Life in a big city - Seattle infrastructure

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In Seattle, the bridge to West Seattle was recently found to be in dire need of repair and is now closed to traffic. It normally carried 125,000 people per day so this is a major impact to residents. An Interesting article at The Seattle Times about a bunch of other bridges that might be worse off:

West Seattle Bridge is a surprise crisis, but plenty of other aging Seattle bridges are also vulnerable
In January, if West Seattle commuters caught in a bottleneck had gazed out the window at their high bridge and wondered about its safety, a look at federal bridge ratings may have calmed their nerves. The bridge was labeled sufficient. In a catchall rating out of 100, it had a respectable 69.

By the spring, the city had discovered that cracks in the bridge were accelerating, closed it with no definite reopening date and begun preparing emergency plans in the event — which the city says is unlikely — the bridge collapses.

The abrupt turnaround for the West Seattle Bridge, which carried 125,000 travelers a day, underscores how even structures deemed sufficient by federal authorities can face serious problems and create new transportation crises. And in Seattle, dozens of other bridges have lower overall ratings than the now-closed span, some with key vulnerabilities the West Seattle Bridge never had.

And just an idea of what they are facing:

Among the Seattle bridges with lower ratings than the West Seattle Bridge, six have a label never attached to that span: They are deemed structurally deficient or rated “poor,” meaning they need significant repair or replacement. Nine bridges have structures that are fracture critical, meaning they could fall if a certain major part is damaged, as happened in the 2013 Skagit River bridge collapse.

Let's see now - we can maintain our infrastructure or we can sponsor a summer music festival and hand out free shit to the homeless and this and that and everything else...

Point of fact - the Skagit River bridge was actually in good condition. Skagit County is good about maintenance. It was not up to current code though and the collapse happened when an oversize truck hit and fractured a primary support span. No fatalities.

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This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on May 31, 2020 4:23 PM.

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