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A tanker got in an accident and flipped under an overpass in Detroit, causing an explosion. The resulting inferno caused the overpass to collapse down onto the roadway.

Luckily, there were no fatalities.

It seems that the residents of Detroit are now well versed in how to handle epic collapses, thanks to their experience with the Penguins last month.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_ ... _explosion

Tornado82 wrote:how to handle epic collapses, thanks to their experience with the Penguins last month.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_ ... _explosion

Or with the car industry....

Tornado82 wrote:A tanker got in an accident and flipped under an overpass in Detroit, causing an explosion. The resulting inferno caused the overpass to collapse down onto the roadway.

The exact same thing happened about a year ago where I live. A tanker truck overturned and exploded right in the middle of the 580/880/80 Interchange by the Oakland Bay Bridge. The construction company hired to do the repairs did so under budget and ahead of schedule. The sad footnote: The construction company owner was forced into bankruptcy due to the housing slump.

PA110 wrote:

Tornado82 wrote:A tanker got in an accident and flipped under an overpass in Detroit, causing an explosion. The resulting inferno caused the overpass to collapse down onto the roadway.

The exact same thing happened about a year ago where I live. A tanker truck overturned and exploded right in the middle of the 580/880/80 Interchange by the Oakland Bay Bridge. The construction company hired to do the repairs did so under budget and ahead of schedule. The sad footnote: The construction company owner was forced into bankruptcy due to the housing slump.

That is too bad. I remember being in the Bay area right after the accident, and being amazed at how fast the repairs were made.

Say what you want about California but when repairs to the major transportation system needs to get done, they award the contract and get out of the way. 1989 San Francisco Earthquake - four weeks to get the Bay Bridge fixed, how long did it take for the bridge in the Twin Cities a year; ditto Santa Monica Freeway after another earthquake - the freeway reopen 66 days after the after the contract was signed, 74 days ahead of schedule.

PA110 wrote:The construction company hired to do the repairs did so under budget and ahead of schedule. The sad footnote: The construction company owner was forced into bankruptcy due to the housing slump.

Coming in under budget, while commendable from the taxpayers' standpoint, probably didn't help his balance sheet...

Those wrecks are crazy. I can't believe nobody died.

I saw one on a recent road trip that looked like it had been nasty. The fire was out by the time I got there...

Boris wrote:Coming in under budget, while commendable from the taxpayers' standpoint, probably didn't help his balance sheet...

Actually, it earned him a whopping bonus, as Caltrans (the state transport agency) was more concerned with getting the interchange back open, than with the cost. His bankruptcy was due to being overextended in the new housing construction market in the Sacramento area.

That must have been some serious heat, or an underengineered bridge. Main thing is that everybody walked away relatively unharmed.

A couple of years ago a delivery truck driver in my city somehow forgot to fully retract his hiab arm before driving off. He got as far as the nearest pedestrian footbridge which the arm knocked clean over onto the road below, yet somewhow nobody was on it which was incredible and no cars were hit which again is impressive considering it's one of the busiest roads in Plymouth.

PA110 wrote:Caltrans (the state transport agency) was more concerned with getting the interchange back open, than with the cost.

BlueLion wrote:Say what you want about California but when repairs to the major transportation system needs to get done, they award the contract and get out of the way.

Back when I worked for LA County Aviation 22+ years ago, I had a number of dealings with Caltrans aeronautics people, and they were some of the most professional people I've ever worked with.

13,000 gallons would make a rather large boom and a $hit ton of heat.

C.C. Myers is his name, if anyone wants to know. Bear of a guy, who got pretty famous (and rich) by quickly repairing infrastructure damage.

His bankruptcy was caused by a bit of stupidity, and only indirectly related to the bubble.

You see, he developed a golf community, in a town about 40 minutes+ from downtown Sacramento, for the RICH in SFO and LAX. They were supposed to use the nearby airport to commute, or just have these homes as 'vacation homes'. Why anyone would do this is beyond me. Nice place, but that is really all it has to offer, golf, and nothing else.

Auburn is the name of the city.

PA110 wrote:

Boris wrote:Coming in under budget, while commendable from the taxpayers' standpoint, probably didn't help his balance sheet...

Actually, it earned him a whopping bonus, as Caltrans (the state transport agency) was more concerned with getting the interchange back open, than with the cost. His bankruptcy was due to being overextended in the new housing construction market in the Sacramento area.

Having worked for a state DOT and a firm which does a ton of consulting work for states, that's definitely right. Most highway contracts have performance clauses built in. There's a scheduled time, which is what the bids are based around. The bonuses (or penalties) are $____ per ___ days early/late from that scheduled time. And can be VERY lucrative, sometimes > 10% of the contract, or VERY costly if the project runs late due to circumstances within the contractor's grasp. "Act of God" type things are typically excluded from penalties, such as a ~50 year flood from a TSRA+ occurring during the construction project completely undermining a bridge pier which had just been poured earlier that afternoon (true story from a project I once worked).