A small bridge collapsed in far western VA this week when a too-heavy concrete truck tried to cross. The bridge was posted for 8 tons, the truck was something like 20 tons. The driver ignored the sign. I love the first sentence in the second to last paragraph … classic government. They had a picture on tv, I’ll try to find a copy.
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Giles bridge collapses under too#-#heavy truck -RD>
A one-lane bridge in Giles County collapsed yesterday when a heavily laden cement truck tried to cross the weight-restricted span.
The state Route 713 bridge over Walker Creek was posted with a restriction limiting the maximum weight of vehicles to 8 tons.
“It appears that an overweight vehicle violating the posting collapsed the bridge,” said Malcolm T. Kerley, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s chief engineer.
The 2003 Mack truck was carrying 15½ tons of cement, said state police Sgt. Michael Conroy. “The [cement] alone . . . pretty much doubled the limit on the bridge.”
Cement trucks vary in size, but fully loaded they can easily weigh as much as 30 tons, according to the National Safety Council.
The truck driver, Paul Bowman, 39, of Bluefield, was the only person on the bridge when it collapsed, according to state police and VDOT officials.
Bowman, who suffered cuts and abrasions in the incident, was charged with failure to obey a highway sign and felony destruction of property, Conroy said.
Franklin Ready Mix Concrete Inc. of Rocky Mount was the truck’s owner, Conroy said.
VDOT said work was already under way to replace the weak and aging bridge on the dead-end road, which carries an average of 25 vehicles a day.
The new $1.1 million, two-lane bridge is expected to be completed by Aug. 22.
The bridge contractor had built a temporary work bridge at the site to aid in the new span’s construction, said Ken Walus, Virginia’s state bridge engineer.
The Transportation Department plans to allow residents to use the work bridge to get to and from their homes, Walus said. Vehicles will be limited to those weighing no more than 3 tons.
The Route 713 bridge was a 158-foot, steel-truss and timber-deck span built in 1932. The bridge was last inspected Feb. 5.
“This is an example of why we post weight limits on bridges,” Walus said. “We want to remind all drivers to heed posted weight limits and follow posted safety instructions.”
VDOT engineers are investigating the incident to learn exactly how the structural collapse occurred, said agency spokesman Jeff Caldwell. The load the truck was carrying was not for the new bridge’s construction.
The Route 713 bridge intersects with state Route 670 in the White Gate area of Giles County, near state Route 42.
“Put your creed in your deed.” Emerson
“When asked if you can do something, tell’em “Why certainly I can”, then get busy and find a way to do it.” T. Roosevelt
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"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
View Image
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Was he asleep?
Waaaay back when I worked for a moving company I was with a driver in a fully loaded semi. We were lost in downtown Port Huron and he drove over a 8 ton bridge crosing a river.
I told him afterward, he didnt see the sign, and I was in no position to tell him how to drive.
Guess we were lucky.
Statements like that remind me of George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson in "Dr. Strangelove." The President would ask him something like how could Gen. Jack D. Ripper have sent a bomber wing to attack the Soviet Union and Scott would say, "Well, not to make judgements before all the facts are in, but I'd say that the General may have exceeded his authority."