Yikes - another local bridge has collapsed
Was at the soft opening of a local cafe (incredible food -- no website yet but will post a link when it goes active) and someone started talking about a bridge collapse. They had photos on their cell-phone.
A couple of Seattle stations are covering this.
From
KING-5:
I-5 bridge over Skagit River collapses, cars with people in water
An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
The four-lane bridge over the Skagit River collapsed about 7 p.m., Trooper Mark Francis said. There was no confirmation how many people were in the water, but Skagit County Sheriff's Department said three people have been rescued from the water and were being transported to hospitals.
It also was not known what caused the collapse of the bridge about 60 miles north of Seattle in Skagit County, which stretches from the North Cascades National Park to a cluster of islands off the Washington coast.
A bit more:
The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data, but 759 bridges in the state have a lower sufficiency score.
Going to see if any of the 759 are ones I frequent...
Stations
KIRO-TV and
KOMO also had stories but there is not much concrete news and all three sources are saying about the same thing.
There are a couple of drive-arounds but they are old and low capacity. I think that I am going to avoid driving south for a few months.
Washington State is no stranger to bridge problems.
The 1990
I-90 bridge sinking
The 1979
Hood Canal Bridge sinking.
The 1978
West Seattle Bridge allision
And of course, Galloping Gertie - the 1940
Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse.
In 2007, our own Senator Patty Murray originated
this pork legislation:
Murray Adds $1 Billion to Repair Deficient Bridges Across the Nation
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee added a $1 billion amendment that would fund the replacement and rehabilitation of structurally deficient bridges across the country. Senator Murray offered the amendment to the Senate THUD Appropriations bill. It was agreed to by a vote of 60-33.
"Increasing traffic has put added stress on a system that simply wasn't designed for it and, as a result, our bridges are deteriorating far faster than we can finance their replacement," Murray said in a speech today on the Senate floor. "My amendment will allow for a historic increase in Federal bridge funding � a boost of nearly 20 percent."
Senator Murray's amendment provides an additional $1 billion for activities authorized under the Federal Highway Administration�s (FHWA) Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation program. This program provides grants to each State for bridge replacement, bridge rehabilitation, preventative maintenance, seismic retrofitting; bridge inspections, and activities designed to protect bridges and extend their life spans.
Under the Murray amendment, the THUD bill would remain within its budget allocations. The Full Appropriations Committee re-allocated unused funding from other areas in order to cover the spending.
WA State's take was $34,839,647 -- not too shabby.
The highlighted part is important -- this was not a one-shot Billion allocation, this was adding an additional One Billion Dollars to each and every annual budget from then on and the money is allocated whether it is spent or not.
Where is the bridge repair? Where is all of our money? Is it quietly being pocketed by construction companies who turn around and recycle 10% of it into campaign contributions? Something does not smell right. Stinks to be precice...
Here is the website for the
National Bridge Inventory (NBI)
Posted by DaveH at May 23, 2013 9:25 PM