Discover Seattle!

General Category => Discover Seattle! => Topic started by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 01:29

Title: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 01:29
Apparently this bridge in the Twin Cities that just fell into the river was one of 400! bridges on the federal list of "needs replacing", if your bridge gets a 50% safety rating, it gets that tag. But here's the kicker, the state of Minnesota said the bridge was 'fine' they did their own study and overrode the Federal study that said, 'this bridge is going to fall'.

Gosh I hope the DOT in Washington releases the 399 bridges that are in the 'needs replacing'. I think We've got a couple in my area.
 
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Lise on Aug 02 07 03:22
Really, really scary. I never liked bridges. It's not...... natural. I'm always nervous whenever I cross the Lion Gate Bridge.

  I just wished I could sprout wings and fly over.
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 03:38
I love bridges. Especially beautifully designed bridges.

I like the Fraser and Skybridge.
 
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: purelife on Aug 02 07 03:50
I wish that we have some beautifully designed bridges, but I think that it's most important to have safe bridges.

  I saw that collapse of the Minnesota bridge last night... absolutely terrible to see that.
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 04:12
very true pl. Who cares if its ugly as long as its safe.
I know that tunnel isn't safe, if a major earthquake happens its going to crumble apparently due to Richmond not being the most stable ground.
 
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: purelife on Aug 02 07 04:14
Well, not only will the tunnel crumble during an earthquake, but Ditchmond would sink.
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 04:17
yeah. That's what happens when you build on unstable ground.  
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: lazy Marik on Aug 02 07 05:40
yes, and no more Richmond = no more airport = much less aid!!!! Unless if they go out to Abbotsford / Pitt Meadows (is the runway long enough for big airplanes to land?)  Isn't Richmond's ground made out of sediment? It'll be like putting water into a bucket of sand.. glub glub..

They should fix the Patullo (sp?) too.. or have they already?

 
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Ace on Aug 02 07 07:14
 lazy Marik wrote:
yes, and no more Richmond = no more airport = much less aid!!!! Unless if they go out to Abbotsford / Pitt Meadows (is the runway long enough for big airplanes to land?)  Isn't Richmond's ground made out of sediment? It'll be like putting water into a bucket of sand.. glub glub..

They should fix the Patullo (sp?) too.. or have they already?

I believe the Abbotsford Airport's runway is long enough for large planes.
And Richmond?  It's nearly at sea level, and from what I've heard, an earthquake will cause major damage there.
The Patullo?  We'll all die of old age before that bridge ever gets upgraded...

 
 
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 07:16
in dire dire cases you can always uses the highways as landing places. But Air Canada does take flights from Vancouver to Abbotsford I believe as goofy as that sounds or was it Chiliwack? Can't remember now.  
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 07:41
sure enough one of the big bridges here was on the list. The Popular Street Bridge which is one of the most important economic bridges in the country. lol  
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: PostMonkee @(^_^)@ on Aug 02 07 08:15
=(

Well wishes going out to the families of the dead and wounded of course.

I remember when we had that quake in the S.F. Bay Area back in '89 and part of the Bay Bridge collapsed along with a section of the land-based double-deck freeway which flattened 40 or 50 people    =(

  I can't watch the footage even now.
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 08:20
I heard that when the bridge fell in '89, it could have been worse because usually during that time it was packed with cars. But since it was the bay series world series everybody left work early that day to watch the game.  
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: PostMonkee @(^_^)@ on Aug 02 07 08:33
Yup. When I heard how long a stretch collapsed I was convinced hundreds of cars must be trapped under all that concrete.

What a terrible way to go, but probably faster than your car plunging into a river and sinking to the bottom with you in it   =(
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 08:39
yeah drowning isn't ideal.  
Title: Re: Our bridges aren't safe
Post by: Sportsdude on Aug 02 07 09:09
 [h1] More than 70,000 bridges rated deficient[/h1]WASHINGTON - More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in [span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" id="lw_1186111747_0"]Minneapolis[/span], and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion.

[a href="vny!://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_us/bridge_safety"]vny!://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_us/bridge_safety[/a]

I have a feeling this will become a campaign issue.