Bridge collapse

[richg1998]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_on_re_us/railroad_bridge_collapse

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=8552206&nav=1sW7

Rich 

[loathar]

"Railroad spokesman Steve Kulm said Wednesday he did not know if the flooding was a factor in the collapse." (ya think??)

Good thing those tankers were filled with water and not something toxic that could pollute the river! Bet the engineer wasn't planning on going for a swim!

[PA&ERR]

"For a town already dealing with record flooding, investigators must survey this damage and analyze environmental impact."

Never mind the impact to the railroad, its customers, or the larger community that depend on both!

-George

[tomikawaTT]

quote user=PA&ERR

"For a town already dealing with record flooding, investigators must survey this damage and analyze environmental impact."

Never mind the impact to the railroad, its customers, or the larger community that depend on both!

-George

/quote

Sounds to me as if the major impact is going to be on Tyson - the bridge, and the track on it, were part of the spur to their plant.  (I'll also bet that Tyson is the town's major employer.)

Notice that nobody said a thing about the environmental impact of the thousands of tons of fertilizer washed into the river and whisked downstream - but a leaking diesel fuel tank...

Thee isn't a bookie in my home town that would take the negative side of a bet that the flood did or did not undermine the bridge foundations.

I'm just glad that nobody got killed.  Pulling the rolling stock out of the mud will be fun, though.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[lvanhen]

"Railroad spokesman Steve Kulm said Wednesday he did not know if the flooding was a factor in the collapse." (ya think??)

Good thing those tankers were filled with water and not something toxic that could pollute the river! Bet the engineer wasn't planning on going for a swim!

Mr Kulm needs to grasp both ears and yank hard to get his head from wence it is lodged!!

[wjstix]

Odd how the media always calls tank cars "tanker cars". I suppose they're more familiar with tanker trucks??

[twhite]

Mr. Kulm doesn't know if the flooding contributed to the collapse?  Well, DUH---!

Tom

[CSXDixieLine]

Yikes..glad to hear the most of the crew is ok and the hurt person will fully recover. Here is the bridge in question:

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=41.283037&lon=-91.347048&z=17.1&r=0&src=msa

Looks like it is immediately downstream from the confluence of the two rivers. Jamie

[Margaritaman]

So they filled the tanks with water to weight the bridge to keep it in place?  Common practice?

[richg1998]

So they filled the tanks with water to weight the bridge to keep it in place?  Common practice?

 

That is a common practice for many years. Usually hopper cars with rock were used. In a 1955 huricane in New England, a railroad bridge over the CT river in Holyoke MA had hopper cars on it with rock inside the cars. I lived near the river and recall asking my father why as I had never seen this before.

Rich 

[Anonymous]

This practice has been around since at least 1920's....I have a picture of the D&RGW placing hopper flats on a steel bridge to keep from flowing away  would scan it..it is copyrighted though

[Rotorranch]

This practice has been around since at least 1920's....I have a picture of the D&RGW placing hopper flats on a steel bridge to keep from flowing away  would scan it..it is copyrighted though

Even before that! There's a site with old photos of St.L MO from the late 1800's early 1900's, showing loaded cars on a bridge trying to keep The River from washing the bridge away.

Rotor

[loathar]

This practice has been around since at least 1920's....I have a picture of the D&RGW placing hopper flats on a steel bridge to keep from flowing away  would scan it..it is copyrighted though

Even before that! There's a site with old photos of St.L MO from the late 1800's early 1900's, showing loaded cars on a bridge trying to keep The River from washing the bridge away.

Rotor

They put a steam train and passenger cars full of people on the bridge that went to the Fl. Keys during a hurricane about 100 years....(that didn't work either...)

[richg1998]

I have been to the Keys quite a lot and seen the history. The train was sent to remove workers for the railroad, not to keep a bridge in place. Search using Google. Flaglers railroad. With no tracking like we have today, authorities had to guess.

