Bridge Collapse... Update

 

 

A road bridge collapsed into the Skagit river in the north-western US state of Washington after its span was hit by an oversized truck, said officials.  Vehicles and people were thrown into the water after part of the Interstate 5 highway crumbled on Thursday evening. State officials said three people were rescued and there were no fatalities.

The four-lane bridge is near Mount Vernon, on the main route between the state's main city, Seattle, and the Canadian city of Vancouver.
"For reasons unknown at this point in time the semi struck the overhead of the bridge causing the collapse," Washington State Patrol chief John Batiste told an overnight news conference.
The truck was able to drive off the bridge and the driver waited at the scene for police.

America's bridge problem

• Over 200 million trips are taken daily across deficient bridges in America's 102 largest metropolitan regions
• One in nine US bridges is rated as structurally deficient, while the average age of the nation's 607,380 bridges is 42 years
• To repair all US bridges by 2028 would require an annual investment of more than $20bn - barely $13bn is being spent now

Source: American Society of Civil Engineers

A rescue operation swung into action with rescue boats searching for people in the river. Three people were rescued and sent to hospitals in the area. Two of those were taken to hospital with hypothermia.

Dan Sligh, one of those rescued from the water, said the bridge had disappeared in a "big puff of dust".
"When the dust hit I saw the bridge start to fall. At that point forward momentum just carried us over and as you saw the water approaching it was just one of those [times when] you hold on as tight as you can and I saw just a white flash and cold water," he said.
"You talk miracles. I don't know what you want to call it. When you're sitting down in the water and there's all that mangled metal and bridge, and you're looking around kind of pinching yourself and realizing you're lucky to be alive. It's a pretty amazing day to tell you the truth."

He said he dislocated his shoulder in the fall, but popped it back into place. Mr Sligh and his wife were "belly deep in water in the truck", and he said his wife was initially in shock as they waited for help. Helicopter footage showed divers at the scene with several ambulances waiting on the riverbank. Floodlights were brought in as darkness fell.

The Skagit Valley Herald quoted a driver who said he felt a vibration as he crossed the bridge and looked in his rear-view mirror to see that a section was no longer there.

Detours have been put into place around the major thoroughfare 60 miles (96km) north of Seattle.
Highway patrol has advised people to avoid the area if possible, especially over the upcoming long weekend.

Washington state Transport Secretary Lynn Peterson said the bridge had been inspected twice last year and had undergone repairs. While it was not listed as structurally deficient, the bridge was deemed "functionally obsolete" by the Federal Highway Administration - meaning the bridge design is out of date with narrow shoulders and low clearance below. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to investigate. The bridge was built in 1955, according to the website for the National Bridge Inventory Database.  Its sufficiency rating is 57.4 out of 100 - much lower than the state's average rating of 80.

In March, President Obama urged US lawmakers to approve $21bn in spending to improve the nation's roads and bridges, describing them as "raggedy".