starcrafttom
Active member
channel king 5 just reported that the I 5 bridge over the skagit river has fallen in the river with two cars. http://www.king5.com/
I-5 bridge collapse.
- Thread starter starcrafttom
- Start date
Wandering Sagebrush
Free Range Human
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — 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 immediate estimate of how many people were in the water or whether there were any injuries or deaths, he said.
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.
Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.
"It doesn't look like anybody's in danger right now," Grospe said.
Crowds of people lined the river to watch the scene unfold, The Skagit-Valley Herald reported.
Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state's bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington's 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.
The four-lane bridge over the Skagit River collapsed about 7 p.m., Trooper Mark Francis said. There was no immediate estimate of how many people were in the water or whether there were any injuries or deaths, he said.
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.
Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.
"It doesn't look like anybody's in danger right now," Grospe said.
Crowds of people lined the river to watch the scene unfold, The Skagit-Valley Herald reported.
Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state's bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington's 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.
Saw that on the AM news here in Pensacola, but did not realize it was I 5. According to reports a truck carrying a 12' wide x 14' high oversized load hit one of the beams. I am surprised that that oversized and height load did not have escort vehicles--especially with a pole to measure height in front. The standard is 13'6" for most roads, but freeways are 14 to 16 feet, with a 16 foot routing required around any obstruction lower than 16 feet. However apparently this bridge was built in 1955, and in 1956 the requirement went to 14 feet and in the 60's to 16 or 17 feet....Wa state says the clearance is 14'6". The truck driver had a permit to go over this bridge...
A lot of our freeway (and other highway) infrastructure is past its useful life, unfortunately.... Looks like it is going to be difficult to get North from this area on the freeway for some time...But there seem to be several alternative routes across the Skagit river. Hope that none of our C Dory brothers are badly inconvenienced!
A lot of our freeway (and other highway) infrastructure is past its useful life, unfortunately.... Looks like it is going to be difficult to get North from this area on the freeway for some time...But there seem to be several alternative routes across the Skagit river. Hope that none of our C Dory brothers are badly inconvenienced!
sawmilldon
New member
Last night they interviewed a witness to the incident that was a truck driver by trade. He said that there WAS a pilot vehicle, but it was less than 200 feet ahead of the semi.
Someone has a lot of 'splaining to do, Lucy.
Someone has a lot of 'splaining to do, Lucy.
starcrafttom
Active member
I also heard the first hand report of the driver of a car next to the rig that hit the bridge. He said that the escort car's pole hit the bridge first and was just a short distance in front of the truck. What a mess.
Carol and I just departed the house to drive into town when my fire pager went off alerting me that our Swift Water Rescue Team was dispatched to the I-5 Bridge collapse. I turned the car around and went to our fire station to join other members of our team where we hitched up our hovercraft to our F.D. Utility truck and responded code up to a launch point downstream from the collapsed bridge. There we joined the Snohomish County Sheriff Dive Team and other department members of our Rescue Team and launched the hovercrafts and Sheriff Marine boats and participated in the incident. The lack of this bridge will have a profound impact on the North and South travel through this area. There is no easy bypass given the amount of traffic that this bridge carries on a daily basis and additionally there is a tremendous amount of commercial truck traffic that will now be diverted into urban streets. (The news media states that about 71,000 vehicles crossed this bridge daily).
Dave,
When I was watching that last night, I saw the hover craft and wondered if you were working out there. Thanks for your service. Sure glad the injuries were as they were and on not worse. Could have been much worse.
The news coverage, (especially the national - FOX and CNN), has been all over the place, as to what happened and how and when it will be fixed. Going to be an interesting trail to watch for a while. Feel sorry for that poor driver and his pilot. The permit trail will be checked pretty thoroughly you can be sure.
Tom,
Enjoy the boat ride.
Harvey
SleepyC:moon
When I was watching that last night, I saw the hover craft and wondered if you were working out there. Thanks for your service. Sure glad the injuries were as they were and on not worse. Could have been much worse.
The news coverage, (especially the national - FOX and CNN), has been all over the place, as to what happened and how and when it will be fixed. Going to be an interesting trail to watch for a while. Feel sorry for that poor driver and his pilot. The permit trail will be checked pretty thoroughly you can be sure.
