What roads/bridges have you been on that no longer exist due to a disaster/collapse? For me, the only one I can think of is I-95 in Philly before the collapse. I've never been on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but I'm sure many have.
I never made it on the Key, but I was on I-35W a ton as a kid. I've also driven the PCH before the rockslides that have made sections impassible.
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge the old eastern span before the 1989 quake.
CA 150 just north of Santa Paula. It was recently wiped out due to a landslide.
I-35W, though I don't think I had been on it at a time close to the collapse since it wasn't on the family's normal travel patterns.
I got a whole bunch of photos of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road in Big Sur shortly before fire took it out. Similarly CA 236 looks way different post fire than when I took my pictures.
Aside from that there is dozens of roads taken out by fire, floods, mudslides and other like disasters that I've been prior to those events occurring. I never thought to sit down and compile a list.
I've driven on both I-95 in Philly and the Key Bridge.
I've also driven a bunch of roads in Kentucky that ended up being severely damaged by flooding or slides.
Washington State Route 504 twice when I went to Johnston Ridge Observatory, once by myself in 2021 and once with my mom in 2022. There was a landside that wiped out one of the bridges last year, not too long before it was supposed to open for the season. It's not permanent, though, and they've been working on repairing it. I don't know what the current progress is.
I was on the North Entrance Road out of Yellowstone National Park between Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner less than one year (2021) before flooding took out sections of the road through the river canyon. As far as I know that road has not been reopened and a temporary road was built to the west.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 18, 2024, 12:06:03 PMWhat roads/bridges have you been on that no longer exist due to a disaster/collapse? For me, the only one I can think of is I-95 in Philly before the collapse. I've never been on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but I'm sure many have.
I drove over the Mianus River Bridge multiple times prior to its 1983 collapse. My grandparents actually lived about a quarter mile from the site and we were supposed to go out there a couple weeks afterwards, but because the traffic was so bad, they came to visit us instead.
I-5 at CA-14 Interchange before the 1994 Northridge Quake.
I've been on a few bridges that got significantly damaged or destroyed in flash flooding around New England. Nothing that people beyond locals would remember years later. This includes one only a few miles away that was partially washed away after 12+ inches of rain over two weeks in March 2010.
Also was on the Key Bridge back in 2019.
I'd traveled many of the ones mentioned already (Key Bridge, I-95 Philadelphia, I-35W, YNP North Entrance) but I'll add the one that hit closest to home - the Thruway bridge over the Schoharie Creek that collapsed in 1987. Detours went through Amsterdam, and right by the pet shop I worked part time at on Route 5. I can distinctly remember going to see it from the overpass up the hill east of there and being amazed at both the empty road below and of course the giant section missing.
I lived in Hayward, CA when the quake hit the Bay Area in October 1989, and lived in Alameda before that, so I was on the Cypress Viaduct (CA 17, then I-880) a fair amount before that thing came down in the quake. Also the old Embarcadero Freeway in S.F. (didn't actually collapse in the quake but was damaged to the point it had to be closed, and never reopened before being torn down).
When I was first driving, Carquinez Scenic Drive (briefly US 40 way back when) between Martinez and Port Costa was still open to vehicular traffic, so I drove that once or twice. Not quite a "disaster" but it closed due to landslides around 1982 and was never reopened. It's now a multi-use recreational path within an East Bay regional park.
I-95 north of Philly
The Key Bridge in Baltimore
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on April 18, 2024, 12:06:03 PMWhat roads/bridges have you been on that no longer exist due to a disaster/collapse? For me, the only one I can think of is I-95 in Philly before the collapse. I've never been on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but I'm sure many have.
Been over the Francis Scott Key bridge many a time. I liked it as an alternative between my house in central Maryland and heading NW of Baltimore on I-95, especially at times when the tunnels might have heavy traffic. (this was in the days before you could see traffic on Google Maps).
Quote from: hbelkins on April 18, 2024, 03:04:21 PMI've driven on both I-95 in Philly and the Key Bridge.
I've also driven a bunch of roads in Kentucky that ended up being severely damaged by flooding or slides.
