Many Casualities Feared In Bridge Disaster

[WillRiker]

I'm guessing by time anyone reads this they'll already know, but as i just got on the PC after watching the coverage figured I'd post the story anyway.

A catastrophic bridge collapse in the US has left at least six people dead and sent cars, lorries and pedestrians plunging into the Mississippi river below.
Dozens of people are reported to be injured.

Dramatic TV pictures show at least three sections of the bridge in the river with cars and lorries hanging over the edge of the structure.

The disaster happened at the height of the US rush hour - the bridge was packed with nose-to-bumper traffic when the structure gave way at several points with a terrific "boom".

Cars and lorries are in the river while a lorry is on fire on one section of the bridge that is upright.

TV footage shows other vehicles piled on top of each other.

A train is lying crushed underneath one section of the rubble - one report said it had been cut in two.

"This is not good, there are some bad things out there," one witness told Fox News.

"I hope and pray for those people."

Between 50-100 cars were on the bridge at the time - one report says around 50 cars fell into the river.

One US news report says a school bus with children onboard stopped just feet away from plunging into the river.

US Homeland Security said there was no reason to believe terrorism was behind the disaster.

It said the department was monitoring the situation.

Witnesses said they heard a roar shortly before the structure disintegrated.

Another said there was "a terrific boom".

Sky News

If it turns out to be a balls up by the construction crew there's gonna be some major lawsuits.

[mommysalomi]

I think it was probally wear and tear and non maintenience. It is very sad.. The next one to go is the golden gate bridge.. I been sayin that for a long time.. FUCK THAT I will not go across it.. Theres something about that bridge that scares me and I always say its gonna fall....

[Phillcodude]

I saw that story on the news this morning. A very sad day indeed

There's clearly been corners cut during the construction of the bridge or a severe lack of maintainance. Most bridges have CCTV near them so it probably won't be long before the pictures of it happening will be shown.

Someone is clearly to blame for this and it's down to the structural engineers to find the cause.

[Purple Dragon]

well it was new to me as i don't watch the news.now i no why i don't like bridges....

[smilin heinz]

I have a huge fear of bridges, more so if it goes over alot of water!! I looked at my husband last night and told hiim that's why I avoid bridges if at all possible and I don't get on them at all if there is standing traffic!! Very sad though.

[Maximal]

everybody keeps reporting a large bang before the bridge fell, sounds like someone wanted it to fall

[WillRiker]

Well exactly as Philcodude said footage of the collapse is doing the rounds now from a security camera.

[Danimal]

Here is a list of some recent collapses from around the world.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...n100253D68.DTL

[Layni]

This is really sad. I read that there was construction going on to fix it. When I was younger I remember quite a few bridges falling down right around the same time of each other, scared the crap outta me- cuz i cant swim.

[MD Willington]

Despite the image of large modern cities, the infrastructure of America is becoming old. A lot of what you see was built in the 1930's when the government implemented a lot of "make work" programs during the depression.

There are apparently 70,000 bridges in the USA that are in the same shape as the one that collapsed.

This is deadly serious stuff, it will get worse before it gets better, expect Senate hearing over this collapse.


One aspect of the aging infrastructure I deal with is the electrical grid, there have not been any really major upgrades since the mid 20th century.

One thing I can tell you regarding the electrical system is a lot of grid owners are spending a lot of money upgrading.

The big outage in CA a week or so back, was the result of old crappy equipment, the equipment that failed was replaced by equipment that my employer makes, probably something I helped test too.

MD