Highway between California and Arizona collapsed

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Fugu
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20 Jul 2015, 3:32 pm

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/tra ... /30417359/

Quote:

What happened?

Late Sunday afternoon, the Tex Wash bridge collapsed, forcing the closure of Interstate 10, injuring one man and backing up traffic for miles.

What is I-10? Where is the bridge located?

I-10 is the main roadway between Southern California and Phoenix. The bridge, which is east of the Coachella Valley, was built on eastbound I-10. The bridge struck the adjacent westbound bridge.

What caused the bridge to collapse?

While the westbound bridge is closed due to instability, the eastbound Tex Wash bridge collapsed due to flooding after considerable rainfall. In 2013, the Tex Wash bridge was listed as functionally obsolete in the National Bridge inventory. Essentially, the bridge was listed as no longer adequate for its task, though it was not listed as having known structural problems that needed to be fixed.

I can't wait to hear what tortured argument the right will come up with to explain this one. So much for climate change denial.

xenocity
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20 Jul 2015, 7:28 pm

I bet Obama did this with help from Apple!

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sly279
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21 Jul 2015, 12:18 am

global warming causes rain and old obsolete bridges to collapse?
does it also cause my car to rust or my table to age?

Fogman
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21 Jul 2015, 12:37 am

Fugu wrote:

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/traffic/2015/07/20/i10-bridge-collapse-traffic-questions/30417359/

Quote:

I can't wait to hear what tortured argument the right will come up with to explain this one. So much for climate change denial.

It may or may not be climate change, however that bridge was most likely built in the 1970's so it's @ 40 years old. There is also the fact that when flash floods happen in that part of the country, erosion happens, and when erosion happens in flash floods, rivers streams and watercourses will alter their course significantly.

That being said, most of our highway infrastructure is now between 40-60 years old. -- Nobody blamed the I-35W bridge disaster on
global warming.

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Rockymtnchris
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21 Jul 2015, 12:43 am

I know I drove across that one on a trip to San Diego in 2005. I feel bad for the poor dude that drove into the hole, I think I'd need treatment for PTSD if that happened to me.

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Jacoby
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21 Jul 2015, 5:39 am

its monsoon season, can storm pretty bad in the desert

Fugu
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21 Jul 2015, 10:43 am

Jacoby wrote:

its monsoon season, can storm pretty bad in the desert

the area was experiencing a second day of record rainfall at the time(in addition to the poor condition of the overpass)

http://www.rt.com/usa/310293-california-bridge-highway-collapse/ wrote:

A 30-foot-by-50-foot (9-by-15-meter) section of Interstate 10 over a desert wash ‒ or dry riverbed ‒ in southeastern California west of Arizona has collapsed amid heavy rain, causing indefinite closure of a route used by 27,000 vehicles per day.
The eastbound section of the bridge over the normally dry Tex Wash in Desert Center, just east of the Coachella Valley and about 50 miles (80km) west of the Arizona border, collapsed on Sunday afternoon during the second day of record rainfall in Southern California. Though the westbound section of the interstate remained intact, it was also closed because it was compromised by flooding waters and will also need extensive repairs, the California Department of Transportation said.

looks like they figured "hey it'll always be dry, why repair it"

Fugu
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21 Jul 2015, 10:45 am

sly279 wrote:

global warming causes rain and old obsolete bridges to collapse?
does it also cause my car to rust or my table to age?

it causes record rainfall in areas that are usually dry, yes.

naturalplastic
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21 Jul 2015, 5:56 pm

Obviously the bridge was sabotaged as part of Jade Helm.

They're trying encircle and isolate Arizona to lay siege to the whole state by cutting off all communication and transport with the state's neighbors!

Fugu
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21 Jul 2015, 7:33 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

brb, investing in tin foil producers

Fnord
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21 Jul 2015, 8:12 pm

The title of this thread is misleading. It was only one-half of one bridge that collapsed, not the entire 2400-mile interstate highway.

Fugu
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21 Jul 2015, 8:37 pm

Fnord wrote:

The title of this thread is misleading. It was only one-half of one bridge that collapsed, not the entire 2400-mile interstate highway.

I tried to make it concise while still sounding important-ish, the areas that were reliant upon it do have to go pretty far out of their way now to travel.

League_Girl
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22 Jul 2015, 1:34 am

Fnord wrote:

The title of this thread is misleading. It was only one-half of one bridge that collapsed, not the entire 2400-mile interstate highway.

I only pictured that one part of the highway between AZ and CA collapsing.

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zer0netgain
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22 Jul 2015, 6:31 am

sly279 wrote:

global warming causes rain and old obsolete bridges to collapse?
does it also cause my car to rust or my table to age?

Our highways, bridges, dams, etc. have been aging since the vast infrastructure projects that first built them. The monies intended to keep them in good shape have been diverted to other purposes for decades.

We were warned over a decade ago that the nation's transportation infrastructure could collapse (no pun intended) overnight under the right circumstances (e.g., natural disasters), and we'd have no easy way to restore what would be lost because there'd be so much broken over so much area at one time.

Misslizard
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22 Jul 2015, 10:34 am

It happens during flash floods,we had part of a highway slide off the mountain but it didn't make the national news.Hwy slides off hill in Arkansas,who cares??Part of my dirt road has slid off and has been that way for months.

On the other hand maybe the Arizonans are trying to keep the Californians out?They can be serious pests when they swarm.Real estate goes up and they Californicate the place.Worse than locusts.

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kamiyu910
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22 Jul 2015, 11:55 am

While I know the climate is changing and the earth is warming, I wouldn't go so far as to blame a bridge collapse on it, lol.

I live down here in SoCal, and every time it rains, we lose roads. It's life here, has been for as long as I've lived here (30 yrs). Fires coupled with flooding? That happens to Malibu all the time. I don't know why people keep building there, honestly... I think the only weird thing we've experienced was the overly warm winter this year. Oh and the fact that the rain came with nonstop thunder. That's not something that happens here ^.^

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