No I am not an engineer. Iwas replying to post #112. Yes I do remember that bridge being struck by Montgomery Mall. The bridge was replaced not for structural reasons but because of design flaws which made the bridge too low in the right lane. The truck in question was loaded incorrectly(too high) as well as the paving of the road brought the road surface up, and consequently the bridge was lower than was marked (22'). I also remember a foot bridge collapsing on 695 and crushing several cars. Also a tanker carrying a combustible liquid driving off an overpass on 95 not far from where we are talking about.Maybe a month or two ago. The integrity of the bridges is another issue entirely. They are a mess due to overuse and lack of maintanance. When I drive though NYC and see two by fours being used to brace some of the overpasses it is indeed frightening. Our tax dollars at work. And the only other reason besides traffic I know of to replace the WW Bridge is to raise it for ship traffic. Remember the idiot who held up traffic for a day threatening to jump off of there? I hope they can prevent this in the future. Maybe the Asian Girl was contemplating the same.
Smile,
The WW is carrying nearly 4 times the traffic it was designed to carry. It has been shored and up and repaired many times and simply can not endure the load irregarless of the bridge openings. The main cause of the openings has gone away as the Washington Post no longer brings news print in by ship.
The 495 accident burnt for hours after the accident and the damage was real though unreported. Steel does funny things when exposed to intense heat and the worst is hardening, which makes it brittle. While that overpass had been a hazard for some time it was not until that accident that there were any plans to fix it in the near future.
The truck driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the right side of the overpass. It was a fuel truck and it incerated him and a co-worker of mine who has right behind at the time. In case you don't remember, it too was a fuel truck carrying 9000 gallons of gasoline. Though they reopened the bridge the next day it was soon replaced.
Do not under-estimate what these folks will do and the amount of planning and studying they will undertake to reek havoc.
In regards to the lost soul on the WW and how screwed up traffic was for an entire day, what if these people did decide to threaten suicide on just the WW the American Legion and the 14th street. The entire city would come to a standstill and then the main event. Emergency and Police services would be unable to respond to any sort of attack or disaster.
Just as with the aircraft we seem to be being sized up for something. I hope you are correct that this is all just a little bit overreacting but I really do not feel very good about what I saw and upon GW's posting what he saw I really do not feel that this is just happenstance. Let's hope that I don't have to say I told you so.
Best Regards,
Boiler Plate