I-5 bridge over Skagit River collapses

[jeffandnicole]

1. A lack of posting for bridges less than 16 feet in clearance.  IIRC, interstate highway bridges need 16 feet of clearance.

This site: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/geometric/pubs/mitigationstrategies/chapter3/3_verticalclearance.htm says the minimum clearance can range from 14 to 16 feet.  So IMHO, first on your list of systematic failures should be a minimum clearance that isn't the same from state to state.  Truckers learn to drive trucks in a state where everything under 16 feet is posted, then drive through some other state, and bam.  Literally.  The purpose of interstate standards is... well, I expect I'm preaching to the converted here.

The maximum height for a regular truck is 13'6" (although a few western states may permit something a little bit higher).  But, the 13'6" is pretty much standard, and is what truckers learn to drive with.

An over height/over width truck is an exception. The truckers are supposed to know to track their entire route to make sure the truck and their contents will fit under the bridges.  And except for construction zones or recent events, bridge heights do not change. 

[vdeane]

I've seen an oversize load without pilot cars once.  The load and pilot cars were heading down I-81, but got separated traversing the cloverleaf with I-481, and made no attempt to re-connect on I-481.

I also saw one on NY 37 that was wide enough to require a police escort with flashing lights on.  The person behind me just blew on through despite the presence of the state troopers.  Hope he got stopped for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle with flashing lights.

[kkt]

1. A lack of posting for bridges less than 16 feet in clearance.  IIRC, interstate highway bridges need 16 feet of clearance.

This site: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/geometric/pubs/mitigationstrategies/chapter3/3_verticalclearance.htm says the minimum clearance can range from 14 to 16 feet.  So IMHO, first on your list of systematic failures should be a minimum clearance that isn't the same from state to state.  Truckers learn to drive trucks in a state where everything under 16 feet is posted, then drive through some other state, and bam.  Literally.  The purpose of interstate standards is... well, I expect I'm preaching to the converted here.

The maximum height for a regular truck is 13'6" (although a few western states may permit something a little bit higher).  But, the 13'6" is pretty much standard, and is what truckers learn to drive with.

An over height/over width truck is an exception. The truckers are supposed to know to track their entire route to make sure the truck and their contents will fit under the bridges.  And except for construction zones or recent events, bridge heights do not change. 

Except that bridge strikes are not all that unusual.  This one is only unusual because it caused the bridge to collapse, and it's an interstate.

[bigpine320]

A traffic camera at I-5 and College Way.  Has been reposition near the north end.  Of the Skagit River bridge.  While reconstruction takes place.

Extra Amtrak Cascades train service between Seattle and Bellingham has begun.

WSDOT, Amtrak, Sound Transit and BNSF Railway team up to quickly help people travel through the I-5 corridor where the Skagit River Bridge collapsed.

[vtk]

Thanks for the update, Captain Kirk.

[Brandon]

Thanks for the update, Captain Kirk.

Who knew William Shatner was a roadgeek?

[US71]

Thanks for the update, Captain Kirk.

Who knew William Shatner was a roadgeek?

Well, he certainly can't sing 

[kkt]

The driver of the pilot car says her pole didn't touch the bridge.  The NTSB investigation continues.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Pilot-car-driver-horrified-by-bridge-collapse-4581575.php

[Kacie Jane]

The driver of the pilot car says her pole didn't touch the bridge.  The NTSB investigation continues.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Pilot-car-driver-horrified-by-bridge-collapse-4581575.php

• What lane(s) were you in?
• If you were in the right lane (as the truck was), did you have a pole that would have measured the height at the curb line (where the truck struck)?
• Why do eyewitnesses state that they did see your pole strike the bridge?

[kkt]

A Washington State Patrol officer, Sean O'Connell, was killed directing traffic around the detour for the downed bridge. 

[agentsteel53]

A Washington State Patrol officer, Sean O'Connell, was killed directing traffic around the detour for the downed bridge.

this many days later, and actual humans are needed for the detour?  how did they not set up a system of orange signs, VMSes, etc, within about 72 hours?

[kkt]

A Washington State Patrol officer, Sean O'Connell, was killed directing traffic around the detour for the downed bridge.

this many days later, and actual humans are needed for the detour?  how did they not set up a system of orange signs, VMSes, etc, within about 72 hours?

He was killed May 31, I just posted now because the memorial service was yesterday.  I'm speculating a bit, but the officer was at an intersection with no traffic light.  Maybe traffic direction was needed so that vehicles turning would eventually get a chance to go even with high traffic volumes due the the detour.

[agentsteel53]

He was killed May 31, I just posted now because the memorial service was yesterday.  I'm speculating a bit, but the officer was at an intersection with no traffic light.  Maybe traffic direction was needed so that vehicles turning would eventually get a chance to go even with high traffic volumes due the the detour.

8 days.  how long does it take to ship in a portable traffic light hooked up to either the city grid or a portable generator?  I know the lights which control one-lane sections of road (usually for bridge repair) are pretty self-contained; I can't imagine them needing too much time to set it up.

[kkt]

He was killed May 31, I just posted now because the memorial service was yesterday.  I'm speculating a bit, but the officer was at an intersection with no traffic light.  Maybe traffic direction was needed so that vehicles turning would eventually get a chance to go even with high traffic volumes due the the detour.

8 days.  how long does it take to ship in a portable traffic light hooked up to either the city grid or a portable generator?  I know the lights which control one-lane sections of road (usually for bridge repair) are pretty self-contained; I can't imagine them needing too much time to set it up.

I dunno.  It is a long detour, so maybe they didn't have enough portable traffic lights?  They said the driver that hit the officer is cooperating, and investigation into the accident continues, so eventually we should find out more.

