Washington State Skagit River bridge collapsed on Thursday evening dumping several cars in the water

[malaise]

One of these days a bridge full of cars will collapse. I don't remember this bridge being mentioned on our threads about which one will collapse next.
<snip>
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/05/23/bc-skagit-bridge-collapse.html
A Washington state bridge over a river collapsed Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers who searched the chilly waterway north of Seattle.

Authorities said it appeared nobody was killed, but three people were injured in the bridge failure that raised the question about the safety of aging spans and cut off Interstate 5, the main route between Seattle and Canada.

"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."
At least two people could be seen sitting on top of their vehicles awaiting rescue after the collapse. At least two people could be seen sitting on top of their vehicles awaiting rescue after the collapse. (King 5 News)

Survivor Dan Sligh and his wife were driving their pickup truck when he said the bridge disappeared before them in a "big puff of dust."


"The I-5 corridor is totally disrupted," said Gov. Jay Inslee, who went to the scene Thursday night.

[Atman]

1. It's clearly Obama's fault.

Boehner needs to make a speech about it. Somebody should go to jail.

[malaise]

3. I hope Obama jumps on this aggressively today

Boehner and the rest of ReTHUGs will be silent

[n2doc]

6. Impeach!

[Kolesar]

2. Local employer Boeing says we have to buy more missiles and helicopters

...to keep Americans safe. In all fairness, the span may have been taken out by a truck:

It was not known what caused the collapse of the bridge about 100 km north of Seattle in Skagit County, but state patrol detectives and the patrol's commercial vehicle enforcement bureau troopers were talking late Thursday night to a commercial truck driver whose rig was believed to have struck the bridge.

"It appears the commercial vehicle made contact with the bridge," Francis said. "Whether it was the cause" of the collapse or made contact as the bridge was falling "that will all come out in the wash. But it appears it hit the bridge."

[malaise]

4. Thanks for that info

[Atman]

5. A bridge unable to withstand a truck?

Whew...I feel better. I thought it might have been a design flaw or poor maintenance.

[East Coast Pirate]

7. .

My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it them in the bathtub a river. - Grover Norquist

Fixed it.