# Breaking News - I5 Bridge Collapse North of Seattle **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190 "2013-05-24T02:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/41 "2013-05-24T19:48:16Z")
A Canadian truck driver [hit](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-patrol-i-5-bridge-over-skagit-river-collapses-in-nw-wash-vehicles-people-in-water/2013/05/23/ef618aaa-c41c-11e2-9642-a56177f1cdf7_story.html) an overhead girder, apparently while yelling “Jenga!” Basically, our vital national infrastructure just got bombed out by our neighbors to the north. Can an invasion be far behind? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/42 "2013-05-24T20:02:48Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > If I’m going to need rescuing, a hovercraft would make it instantly 10 times better! If they don’t have eels they can just pass me by thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/43 "2013-05-24T20:07:07Z")
Really sad that we are not using rails for stuff like this, especially when the destination is right along a major line. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/44 "2013-05-24T20:07:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > A Canadian truck driver [hit](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-patrol-i-5-bridge-over-skagit-river-collapses-in-nw-wash-vehicles-people-in-water/2013/05/23/ef618aaa-c41c-11e2-9642-a56177f1cdf7_story.html) an overhead girder, apparently while yelling “Jenga!” > > Basically, our vital national infrastructure just got bombed out by our neighbors to the north. Can an invasion be far behind? Sorry! It wasn’t me, I swear! [http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/washington-police-blame-bridge-collapse-on-alberta-trucker](http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/washington-police-blame-bridge-collapse-on-alberta-trucker) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/45 "2013-05-24T20:07:49Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > More on the hovercraft used. > > Two [Neoteric rescue hovercraft operated by Snohomish County Fire District 21](http://neoterichovercraft.blogspot.com/2013/05/neoteric-hovercraft-rescue-victims-in.html) helped save the lives of several victims last night when a portion of an Interstate 5 bridge collapsed, dropping vehicles and their passengers into the Skagit River 60 miles north of Seattle. > > [Order yours today!](https://www.neoterichovercraft.com/shop/shopNav.php?model=rescue&assembly=fully) Does 3 constitute several? Three, was how many people were in the two vehicles effected by the collapse. One, a pick-up with a husband and wife, was actually on the bridge and the car containing a college student was on the approach too close to stop. The wife in the truck had some broken bones and internal injuries. She’s still in the hospital. The two men were treated and released. The fact that no one was killed or more seriously injured is phenomenal. Just a short time earlier and it could have been dozens. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/46 "2013-05-24T20:12:58Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Does 3 constitute several? Three, was how many people were in the two vehicles effected by the collapse. Three rescued victims! Ah HAHAHAHAHAH! ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/47 "2013-05-24T20:19:36Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If they don’t have eels they can just pass me by thank you very much. My nipples explode with delight! ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/48 "2013-05-24T20:23:56Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Does 3 constitute several? Three, was how many people were in the two vehicles effected by the collapse. > One, a pick-up with a husband and wife, was actually on the bridge and the car containing a college student was on the approach too close to stop. > The wife in the truck had some broken bones and internal injuries. She’s still in the hospital. The two men were treated and released. > The fact that no one was killed or more seriously injured is phenomenal. Just a short time earlier and it could have been dozens. One advantage of this design was that the damage was limited to one section. It’s essentially a series of bridges. So instead of the entire 1,000 foot span going for a swim, it was just the one segment. The husband of the woman had a dislocated shoulder which he popped back into place before attending to his wife because that’s just how we roll in the PNW! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/49 "2013-05-24T20:26:18Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > The husband of the woman had a dislocated shoulder which he popped back into place before attending to his wife because that’s just how we roll in the PNW! Skookum. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/50 "2013-05-24T20:27:05Z")
