Bridge linking US and Canada collapses
Source: Agencies |
May 25, 2013, Saturday
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THE major link between the US and Canadian sides of the Pacific Northwest region was severed after a bridge collapsed, dumping a handful of vehicles and people into a river, police said. All three people who were on the span were rescued and taken to hospitals.
The four-lane Interstate 5 bridge - more than half a century old - collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. It was caused by an oversize truck hitting the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said.
Initially, it wasn't clear if the bridge just gave way on its own. But at an overnight news conference, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste blamed it on a big truck carrying a tall load that hit an upper part of the span.
The truck made it off the bridge and the driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
The mishap was reminiscent of the August 2007 collapse of an I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that killed 13 people and injured another 145 when it buckled and fell into the Mississippi River during rush hour.
The collapse came at the start of one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year in the US, Memorial Day weekend. The collapse came before sundown on a clear day.
Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup truck on Interstate 5 heading to a camping trip when the bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust."
"I hit the brakes, and we went off," Sligh said from a hospital, adding that he "saw the water approaching ... you hold on as tight as you can."
Sligh, his wife and another man in a different vehicle were dumped into the Skagit River when the span collapsed on Thursday evening. They were injured, but authorities said it appeared nobody was killed in the bridge failure that raised the question about the safety of aging spans.
"We don't think anyone else went into the water," said Marcus Deyerin, a spokesman for the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team. "At this point we're optimistic."
Sligh and his wife were taken to Skagit Valley Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other man was reported in stable condition at United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, hospital CEO Greg Reed said.
The bridge was built in 1955 and had a sufficiency rating of 47 out of 100 at its November inspection, Transportation Department spokesman Noel Brady said yesterday.
The four-lane Interstate 5 bridge - more than half a century old - collapsed about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. It was caused by an oversize truck hitting the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said.
Initially, it wasn't clear if the bridge just gave way on its own. But at an overnight news conference, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste blamed it on a big truck carrying a tall load that hit an upper part of the span.
The truck made it off the bridge and the driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
The mishap was reminiscent of the August 2007 collapse of an I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that killed 13 people and injured another 145 when it buckled and fell into the Mississippi River during rush hour.
The collapse came at the start of one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year in the US, Memorial Day weekend. The collapse came before sundown on a clear day.
Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup truck on Interstate 5 heading to a camping trip when the bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust."
"I hit the brakes, and we went off," Sligh said from a hospital, adding that he "saw the water approaching ... you hold on as tight as you can."
Sligh, his wife and another man in a different vehicle were dumped into the Skagit River when the span collapsed on Thursday evening. They were injured, but authorities said it appeared nobody was killed in the bridge failure that raised the question about the safety of aging spans.
"We don't think anyone else went into the water," said Marcus Deyerin, a spokesman for the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team. "At this point we're optimistic."
Sligh and his wife were taken to Skagit Valley Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The other man was reported in stable condition at United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, hospital CEO Greg Reed said.
The bridge was built in 1955 and had a sufficiency rating of 47 out of 100 at its November inspection, Transportation Department spokesman Noel Brady said yesterday.
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