Obviously I have driven I-95 and the Key Bridge, but the second portion of HB's post is what I was really thinking about in regard to this thread such as when I clinched PA 263 1.5 weeks before the section just south of PA 32 was damaged by Hurricane Ida or just PA 611 in general as it has dealt with long-term closures south of Easton and in the Delaware Water Gap the last few years.
Many. Driven on CA-1, CA-27, CA-150, US-101, and many others all before some incident shut them down for extended periods of time.
I was on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge when I was 5 years old. That would have been the original 2-lane structure; I don't think it was the one struck and destroyed by the ship.
I may have been on both spans (nb and sb) when I was in high school or college. In that case I would have been on the span that suffered the disaster. But it's more likely that we didn't go over the bridge both ways, since at least one of the trips we were going to or from Disney.
I had been on the Nine Mile Road bridge in Hazel Park, Michigan plenty of times before the tanker explosion destroyed the overpass about 15 years ago. Also remember how that one happened, a car going way too fast on I-75 hit a gas tanker making the gas tanker explode.
Practically all of these disasters are temporary, and the roads or bridges eventually get fixed. Occasionally, one isn't. The Embarcadero Freeway is one (which I never drove). But I'll bet most of us who live in the West have driven Devil's Slide on CA-1 before they gave up on it and built the Tom Lantos Tunnels.
There are other roads that I can think of that simply decayed to the point where they weren't worth fixing. Chuckwalla Valley Rd is an old stretch of US-60/US-70 in the California desert that was bypassed by I-10. Much of it was closed some years ago because it wasn't worth fixing the washouts. The dirt portion of CA-178 north of Lake Arrowhead has been closed for a few years, and is likely to remain so, although I drove it twice in the past. The closed dirt section of Mulholland Drive will certainly remain a hiking/biking trail forever, although I drove that a couple of time back in the 80s. But those closures weren't "disasters" since hardly anyone ever drove them.
I crossed the original I-5 Skagit River Bridge dozens of times before the northernmost span (https://www.google.com/maps/@48.4457768,-122.341244,3a,75y,178.67h,93.01t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSztijJ04NWoh8IRsuntHCQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu) got taken out by an oversized load.
Even closer to home is the flooded section of Olympic Hot Springs Road along the Elwha River (https://www.google.com/maps/@48.0285993,-123.5898454,930m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en&entry=ttu), which I had driven/walked/biked through so many times growing up in Port Angeles, both in its original condition and when the park service was still trying to maintain it in a temporary state. Plus, the washout is where the Elwha Campground once was, somewhere I camped plenty of times. It's still hard for me to believe that's all gone, probably forever.
I've been on quite a few other roads within Olympic National Park (and other parks, including the road to Mt St Helens as Amaury mentioned and the Yellowstone roads that several people have mentioned) that have washed out, but all of them have since been rebuilt. I remember back in 2010 when the Hurricane Ridge Road washed out (https://www.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2010/01/slide_closes_olympic_national.html) just south of Port Angeles, which was pretty dramatic (that one picture doesn't do it justice) but was fixed (and generally forgotten about) pretty quickly.
I was definitely on the original I-35W bridge in Minneapolis in 2005. I may have been on it once when I was a kid.
I went over the Key Bridge numerous times, the I-95 Philadelphia bridge at least once, and along the Yellowstone North Entrance Road once.
Just I-95 in Philly.
On the I-5 Skagit bridge a few times.
Not really a major disaster, but I was on the I-495 bridge over Christina River in Wilmington, DE the day before it was closed due to tilting support columns in 2014. In addition, I've been on the section of I-95 in Philly that collapsed in 2023 numerous times.
I went over the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy in 2010.
2 i can think of:
1) the 9 Mile Road bridge over I-75 in Oakland County before the tanker truck fire in 2009.
2) The Key Bridge back in 1982, when the approaches was only 2 lane to the bridge
Besides the common answers of Key Bridge and I-95 North Philly incidents, the only other ones I can think of are NY-218 and the NY-28N bridge over Fishing Brook before they washed out over this past summer.