Tom,
Enjoy the boat ride.
Harvey
SleepyC:moon
Gene Morris
New member
We are towing Reefmadness fromCA to Blaine next weekend. Has anyone traveled the detour yet? Wondering what to expect. What is the best time to transit that area.?
Alyssa Jean
New member
The best detour is the route we always take from the south coming and going from Anacortes. I will be taking it this morning for a trip to the brewery in Snoqualmie. You will want to take the Exit 221 at Conway head west over I-5 and the first right taking you through Conway and over Fir Island. After Fir Island just stay on the road and around the new round about (this will be interesting for semi trucks) and on about two more miles to Hiway 20. Take a right on 20 and that will take you back east to I-5 at Burlington. There are a couple of other detours, but I think they are much longer.
Anna Leigh":jwy8p7fg said:
All of the detour routes are going to be "interesting" for semi trucks. Additionally as we all well know there are many "oversized loads" that transit the North/South corridor. These types of vehicles will cause major traffic interruptions and in my mind may not even be permitted on the detour routes as these are two lane roads and wind through small communities. Fortunately our C-Dory's and their tow rigs will be able to negotiate these routes....it will just require more time and patience.
This morning's Everett Herald has an article stating that Amtrak Train is adding an additional North/South passenger train between Everett and Bellingham. (Doesn't help with trailering C-Dory's but may keep a few folks off the highway).
If it were me, I'd try to get thru very early or very late. I'd avoid "rush hour" at all costs. [Why do we call it rush HOUR, when it's always hours long? :? ]
Friday afternoons are the worst, as everyone and their mother tries to escape the cities and head out for summer weekends. And on week days, once the big rigs start transiting the area, it's gonna be a mess. Either way, 70K cars daily is a hefty load to re-route on two lane roads, no matter the planning involved.
We'll have to deal w/ this as we do a lot of launching in Bellingham during the summer. Even getting to Cornet Bay is impacted. That bridge always created a "pucker factor" for me when towing; it's very, very narrow w/ no shoulders at all. Not much room for error either way.
I just spoke with daughter Jessica on the phone. She drove up to Mt. Vernon and Burlington around 0930 this morning and got off at the College Way exit and then crossed the river on Riverside Drive. She said there was no real problem at that time. Wife Carol, drove up to Burlington around 1130 this morning to join Jessica. She got off I-5 at the Kincaid Exit and traversed surface streets in Mt. Vernon and also crossed the river on Riverside Drive. She also indicated that it was no real problem but will probably be a concern on Monday (Memorial Day).
We do a considerable amount of shopping in Burlington (since it is more convenient for us than going to Everett and we live about equal distance between the two). That being said, we are very familiar with all of the side streets and ways to avoid congestion. So, if we encounter congestion we can quickly determine and follow alternate short cuts.
We do a considerable amount of shopping in Burlington (since it is more convenient for us than going to Everett and we live about equal distance between the two). That being said, we are very familiar with all of the side streets and ways to avoid congestion. So, if we encounter congestion we can quickly determine and follow alternate short cuts.
DuckDogTitus
New member
In trying to get caught up in the story, I have to admit it sure seems like the trailer which supposedly caused the collapse took hardly any damage at all.
http://www.king5.com/news/skagit-river- ... 58631.html
It sure seemed at least like not enough to cause the collapse of a healthy bridge. I do feel bad for the driver and his company now though. scrutiny of this type is never fun, but to be so public I'm sure is difficult.
I conferred with Google on the best way to get from South to North again and He agreed there are many alternatives, none of them without a good view of the Skagit area :beer
http://www.king5.com/news/skagit-river- ... 58631.html
It sure seemed at least like not enough to cause the collapse of a healthy bridge. I do feel bad for the driver and his company now though. scrutiny of this type is never fun, but to be so public I'm sure is difficult.
I conferred with Google on the best way to get from South to North again and He agreed there are many alternatives, none of them without a good view of the Skagit area :beer
Where is the Army Corp of Engineers with the mobile bridges which have been used for many years for temporary spans? Some of these will allow Army tanks to cross on them.
If that one segment went down that easily, I sure would wonder about the rest of the remaining bridge, which is similar.
If that one segment went down that easily, I sure would wonder about the rest of the remaining bridge, which is similar.