SURVEILLANCE Video: Washington Bridge Collapses Caused by Truck Crash - May 23, 2013
MOUNT VERNON, Washington (Reuters) - A bridge that collapsed in
Washington state and sent two cars plunging into the Skagit River,
raising concerns about the safety of the nation's aging infrastructure,
was knocked down by a truck that crashed into at least one girder,
officials said on Friday.
The truck, after the accident, rumbled
across the bridge safely before a portion of the structure gave way,
sending a car and pick-up into the frigid river on Thursday evening,
along with a mass of concrete and steel. Three people were rescued.
RELATED
Rescue operations after I-5 bridge collapses over river
Raw Video: Washington state bridge collapse
Span of highway bridge sits in the Skagit River
Ads by Google
While
no one was killed, the collapse of the steel truss bridge built in 1955
prompted renewed calls from lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere
for greater investment in the nation's aging infrastructure.
But
Washington state officials said preliminary indications were that the
bridge, which was inspected twice last year, was not structurally
deficient and fell because of the impact from the truck striking its
support beams.
"We had a collision between a very heavy vehicle
traveling at probably not a small amount of speed crashing into not just
one but probably multiple girders, and it failed," Governor Jay Inslee
told an afternoon press conference in Mount Vernon.
Officials say
the bridge, 55 miles north of Seattle, was not among the spans listed
by the state as "structurally deficient," which in some cases relates to
bridges that cannot carry their intended traffic loads.
But the
privately run National Bridge Inventory Database listed the bridge as
"functionally obsolete," widely defined by public officials as not built
to current standards and demands.
"Based on our inspecting, the
bridge is not structurally defective," said Lynn Peterson, state
secretary of transportation. "We do take hits on almost every one of our
bridges. This is just bad luck where and how it was hit."
KEY ARTERY
She said there were a number of bridges along Interstate 5 in Washington state rated lower than the bridge that collapsed.
A
new bridge that suffered a similar blow would have likely reacted the
same way, Washington State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jan
Katzenberger said.
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
investigators were on the scene of the collapse, which occurred on the
four-lane Interstate 5, the principal highway between Seattle and
Vancouver, Canada.
The NTSB said its members would inspect the
1,111-foot (339-meter) Warren Truss bridge, which links Mount Vernon and
Burlington, including its substructure, deck and superstructure.
Underwater inspections would also be conducted, the agency said.
David
Goldberg, a spokesman for the nonprofit policy group Transportation for
America, said that the bridge's status as "functionally obsolete" did
not necessarily mean that it needed to be replaced but that it might not
accommodate modern needs.
"A lot of these older bridges are
carrying much more traffic, and heavier traffic, than was envisioned
when they were built," Goldberg said.
"There is no redundancy
built in for the key structural elements. So if something happens -
being struck by a vehicle or watercraft, a slight tremor, or vibrations
from the traffic - it could set off a chain reaction that brings it
down," he said.
The truck driver, identified as 41-year-old
William Scott, made it across the bridge and pulled his vehicle to the
side of the road after the accident. He has not been arrested and was
cooperating with authorities.
Truckers must obtain a permit from
the state Department of Transportation to carry an oversize load. The
driver also receives a proposed route from the state, Washington State
Patrol spokesman Sergeant Kirk Rudeen said.
