AARoads Forum

Regional Boards => Central States => Topic started by: ilpt4u on August 18, 2020, 06:04:16 PM

Title: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: ilpt4u on August 18, 2020, 06:04:16 PM
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
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: The Ghostbuster on August 18, 2020, 08:25:45 PM
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.
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: ilpt4u on August 18, 2020, 08:44:04 PM
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
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: Scott5114 on August 18, 2020, 11:18:32 PM
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on August 18, 2020, 08:25:45 PM
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 :banghead:
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: will_e_777 on August 19, 2020, 09:54:19 PM
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?
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: ilpt4u on August 19, 2020, 10:10:39 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on August 18, 2020, 11:18:32 PM
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on August 18, 2020, 08:25:45 PM
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 :banghead:
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
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: In_Correct on August 21, 2020, 11:58:25 PM
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
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: ozarkman417 on August 22, 2020, 12:24:50 AM
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.
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: skluth on August 24, 2020, 07:15:31 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 22, 2020, 12:24:50 AM
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.)
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: bugo on August 27, 2020, 05:43:15 AM
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

Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: rte66man on August 27, 2020, 08:09:34 AM
Quote from: bugo on August 27, 2020, 05:43:15 AM
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
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: hotdogPi on August 27, 2020, 08:12:14 AM
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?
Title: Re: Bridge Collapse Westphalia/Osage County, MO
Post by: Scott5114 on August 27, 2020, 01:24:47 PM
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).