Heat buckles WI-29 with video of SUV going airborne

[SEWIGuy]

Fixed the video so it shows up here in the forums. - rmf67

[mgk920]

^^

Location:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.894826%2C-91.551647&spn=0.017481%2C0.027595&t=k&z=15
WI 29/Chippewa County 'T' (interchange 69), a short distance north of Eau Claire, WI, looking westbound.

Mike

[thenetwork]

Judging by the information gathered in this short video (apologies if the bump increased in size exponentially within moments).

1) It looks like the buckled road was marked with a pair of "BUMP" signs.  If it was (that) bad at the time the signs were posted at the bump, why wasn't there anybody there (WisDOT or a police authority with flashing lights) on the shoulder to try to get people to slow down, or even a lane closure set-up with simple pylons so to slow up traffic speeds?

2) Why did it take so long for the powers that be to simply close that short stretch, and route drivers via the on & off ramps around the bump -- it had to take an airborne minivan to get them to finally figure out to do that? 

I smell a lawsuit! 

Mods:  This thread should move to the General Boards due to it's national coverage...It's too good of a video to hide in just the Midwest.

[agentsteel53]

who hired the Quantum of Solace videographer?

[thenetwork]

Here's a link which shows an on-the-ground view of this monster of a buckle.  Looks like the pavement rose nearly 3 feet!!

http://www.wqow.com/story/18928016/highway-29-buckles-under-high-temperatures?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7457754

[rarnold]

I guess the Wisconsin Department of Transportation must be run by the guys from Nitro Circus or Jackass, That van got some good air. All kidding aside, someone is getting sued over this. The fact that BUMP signs were placed on the road, but no one thought the heaves could get larger, was pretty negligent.

[Brandon]

Damn!  Now that's a pavement buckle! 

[mgk920]

My guess is that that previously average blowout went big-time within minutes of that happening and that authorities were simply not able to get there before that incident.  BTW, that section of highway opened about ten years ago.

Mike

[JREwing78]

Maybe it's just bias because I'm paying more attention, but this seems to happen far more frequently in Wisconsin than in, say, Michigan.

[Milepost61]

So somebody decided to set up and tape it rather than call it in or try to flag drivers down? Nice.

I drove through there on afternoon of the 3rd and could see the big asphalt patch and wondered at the time what it was for.

[thenetwork]

So somebody decided to set up and tape it rather than call it in or try to flag drivers down?

To be fair, the lady who recorded the minivan hitting the ramp was just wanting to take a single photo on her cell phone, not realizing she selected the video camera mode instead of the snapshot mode. There were already some vehicles off on the right shoulder after the hump checking on their vehicles for possible damage after s-l-o-w-l-y going over the hump, so I can see why she may not have called 9-1-1 right away.

[on_wisconsin]

WIS-29 blew out again today only a few miles from the last one:
http://www.wqow.com/story/18952672/highway-29-buckles-again-under-the-heat

Location: http://goo.gl/maps/XNZq

[on_wisconsin]

And it just happened yet again on WIS-29 in the same area:
from WisDOT 511:

Chippewa County: On July 5th Law Enforcement reports all lanes are blocked EB on WIS 29 at 320th St near the City of Boyd due to pavement buckling. Traffic is able to get around the incident on the shoulder.

Me smells contractor negligence...

[Milepost61]

WIS-29 blew out again today only a few miles from the last one:
http://www.wqow.com/story/18952672/highway-29-buckles-again-under-the-heat

Location: http://goo.gl/maps/XNZq

This and the one at CTH T were (I believe) both opened at the same time as part of the Chippewa Fall bypass. Hmmm....Did somebody forget about expansion joints in that project?

The four-lane section over by Boyd has been around longer.

[mgk920]

Well, it has been unusually warm here lately....

Mike

[on_wisconsin]

Well, it has been unusually warm here lately....

Record setting down here in Madison in fact.
However, even local officials are taking notice that the major failures are happening on relatively new pavement.

Chippewa County Highway Commissioner Bruce Stelzner says "usually we see this type of failure in pavement that's 10 years old or older but what we're seeing right now on Highway 29 and Highway 53 is about 6 or 7 year old pavement."

http://bit.ly/PieoQm

[triplemultiplex]

Damn man, that was wild.  Doing their best impression of the General Lee!

I had non-roadgeek relation asking me about that over the 4th.  They wanted to know how that happens and I was happy to explain about expansion joints and stuff.

This is northern Wisconsin; they don't normally get multiple 100-ish degree days in a row like that.