If it were the fault of the motorist, that’s gong to be expensive for their insurer. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/51 "2013-05-24T20:28:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Skookum. Heh, we had a dog named Skookum! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/52 "2013-05-24T20:35:29Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > If it were the fault of the motorist, that’s gong to be expensive for their insurer. ISTR reading earlier today, that one witness said he’d passed the truck and then saw the strike in his rear-view mirror. My thought was: ‘Hm. I wonder if he passed the truck at high speed on a narrow (‘narrowed’ by the wide load) bridge and caused the driver to veer right and hit the structure?’ ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/53 "2013-05-24T22:34:11Z")
A few hours after hearing about this yesterday, I went to Google Maps to see where Interstate 5 crossed the Skagit River. Google Maps showed Interstate 5 as _not_ crossing the river. Did someone already alter the website? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/54 "2013-05-24T22:45:20Z")
Trucks can be a menace on narrow bridges. We had a truck darn near burn a bridge on I-40. It’s still closed for repairs. The fire weakened some of the steel. [http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story/Update-Truck-Driver-Dies-after-Rig-Catches-Fire/NToPr2X9vkqCD3C5ulxaIQ.cspx](http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story/Update-Truck-Driver-Dies-after-Rig-Catches-Fire/NToPr2X9vkqCD3C5ulxaIQ.cspx) > [@](#): > > ASP spokesperson Bill Sadler tells FOX16 News that an overpass directly above the fire has been compromised and closed to traffic. Sadler says it’s unclear if the damage is due to the impact of the truck or heat damage from flames. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/55 "2013-05-24T22:52:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ISTR reading earlier today, that one witness said he’d passed the truck and then saw the strike in his rear-view mirror. My thought was: ‘Hm. I wonder if he passed the truck at high speed on a narrow (‘narrowed’ by the wide load) bridge and caused the driver to veer right and hit the structure?’ I just heard an interview with a guy whose car went into the river. He assumed they were going to die, and his wife will be in the hospital overnight. However, he witnessed the truck hitting the bridge. He said the driver had edged toward the middle, as required, but another truck traveling the other way didn’t allow him to stay there. He had to move right and hit the superstructure. The truck that hit the bridge kept on going and made it across. The witness wasn’t so lucky. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/56 "2013-05-24T23:15:13Z")
They estimating 47 million could be lost in in lost economic output, as well lost jobs and tax revenues. They should see if the Army Corps could put in a pontoon bridge while they rebuild a new one. The Army built supply bridges across the Rhine in WWII in just a few days. They had to because the permanent bridges were destroyed. > **[Bridge collapse could cost Washington state millions, jobs](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bridge-collapse-could-cost-washington-state-millions-jobs-6C10066338)** > [@](#): > > Just north of the collapsed Skagit River bridge, is the huge Cascade Mall shopping center in Burlington, which attracts customers from a wide radius. Canadians from Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia often make trips to the outlet mall looking for bargains because of the near parity nowadays between the U.S. and Canadian dollars. > [@](#): > > Canadians are worried too. Amber Sessions, a spokeswoman for Tourism Vancouver, said the city that hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics had more than 8 million visitors last year – 475,000 of them from Washington state. > > "The bridge collapse is on the main road from Seattle to Vancouver: it’s not great news, for the flow of cross-border traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/57 "2013-05-24T23:41:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > They should see if the Army Corps could put in a pontoon bridge while they rebuild a new one. The Army built supply bridges across the Rhine in WWII in just a few days. They had to because the permanent bridges were destroyed. There’s already a temporary bridge. It’s a four-lane local bridge right next to the damaged bridge, and there are interchanges close to both sides. The area is built up on both sides of the freeway, so I don’t know if it would be possible to build the approaches for another bridge. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/58 "2013-05-25T03:50:40Z")
They will probably take a cue from Seattle and grab that borer when it finishes down there, replace the bridge with a tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/59 "2013-05-25T04:12:16Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > A few hours after hearing about this yesterday, I went to Google Maps to see where Interstate 5 crossed the Skagit River. Google Maps showed Interstate 5 as _not_ crossing the river. Did someone already alter the website? Google had already adjusted the map to account for the accident by late this morning. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190/60 "2013-05-25T04:52:17Z")
Even the notorious Apple Maps routes you around the bridge. Curiously, when I look at street view near the south end of the bridge, there is a DOT truck on the southbound side with an orange sign, “Road Maintenance Ahead”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-i5-bridge-collapse-north-of-seattle/659190.md?page=4)