tomfuller

At least 2 vehicles went into the water. 3 people were plucked from the river and are in a hospital. Sounds like it happened about 7PM tonight.

sunbum1944

OMG! Just on the news the other day about how many bridges needed to be repaired.

easytraveler

Here's more on the situation:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05...n_3329567.html

Washington State isn't the only state with bridges that need to be repaired.

Glad the people rescued are safe and in stable condition.

Katzgar

will the chief state highway engineer commit hari kari? WA state has a long history of failed infrastructure, its how they roll.

Fodorite018

This will have a significant impact for quite a while, and of course at the beginning of this holiday weekend, things will really be a mess. There are detours in place, like route 9 for northbound, so there is still a way to travel without going much out of your way, but yeah, it's going to be slower than the freeway.

I cannot tell you how many times we have traveled over that bridge.

Fodorite018

FWIW, a commercial vehicle that had a load wider than the bridge hit the bridge right before it collapsed. So there is more to this than just an old bridge that may or may not have been safe.

Bobmrg

Right, mms. The local news anchors were falling all over themselves about the recency of an inspection, a report from 2008, etc etc when an inspection at noon yesterday would have been irrelevant....and they kept blustering on after the semi that hit the bridge had been identified.

tomfuller

Amtrak is adding an additional train each day from Seattle to Bellingham with a return in the afternoon. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2013/05...e_Collapse.htm
The BNSF bridge is in good condition.

Katzgar

appears I/we jumped the gun as it apparently is about an oversize load on a semi hitting the bridge.

Fodorite018

katzgar--That is what I posted on here yesterday.

Tabernash2

What a tragedy. I heard the 20-year old injured man interviewed.
He was going 60mph when the bridge section literally disappeared right in front of him.
His car flew off the bridge and nose-dived right into the water. He survived, thankfully.

tomfuller

Meanwhile back at the Skagit River:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/9...57633665218854
Progress is being made.

tomfuller

It is open this morning. The lanes are 11 feet wide. NO wide loads.