[auscanman]

With the decrepit state of North American infrastructure events like this collapse and the one in Laval, Quebec are likely to be of increasing frequency. I guess the fact that various civil engineering organizations have given terrible grades to our infrastructure actually means it's bloody dangerous!!

[Troyboy1208]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'W')ell let's see....

Let's say that these 280,000 commuters have to drive an extra 10 miles out of their way in the morning and also at night because this bridge is out: That's 5.6 extra million vehicle miles. But maybe we will get really lucky and at least half of them will carpool. That's 2.8 million vehicle miles, so this will still cause an extra fuel consumption (at 20 miles per gallon) of 3,333 barrels of oil per day (140,000 thousand gallons at 42 gallons per barrel).

But then let's also say that the resultant traffic jams around the city caused by these poor commuters having to go around the problem somehow will affect 3 times as many commuters, and the traffic will slow down to the extent that they are burning an extra half gallon of gas per day because of the screwed up traffic. 840,000 commuters, .5 gallons per commuter, 420K gallons).

That's another 10,000 barrels of oil per day, for a total of about 13,333 barrels of oil per day for this one catastrophe.

So over the next roughly 75 days this will add up to an additional million barrels of oil. Those of us that follow the inventory reports well know that this part of the country is the very worst from the standpoint of inventory, and also, that the system is on edge as it is. But this illustrates the actions of some truck driver at 3am has a big magnifying effect throughout the entire system.

[PrairieMule]

Jeez, it sure didn't take very long for Senator Pelosi to burn bridges with her constituents once she got in as Speaker of the House.

[Zardoz]

Cool pic:



It's draped like a rug. Hard to believe it was once a rigid freeway overpass.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrairieMule', 'J')eez, it sure didn't take very long for Senator Pelosi to burn bridges with her constituents once she got in as Speaker of the House.

[Terran]

Ironically I used to use same highway to commute to class on a daily basis, the section that collapsed. I drove though the section that connects San Francisco going past West Oakland 11 hours before the incident. I'm glad I commute to class using the BART subway noadays, I just sick and tired of the traffic on I-80. I'ts one of the worse traffic areas in the SF Bay Area.

[Troyboy1208]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Terran', 'I')ronically I used to use same highway to commute to class on a daily basis, the section that collapsed. I drove though the section that connects San Francisco going past West Oakland 11 hours before the incident. I'm glad I commute to class using the BART subway noadays, I just sick and tired of the traffic on I-80. I'ts one of the worse traffic areas in the SF Bay Area.

[I_Like_Plants]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Troyboy1208', '
')
Ah the butterfly effect so to speak. Some damn trucker at 3 am causes the collapse of our vulnerable fuel system. An even greater Irony is that the trucker caused the very collapse of a system he works for! And he was hauling of all things....gasoline. I thought for sure that Gas prices would rise because of this accident.

[eastbay]

This disaster directly affects commuters from the East Bay, but will also prove a nuisance to commuters crossing any of the five primary bridges.

www.sfgate.com says Day #1 passed with little problem. This could be partially due to East Bay and other commuters taking advantage of free public transportation, which ends today, and Bay Area commuters taking a day off.

Terran, glad you're not among those adversly affected by this mess.

[I_Like_Plants]

Yep it's Monday, people often take a nice sunny spring Monday off anyway!

Wait a day or two to see the real Kunstlerfuck.....

[Laughs_Last]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', 'L')et me be the first to point out the obvious.

This was an obvious controlled demolition. Gasoline burns at 1256 Fahrenheit there is no way that is hot enough to bring down a concrete overpass.

The sheeple are so easily fooled.

[pea-jay]

I'm not a structural engineer but observation indicates this is not one of California's newer interchanges and as such more vulnerable. Many of the states new ramps are fully encased in concrete and have higher, broader arcs to them.

I'd think this one would stand up better to a tanker truck

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Laughs_Last', '
')I heard that the overpass fell at faster than the speed of gravity.

[I_Like_Plants]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pea-jay', '
')

[Newsseeker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Laughs_Last', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', 'L')et me be the first to point out the obvious.

This was an obvious controlled demolition. Gasoline burns at 1256 Fahrenheit there is no way that is hot enough to bring down a concrete overpass.

The sheeple are so easily fooled.

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', '
')Kunstlerfuck.....

[Plantagenet]

New CT organisation formed to expose the truth about the 429 controlled demolition.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/ ... posed&only

Why did the overpass COLLAPSE INTO ITS OWN FOOTPRINT?

Why did GOV. SCHWAZENNEGGER put THERMITE in the overpass?

Where is the TRUCK DEBRIS?

Why is CALTRANS HIDING THE VIDEOTAPES?[img]http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25313_Truthers_in_Turmoil_Idiocy_Exposed&only
[/img]

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('purcatty', 'I') did notice that the pillar was still standing, which is interesting.

and also the floor below it that was not heated did not collapse at all when hit, because it was cold steel and did not collapse.

So even with a tank trunk it did not pancake through the levels.

It is a good point, when things collpapse, the pillars remain standing, don't they?