Rich 

 

[stebbycentral]

Oddly enough as I am reading this thread there is also a story running on the local news about the incident.  Apparently the ICE locomotive was in the process of removing the cars from the bridge when it went down.  It sounds from the reports that the part that actually collapsed was the trestle approach to the bridge.  The engineer of the locomotive is currently in the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City with what are described as "non-life threatening" injuries.

[trainfan1221]

That would be pretty sickening if they actually did that.  As for the current story I am glad to hear everyone is all right.

[dehusman]

Mr. Kulm doesn't know if the flooding contributed to the collapse?  Well, DUH---!

Tom

I saw pictures of it on the news, and I would side with Mr. Kulm.  It looks like the cars went through the deck of the bridge, not like the piers collapsed from under the cars.  They need to find out what was the cause and not just blame it on the handy reason of the flood.

Dave H.

[tomikawaTT]

Odd how the media always calls tank cars "tanker cars". I suppose they're more familiar with tanker trucks??

Our local NBC affiliate gave us some views of the wreckage (close-ups, not an overall view) and I noticed that one of the tank ends was stenciled inedible grease.  I'll bet water is the cleanest thing that car has ever had in it!

Being a nautical type, when I see the word, "Tanker," my mind automatically conjures up a long, wide, deep, oceangoing ship with a deckful of plumbing and the bridge and stack all the way aft.  That thing on rubber wheels is a tank truck.

The other accepted meaning of the word tanker involves soldiers who ride around in large tracked vehicles with big, accurate artillery in rotating turrets...

As for what the media says, I'm glad that television provides pictures.  Kung Fu-Tse was right.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[stebbycentral]

Mr. Kulm doesn't know if the flooding contributed to the collapse?  Well, DUH---!

Tom

I saw pictures of it on the news, and I would side with Mr. Kulm.  It looks like the cars went through the deck of the bridge, not like the piers collapsed from under the cars.  They need to find out what was the cause and not just blame it on the handy reason of the flood.

Dave H.

There was additional film on this morning's news. Fom the pictures it was obvious that what collapsed wasn't really a bridge at all, but a trestle.  It could be that the flood undermined the piers, but I wonder if the ground wasn't simply so waterlogged that it couldn't support the weight of the locomotive.

[Cornboy]

Hi y'all,

Since this is the model formum an not the rl trains forum I was wondering if anyone ever added things like collapsed bridges, flooding, derailments, etc. to their layouts.  I'm completely new to this and my personal layout is still being formed in my rapidly aging brain.  It just seems like it might be something that would add interest to a layout.

Cheers,

Doug

[tomikawaTT]

Hi y'all,

Since this is the model formum an not the rl trains forum I was wondering if anyone ever added things like collapsed bridges, flooding, derailments, etc. to their layouts.  I'm completely new to this and my personal layout is still being formed in my rapidly aging brain.  It just seems like it might be something that would add interest to a layout.

Cheers,

Doug

I've seen photos of staged 'picking up the pieces' photos, usually involving an Athearn 250 ton crane and a bunch of minipeople.  Highway wreck photos are more common.

Back when I was learning to shave, MR (I think) had a photo article on a modeler who built dioramas of early 20th century derailments in all their gory glory - overturned steam, splintered wooden cars and all.

While my prototype has had some spectacular, and deadly, derailments, none of them happened in my modeled area during September, 1964.  Ditto for washouts and bridge collapses.  I hope to model that fact with extreme accuracy.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - wreck-free, I hope)

[richg1998]

Here is a link to a short video of the collapse.

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2008/06/25/news/doc48625ad72a95a530197603.txt

Scroll down and click of the video link.

Rich 

[loathar]

I have been to the Keys quite a lot and seen the history. The train was sent to remove workers for the railroad, not to keep a bridge in place. Search using Google. Flaglers railroad. With no tracking like we have today, authorities had to guess.

Rich 

 

Yeah, I know the story. Just my dry sense of humor...