Bridge Collapse

[SciFi Chick]

Really glad I'm not living or working near downtown Atlanta right now.

[geonuc]

If you were living AND working downtown, it wouldn't be such an inconvenience. Commuters who use the I-75N, I-85N and Ga 400 freeways are screwed. As are the people who use the major surface street bypasses in the area.

I've seen a few people mention how I-85 is a major SE US corridor, and it is. But this collapsed section of the interstate is inside the I-285 loop so most of the through traffic is already routed around via I-285. Trucks, for example, are not even supposed to transit through Atlanta on the 85.

[geonuc]

[rant]

And I'll say it here because I'd probably get shit if I said it on Facebook or elsewhere: A number of people have posted to express concern by saying to their Atlanta friends "stay safe' or "glad you're ok".

<Face palm/head desk>

Stay safe? Like the Atlanta interstates have now been shown to be prone to catching fire and collapsing without warning?

Glad you're ok? No one was hurt. No one. The Atlanta fire department and police agencies cleared the road well before the collapse because of the heavy black smoke and cleared themselves out from under the structure.

When I see people write things like that, I'm reminded of 'thoughts and prayers', which also bugs the hell out of me.

Thank you.

[/rant]

[vendic]

Well, you were in our thoughts. Mainly because we didn't know how this was going to affect your house. We knew you were safe though.

[geonuc]

Well, you were in our thoughts. Mainly because we didn't know how this was going to affect your house. We knew you were safe though.

Appreciate it. I certainly wasn't ranting about you or any other FWISer.

I was at home last night during this event and wasn't initially aware what was going on. But I kept getting automated phone calls from someone. I typically ignore the home phone because it's almost never something I want to answer and we keep the volume low. But I got curious and listened to the recordings. It was the city, possibly the state, warning people to stay away from the area. Three robo-calls. I think that's cool and a proper use of taxpayers dollars.

[geonuc]

And if I-85 wasn't enough, apparently there was a bad accident on I-20 this morning before & during rush hour. Inbound lanes all shut down for hours.

The traffic gods are pissed. I blame Trump.

[vendic]

Beats blaming Canada! lol

Pretty cool about the warnings. We've had that a couple of times now. In Australia (after the fire...like weeks after lol) and here when there were crazy blizzard conditions in Va.

[Thumper]

Inbound lanes all shut down for hours.

I hear they shut down roads around Bend for months at a time.

[Swift]

A number of people have posted to express concern by saying to their Atlanta friends "stay safe' or "glad you're ok".

I'm glad you're safe. We all know how flammable Atlanta is.

[geonuc]

A number of people have posted to express concern by saying to their Atlanta friends "stay safe' or "glad you're ok".

I'm glad you're safe. We all know how flammable Atlanta is.

Seems they have a suspect in setting the fire:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T ... herman.jpg

[geonuc]

Wow. When this happened and after the engineering evaluation was done, they were talking about well into the summer before the interstate was re-opened. The governor announced that it will be open for this Monday rush hour at the latest.

If so, I'd say the contractor is in for some serious bonus money (it was in the contract).

[SciFiFisher]

I saw a news article saying they were opening it up and I thought "Wow! That was fast."

[Tarragon]

Wow. When this happened and after the engineering evaluation was done, they were talking about well into the summer before the interstate was re-opened. The governor announced that it will be open for this Monday rush hour at the latest.

If so, I'd say the contractor is in for some serious bonus money (it was in the contract).

Isn't all just modular construction with prefab sections trucked in and craned into place, with asphalt laid over top?

[geonuc]

Wow. When this happened and after the engineering evaluation was done, they were talking about well into the summer before the interstate was re-opened. The governor announced that it will be open for this Monday rush hour at the latest.

If so, I'd say the contractor is in for some serious bonus money (it was in the contract).

Isn't all just modular construction with prefab sections trucked in and craned into place, with asphalt laid over top?

I guess the short answer would be, no. There's a lot of civil engineering work to be done, not least of which are the analyses.

[Tarragon]

Wow. When this happened and after the engineering evaluation was done, they were talking about well into the summer before the interstate was re-opened. The governor announced that it will be open for this Monday rush hour at the latest.

If so, I'd say the contractor is in for some serious bonus money (it was in the contract).

Isn't all just modular construction with prefab sections trucked in and craned into place, with asphalt laid over top?

I guess the short answer would be, no. There's a lot of civil engineering work to be done, not least of which are the analyses.

To see if the concrete posts are still up to strength? The horizontal sections should have been analyzed when they were designed way back when. Don't they just need to make a new section to those specifications? Or have minimum specs changed so much that the bridge needs to be redesigned and isn't grandfathered in?

[Thumper]

It's a bit more complicated than that. There are unique situations in every application that must be taken into account in the design. Also, MOT is a major and often time consuming consideration. The exact pieces parts needed are probably not sitting in a warehouse or yard somewhere. They'll have to be designed, engineered, constructed, and transported. Add into that any bureaucratic bidding processes if they can't get a fast track waiver. And Geonuc pointed out the analytical process. Is the site safe to work in, are there HazMat concerns, what needs to be removed, what can stay as long as we don't damage it removing other pieces? Can we repair or bolster certain elements, what other infrastructure was impacted (electrical, drainage, signal or metering, signage).

We has a similar situation a here a couple years ago when a truck overturned on a freeway ramp going under a mainline bridge span. It was the week before the 4th of July weekend. They got temporary mainline traffic restored before the holiday, and the bridgespan replaced and opened to traffic within a couple of months. They are still patting each other on the back for the unprecedented success. They had to bend and waive alot of rues. Not safety or construction, but permitting, review, bidding, change order, and the like.