Friday, May 24, 2013

Skagit River Bridge



The Skagit River Bridge is North of Seattle. Right after you pass over the town of Mount Vernon and before Burlington. Yesterday it  spanned the Skagit River. Today, not so much. It ALMOST crosses over the river. Three quarters of a bridge is no better than no bridge at all.
     The Blue object is the front end of the load being hauled over the bridge that is suspected of causing the collapse. It is an open sided box structure with what looks like a forty foot I-beam beefy enough to be freespan for its entire length. That I beam hit one of the supports for the bridge, I imagine the one right in the center of the span, The concrete roadway appears to be a single piece construction, which collapsed in on itself, thereby unseating the ends of the section of road.
     Very luckily there was minimal Traffic. One car, a pickup and a trailer went into the water. No serious injuries, thank God. If this had happened earlier, during rush hour it would have been a disaster. Or if it happened tonight with everyone on the road for the weekend. They say that 70,000 cars a day travel this section of road, so it will be a mess for months.
My granddaughter, Amelia went over this bridge about five minutes before the collapse.

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