Bridge Collapse

[genlock]

Wikipedia entry on that bridge states that for a long time the outside lanes of the bridge were closed because of possible "soil problems" on the north end.
Looking at the recorded images on tv, It does look like the piers on one end of the bridge are tilted back (away from the river). If those piers were tilting prior to the collapse, then the bridge could have pulled away on the other end , causing a collapse. I am not a structural engineer, but I can sit here with a beer and watch TV an have wild ass guesses like anybody else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Miss ... ver_Bridge

[The People's DJ]

Get this in here before anyone else...

Bush did it!

[SPIKE NESMITH!]

[Dr. Whiplash]

I wondered how long it would take to pull out the 1967 Silver Bridge footage. CNN. About 90 minutes.

[Big Media]

I wonder if anyone spotted the Mothman?

[/too soon to be making jokes]

[AmpedNow]

Oh no...



Sorry.

[Lee]

Two words.........well, three and a slash:

Ironton/Russell Bridge.

[Big Media]

Dunbar/South Charleston gives me the weebeejeebees as does the Martha Road bridge (it has been replaced hasn't it?) I used to have to cross the Roby Road bridge on a regular basis.

Still, I gotta say, the bridge that makes me nervous is the I64 bridge over Hal Greer Blvd. I guess it only needs paint and at lest it doesn't cross a river but still.....

[Jay Nunley]

The Nitro/Saint Albans bridge was built somewhere around 1930. I hate crossing that thing. The worst is when you get stuck on it in traffic. This is one of the numerous reasons I don't like leaving my Saint Albans "bubble."

[fearpeddler]

The Nitro/Saint Albans bridge was built somewhere around 1930. I hate crossing that thing. The worst is when you get stuck on it in traffic. This is one of the numerous reasons I don't like leaving my Saint Albans "bubble."

yah, that bridge scares the hell outa me.... I dont see whats wrong with the dunbar bridge, I drive over it pretty regularly.

[AmpedNow]

The Nitro/Saint Albans bridge was built somewhere around 1930. I hate crossing that thing. The worst is when you get stuck on it in traffic. This is one of the numerous reasons I don't like leaving my Saint Albans "bubble."

The last time I was down that way making a Best Buy run, I sat in traffic on it for about 20 minutes for no appearant reason, feeling it flex and shake... No accidents or anything.

That's scary enough, but some of these little state route bridges around the state looks like they were built about 100 years ago...

I still wonder if the New River George Bridge will ever go down some Bridge Day, as some of the locals fear it will one year...

[Bob Campbell]

Nunley, ANY time you're on ANY bridge, you're taking a chance. It's not the bridge dude. PUT THE DONUT DOWN!

[Dave Allen]

I think its been all blowed up since I was up there, but the old Shadle bridge in Pt. Pleasant always made me nervous. The old Water Street bridge in Logan, too.

[Zak Tyler]

I think its been all blowed up since I was up there, but the old Shadle bridge in Pt. Pleasant always made me nervous. The old Water Street bridge in Logan, too.

there were a bunch of bridges in logan that made me nervous. most of them were hand built by ex coal miners on SSI to go over the creek to get to their house. those creeped me out.

[herdgirl72]

Still, I gotta say, the bridge that makes me nervous is the I64 bridge over Hal Greer Blvd. I guess it only needs paint and at lest it doesn't cross a river but still.....

Amen to that....I HATE that bridge....
and Amen to the Ironton/Russell bridge..they've been putting
off that rebuild for ever....

[Bob Loblaw]

I think its been all blowed up since I was up there, but the old Shadle bridge in Pt. Pleasant always made me nervous. The old Water Street bridge in Logan, too.

there were a bunch of bridges in logan that made me nervous. most of them were hand built by ex coal miners on SSI to go over the creek to get to their house. those creeped me out.

Wouldn't that be crik, Zak?

[Zak Tyler]

I think its been all blowed up since I was up there, but the old Shadle bridge in Pt. Pleasant always made me nervous. The old Water Street bridge in Logan, too.

there were a bunch of bridges in logan that made me nervous. most of them were hand built by ex coal miners on SSI to go over the creek to get to their house. those creeped me out.

Wouldn't that be crik, Zak?

shit it's been so long, and i've lived around all these people that wear shoes and shirts to work now for a while.... i'm embarrassed to say i can't remember.....

[Dave Loudin]

On the flip side, a lot of the concrete bridges on state routes look like they could survive nuclear war. I remember that one of the few structures in Albright to survive the last flood of the Cheat was the bridge that carried Rt. 26 across the river.