[agentsteel53]

I dunno.  It is a long detour, so maybe they didn't have enough portable traffic lights?  They said the driver that hit the officer is cooperating, and investigation into the accident continues, so eventually we should find out more.

I wonder what is so unusual about the detour that they needed *that many* portable traffic lights.  isn't it just down old US-99, which already is pretty heavily signalized?

[Bruce]

Anyway, there is construction going on at the site now:

[Alps]

I dunno.  It is a long detour, so maybe they didn't have enough portable traffic lights?  They said the driver that hit the officer is cooperating, and investigation into the accident continues, so eventually we should find out more.

I wonder what is so unusual about the detour that they needed *that many* portable traffic lights.  isn't it just down old US-99, which already is pretty heavily signalized?

When I went through, there were even officers at the lights on 99.

[NE2]

Probably making sure an overheight truck doesn't hit the light.

[Kacie Jane]

He was killed May 31, I just posted now because the memorial service was yesterday.  I'm speculating a bit, but the officer was at an intersection with no traffic light.  Maybe traffic direction was needed so that vehicles turning would eventually get a chance to go even with high traffic volumes due the the detour.

8 days.  how long does it take to ship in a portable traffic light hooked up to either the city grid or a portable generator?  I know the lights which control one-lane sections of road (usually for bridge repair) are pretty self-contained; I can't imagine them needing too much time to set it up.

I dunno.  It is a long detour, so maybe they didn't have enough portable traffic lights?  They said the driver that hit the officer is cooperating, and investigation into the accident continues, so eventually we should find out more.

Where was the officer killed?

I've recently moved from Bellingham to Seattle, and was back in Bellingham for the second time since the bridge collapsed.  The intersection of Pioneer Highway and Fir Island Road had portable traffic signals today, and did not on Wednesday the 29th.

ETA:  Yup.  Seems to be at that very intersection.  Note that WSDOT/the media/etc. listed Fir Island Road as a detour in the days immediately following the collapse, but I think they pretty quickly (before my trip south on the 29th) changed their minds and decided Old 99 and 20/536 were sufficient.  Other than the temporary signals (only at that one intersection), I saw nothing marking it as a detour on my trip today (technically yesterday now).

[sp_redelectric]

8 days.  how long does it take to ship in a portable traffic light hooked up to either the city grid or a portable generator?  I know the lights which control one-lane sections of road (usually for bridge repair) are pretty self-contained; I can't imagine them needing too much time to set it up.

If Washington is like Oregon, portable traffic signals are not approved for use.  I don't know why, I just know they aren't approved.  The first time I ever saw a portable signal was in Montana.

In Oregon, when temporary traffic control is needed, usually for a bridge replacement project when a road is reduced to one lane, they actually install utility poles and span wire signal installations.  I'm sure WSDOT requires the same.

So I'm wondering if the delay had something to do with bureaucracy trying to get a solution in place...and when someone is killed, things move a little quicker.

[kkt]

He was killed May 31, I just posted now because the memorial service was yesterday.  I'm speculating a bit, but the officer was at an intersection with no traffic light.  Maybe traffic direction was needed so that vehicles turning would eventually get a chance to go even with high traffic volumes due the the detour.

8 days.  how long does it take to ship in a portable traffic light hooked up to either the city grid or a portable generator?  I know the lights which control one-lane sections of road (usually for bridge repair) are pretty self-contained; I can't imagine them needing too much time to set it up.

I dunno.  It is a long detour, so maybe they didn't have enough portable traffic lights?  They said the driver that hit the officer is cooperating, and investigation into the accident continues, so eventually we should find out more.

Where was the officer killed?

Main and Fir Island Road, just about 100 feet west of the intersection you link to below.

I've recently moved from Bellingham to Seattle, and was back in Bellingham for the second time since the bridge collapsed.  The intersection of Pioneer Highway and Fir Island Road had portable traffic signals today, and did not on Wednesday the 29th.

ETA:  Yup.  Seems to be at that very intersection.  Note that WSDOT/the media/etc. listed Fir Island Road as a detour in the days immediately following the collapse, but I think they pretty quickly (before my trip south on the 29th) changed their minds and decided Old 99 and 20/536 were sufficient.  Other than the temporary signals (only at that one intersection), I saw nothing marking it as a detour on my trip today (technically yesterday now).

Some comments on media stories have been that the Best Road bridge over the Skagit isn't rated for heavy trucks and that's why the detour was changed.  Or maybe the detour via old 99 is not backing up traffic too badly so they don't need the longer detour via Fir Island Road and Best Road.

[TEG24601]

According to http://www.komonews.com/news/local/DOT-Temporary-I-5-Skagit-bridge-on-track-to-open-this-week-211842581.html (KOMO TV), the temporary bridge should open in the next few days.

It is my hope, that in order to decrease the interruption to the traffic when they are ready to make either a permanent replacement of that span, or the entire bridge, that they build it adjacent to the existing roadway, then slide it in.

[Alps]

What the hell, why is the temporary span only 2 lanes wide? If that's the best they could do, how about two side by side? I get that the idea is lowest-cost and quickest return to flow, but this bastardization could be in place for months with still-awful traffic conditions.

[TEG24601]

Each of the spans is 24ft wide.  So, according to WSDOT, there will be two 11ft lanes in each direction.

[agentsteel53]

Each of the spans is 24ft wide.  So, according to WSDOT, there will be two 11ft lanes in each direction.

whew!  that seems like an adequate temporary solution.  do you know what day they will be open for traffic?

(I'll be going up there July 26-28; flying into Seattle and driving to Bellingham.)