Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO

[ilpt4u]

https://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2020/aug/17/bridge-near-westphalia-collapses-under-semi-truck/837969/

The Jefferson City News-Tribune brings us pictures and a story of a bridge collapse on Monday Aug 17th after a semi tried to use the river crossing.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F's Twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/mshptrooperf/status/1295439270598062080

[The Ghostbuster]

Was this the bridge that collasped? https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4504761,-90.7154084,7230m/data=!3m1!1e3. Given how narrow (and rickety) that bridge looks on Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.4447765,-91.9909131,3a,75y,66.59h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1skE_UMTjymWq5EqWSYbq8nw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DkE_UMTjymWq5EqWSYbq8nw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.06351%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656, I don't know what that truck driver was thinking. Maybe the truck should have used the US 63 bridge, but that would depend on where the truck was going.

[ilpt4u]

Pretty sure that is the one. You can match up the remaining bridge deck on the far side of the river in the 2nd Twitter pic with GSV.

I think some insurance company will be paying for a new bridge, and a truck driver is losing a CDL

[Scott5114]

Was this the bridge that collasped? Given how narrow (and rickety) that bridge looks on Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.4447765,-91.9909131,3a,75y,66.59h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1skE_UMTjymWq5EqWSYbq8nw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DkE_UMTjymWq5EqWSYbq8nw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.06351%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656, I don't know what that truck driver was thinking. Maybe the truck should have used the US 63 bridge, but that would depend on where the truck was going.

Clearly the driver took the '69 tons' weight limit at face value

[will_e_777]

even if it wasn't signed, how would anyone with any common sense think it was good idea to try and fit a fully loaded semi over that bridge?

[ilpt4u]

Was this the bridge that collasped? Given how narrow (and rickety) that bridge looks on Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.4447765,-91.9909131,3a,75y,66.59h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1skE_UMTjymWq5EqWSYbq8nw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DkE_UMTjymWq5EqWSYbq8nw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.06351%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656, I don't know what that truck driver was thinking. Maybe the truck should have used the US 63 bridge, but that would depend on where the truck was going.

Clearly the driver took the '69 tons' weight limit at face value

MSHP Troop F posted another Twitter pic, with a newer, non-defaced Weight Limit 5 Tons sign AND a No Semi Trucks sign that is posted onsite. So the spray-painted one on GSV was, at least, not the only weight limit sign on approach to the bridge

Took a closer look at the bridge in GSV: The "plate"  at the top of the truss read "Kansas City Bridge Co. 1893. Kansas City, MO"

Crappy way for a 127 year-old bridge to go

https://goo.gl/maps/3yNB5FbgyG5bg9hy8

[In_Correct]

There was no need to cross the bridge. There are other ways around the river.

Would this be an option?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/County+Rd+611,+Westphalia,+MO/@38.419778,-91.9783995,21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87db70296e9d6d8f:0x6713f290db41f7e8!8m2!3d38.4433491!4d-91.9930316

[ozarkman417]

Even if this were a local delivery, the driver should have used the US63 bridge and doubled back. Of course, Google Maps and similar programs pay no mind to conditions that could be treacherous to trucks, such as steep grades and bridges like these.

[skluth]

Even if this were a local delivery, the driver should have used the US63 bridge and doubled back. Of course, Google Maps and similar programs pay no mind to conditions that could be treacherous to trucks, such as steep grades and bridges like these.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Too many drivers rely on GPS and don't pay attention to the actual road. This is why that RR crossing in NC regularly decapitates trucks and drivers get lost on dirt roads in the desert. Some drivers can't find my address because Google Maps places my entire block two blocks to the south in my retirement community, despite my complaining to Google. I hope I never need an ambulance or I could die before one finds my place; most delivery drivers go all the way to the end of the street before doubling back to my block at the end of the street. (Like Boston, none of the homes in my community follow a grid.)

[bugo]

Prison time for the idiot who destroyed it. If they started holding these bastards accountable for the destruction they cause, they might quit destroying historic bridges.

U304AA

[rte66man]

Prison time for the idiot who destroyed it. If they started holding these bastards accountable for the destruction they cause, they might quit destroying historic bridges.

U304AA

Nah, won't work. Drivers just do what they are told, either by GPS or by their hauler's software.  If you want it to stop, you make the offending hauler firm pay ALL the costs of reconstruction. Sure, their insurance would kick in some but their rates would go way up

[hotdogPi]

The infamous 11'8" bridge has a crash beam so that overheight trucks crash into the beam instead of the bridge. Would that solution work?

[Scott5114]

In this case, the bridge collapsed because the vehicle was over weight. It's possible for a high vehicle to come in under the weight limit, and for a vehicle that passes under a height-restriction beam to be too heavy for the bridge (imagine, say, an F350 pulling a flatbed loaded with bags of gravel).