[genlock]

The old bridge in Dixon (near Lavalette) fell down some time ago. It was hit by an APCO power truck that was too heavy and too high. The scene was a circus for days. It was the biggest thing to hit the Lavalette area for weeks.
A tourist attraction.

[Lee]

From HD.com:

HUNTINGTON -- A fatal bridge collapse in Minnesota renewed calls Thursday for thorough bridge inspections nationwide, with some estimating the cost of bringing all bridges to today's safety standards could easily cost more than $100 billion.

A 2005 report by the American Society for Civil Engineers showed 27 percent of the nation's 590,750 bridges were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, including 37 percent of West Virginia's 6,956 bridges.

"That should not be confused with any kind of catastrophic failure taking place," said Hota GangaRao, a civil engineering professor at West Virginia University. "However, one needs to be careful about evaluating these bridges on a continuous basis."

The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, was being repaired when the bridge buckled during evening rush hour Wednesday, sending dozens of cars plummeting more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River.

The 40-year-old bridge was rated as "structurally deficient" two years ago and possibly in need of replacement, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database.

The bridge was built the same year that the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River between Kanauga, Ohio, and Point Pleasant collapsed, killing 46.

Four of the six bridges that span the Ohio River between Huntington and Ironton were deemed "not deficient" in their most recent inspections, according to the National Bridge Inventory database for 2006 and state transportation officials. The Ironton-Russell Bridge, built in 1922, was categorized as "structurally deficient," meaning it is deteriorating. Ashland's Ben Williamson Bridge, built in 1930, was categorized as "functionally obsolete," meaning it is structurally sound but no longer meets transportation standards and demands.

Nearly 13 percent of all the nation's bridges have been deemed structurally deficient, while another 13 percent are categorized as functionally obsolete.

A bridge deemed structurally deficient does not necessarily mean it is unfit for traffic, but there are a number of concerns with the Ironton-Russell Bridge, said Mike Loeffler, a bridge inspector for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

In 2000, ODOT recommended that the bridge be replaced. It has since undergone several emergency modifications so that it can be used in cold weather, Loeffler said.

"The bridge was only closed twice last year for a short duration, but it has a lot of structural issues," he said. "We inspect the bridge annually and if it is shut down for cold weather it will be reinspected. Thus, it may be reinspected three or four times a year."

In 2006, plans to replace the Ironton-Russell bridge were rejected as the contracting bids for the original design came in too high, Loeffler said. The state is once again in the preliminary stages of the replacement process. Consultants are studying how to redesign the replacement, he said.

The bridge received a sufficiency rating of 7.2 on a scale of 0 to 100, according to the National Bridge Inventory Database.

Three elements go into a bridge's sufficiency rating, Loeffler said. Structural adequacy and safety make up 55 percent of the rating, serviceability and functional obsolescence comprise 30 percent, and whether the bridge is still essential for public use makes up 15 percent.

The East End Bridge, Robert C. Byrd Bridge and Nick J. Rahall Bridge in Huntington were all labeled "not deficient" by the National Bridge Inventory database. The East End Bridge, built in 1985, received a sufficiency rating of 68, while the 13-year-old Robert C. Byrd Bridge received a rating of 88. The Nick J. Rahall Bridge, built in 1968, received a sufficiency rating of 41.

The Minneapolis bridge that collapsed received a sufficiency rating of 50.

John Walker, a deputy highway engineer for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, said he does not know why the Rahall bridge received a low sufficiency rating, but feels confident that it is safe.

Federal standards require all bridges to be inspected at least once every two years, but many of West Virginia's major bridges are inspected annually, including the three bridges in Huntington that span the Ohio River.

"I firmly believe our inspection process is working for us." Walker said. "It's sufficient to keep the public safe."

The quality of inspections, however, can vary, said GangaRao, the engineering professor at WVU.

"It not only varies from state to state but it could vary from the inspection crew to another inspection crew," he said. "There's a degree of subjectivity to this."

The sufficiency rating for Ashland's Ben Williamson Bridge, built in 1965, is 46, while the 22-year-old Simeon Willis Bridge is 73, said Alan Blair, spokesman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's ninth district, a 10-county region that includes Boyd County.

The Ben Williamson Bridge is expected to be closed until November for painting.

Blair said Kentucky officials inspect all bridges in the Commonwealth every two years. All bridges that span the Ohio River into Kentucky are inspected annually, he said.

"I can tell you that these inspections aren't taken lightly," Blair said. "If we thought the bridges were not safe, they would not be open to traffic at all."