount Vernon.
When rescuers arrived, people were sitting on top of their submerged cars. The water is about 18 feet deep where the bridge collapse took place.
Gov. Jay Inslee headed to the scene to monitor the rescue efforts, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was monitoring the situation as well.
Inslee later told a news conference that repairing the bridge is “job No. 1″ and that it’s unknown how long it will take to replace the bridge. I-5 is a main north-south arterial for northwestern Washington state.He said he will authorize the Transportation Department to establish detour routes to minimize impact on traffic and commerce.
“Witnesses say a truck hit the bridge and caused it to collapse, but an investigation has been launched to confirm that,” Inslee said. “Any witnesses or people with information should contact the State Patrol.
“The National Transportation Safety Board is on their way tomorrow, and I’ve been in touch with our federal partners. We will be involved in a vigorous and diligent effort to get traffic flowing again through the Skagit bridge corridor and I will issue an emergency proclamation tomorrow to make sure we have the resources to do so as quickly as possible,” Inslee said.
Goskagit.com said one driver who had just crossed the bridge shortly before it collapsed told a reporter he felt a vibration and looked in his rear view mirror to see that the section of bridge he had just crossed was no longer behind him.
“I thought something was wrong with my car at first,” the man told the reporter about feeling the vibration.
The bridge was built in 1955, was inspected last November and it received passing grades, Treece said.
Bush’s fault? No way!!!!
Like Obamatollah, I blame the ATM machines that also destroyed the economy.
Thanks djf.
It’ll be blamed on Bush, Republicans, conservatives, opponents of overtaxing Americans, the sequestration...
Yea, it looks like the “about” in “about 18 feet of water” has a very wide range!
Time for Obama to claim credit for the bridge across the Detroit river that Canada is paying for.
No, this is a rarity. Both the state (Washington) and the federal government are responsible for funding inspection and upkeep of the Interstate road system. Additionally, non-government organizations, primarily engineering profesionals, bolster the inspection process.
This is what the much ballyhood stimulus bill of 2009 was designed to repair. Unfortunately most of the funding was diverted by political favoritism to the likes of Green Energy, et al.
Ah, ok. I thought it happened more than it should.
I thought it was happening a bit too often recently. My bag.
No it isn't! :(
There’s no reason for that bridge to have collapsed. I believe an overheight semi may have rammed the girders.
It appears that a truck did hit the bridge but that shouldn’t cause a collapse.
I'm just glad no one was hurt, esp. since my own small kids travel on that stretch of road.
It’s a very shallow river and it wasn’t a fall. More like driving down a very steep ramp into water that would act as a cushion. The speed limit in that area is 55-60 and the drivers probably saw it going down before they reach it.
Bet they could do a temp repair in 2-3 weeks.
They'll bleet and holler about needing more money for infrastructure, and when they get it unless it buys tons of cement and rebar, they'll spend it on something else.
They just don't care!
You are seeing where the surface finish paint cracked off due to the stretching and deformation of the metal. You are seeing the primer layer underneath.
That stretch of highway is actually pretty well maintained - worlds ahead of the narrow pothole- and crack-ridden slabs of concrete they call roads in New York (another Democrat-controlled paradise). When the truck hit the bridge at high speed it obviously displaced the entire section from the supporting column which precipitated the collapse. There was nothing wrong with this bridge.
"Washington Department of Transportation does not have adequate controls to ensure that information the Recovery Act required to be reported for its highway program is accurate." (page 19)
Translation: The State of Washington's accounting system sucks and they couldn't (or didn't want to) keep track of where the money went.
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