Quote from: dlsterner on April 19, 2024, 01:38:29 AMQuote from: Roadgeekteen on April 18, 2024, 12:06:03 PMWhat roads/bridges have you been on that no longer exist due to a disaster/collapse? For me, the only one I can think of is I-95 in Philly before the collapse. I've never been on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but I'm sure many have.
Been over the Francis Scott Key bridge many a time. I liked it as an alternative between my house in central Maryland and heading NW of Baltimore on I-95, especially at times when the tunnels might have heavy traffic. (this was in the days before you could see traffic on Google Maps).
Also have crossed the I-95 bridge in Philadelphia once, about six months before its collapse. Forgot about that one.
I did remember another bridge, although far less known than the others. The bridge over the Conestoga River south of Lancaster, PA carrying southbound US 222/PA 272. As a kid, had been over that bridge many a time before it was washed away by Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and replaced with a plain concrete bridge.
The only other bridge i was on before a disaster was the I-94/Middlebelt road bridge before August 1987. While the Bridge was not destroyed in the crash of Northwest 255, the bridge took some minor damage from the crash and was replaced during reconstruction of the ramps around Metro Airport in the 90s.
Drove down some roads in Hawaii a few years before they were buried in lava in 2018. Only one has been rebuilt since then.
Key Bridge & I-95 Philly like several others have mentioned. One I haven't seen mentioned yet, though it didn't turn out to be a huge disaster, is I-10 near DTLA - I was on that stretch about 3 weeks before the pallet fire that closed it for a little over a week.
I have been on infrastructure in Québec, yes.
Key Bridge
I-95 Northeast Philly
Mianus River Bridge (as a young passenger prior to collapse; driver after)
Scoharie Creek on NY Thruway(after as passenger)
I-95 in Bridgeport, CT before tanker truck fire
Quote from: bing101 on April 18, 2024, 05:47:04 PMI-5 at CA-14 Interchange before the 1994 Northridge Quake.
On February 9, 1971 my brother-in-law was traveling southbound on I-5, on his way home from a construction job in Northern California. As the Sylmar earthquake rumbled beneath his truck, he saw portions of the Newhall Pass interchange collapse in his rear-view mirror.
Quote from: YLroadfan on April 30, 2024, 04:09:44 PMOn February 9, 1971 my brother-in-law was traveling southbound on I-5, on his way home from a construction job in Northern California. As the Sylmar earthquake rumbled beneath his truck, he saw portions of the Newhall Pass interchange collapse in his rear-view mirror.
Wins the topic.
Quote from: Jim on April 30, 2024, 06:53:41 PMQuote from: YLroadfan on April 30, 2024, 04:09:44 PMOn February 9, 1971 my brother-in-law was traveling southbound on I-5, on his way home from a construction job in Northern California. As the Sylmar earthquake rumbled beneath his truck, he saw portions of the Newhall Pass interchange collapse in his rear-view mirror.
Wins the topic.
it does
I did drive the key bridge and I-95 north of Philly in 21. I drove the old I-35W bridge a few times as well.
Numerous times on the I-10 twin span bridges over Lake Pontchartrain that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge in 1977, I-35W Bridge two days before it collapsed, Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2005, I-85 in Atlanta in 2004, I-88 in 1987 (where the culverts and road collapsed during the 2006 flood).
When I was a kid there were twin truss bridges crossing separate portions of Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas on AR 16.They were as signature a set of bridges as a small community could have.
In 1984 the northern truss bridge was destroyed by a tornado. I was a passenger as a kid a number of times on that bridge. I was disappointed by the conventional bridge that replaced it.
^ Reminds me. I walked across Kinzua Bridge in PA before it got knocked down by a tornado.
Anyone who's clinched US-177 (as I have) can count that, since it's the main drag through Sulphur, OK, which got tornadoed a week or so ago.
Quote from: GaryV on May 06, 2024, 01:34:57 PM^ Reminds me. I walked across Kinzua Bridge in PA before it got knocked down by a tornado.
I also have crossed that bridge a handful of times before the tornado (I think the last time was about 3 years before said tornado)
Have been meaning to go back since to see it in person, but just haven't.