# 'A bridge collapses, and a vital port expires'

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619>\
**Category:** Safety\
**Created:** [March 27, 2024, 4:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619 "2024-03-27T04:18:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/41 "2024-03-31T05:01:19Z")

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I think that was galloping Gerdy. Wind shear missed in the calculation or something.

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 5:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/42 "2024-03-31T05:20:12Z")

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Ah yes, galloping Gertie

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 12:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/43 "2024-03-31T12:59:15Z")

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![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/4/b4f1f34830c825587c9e8cc02b76e6a7b987f3ba.jpeg)

Hmmmm… 🤔

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**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/44 "2024-03-31T13:44:51Z")

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The Dali weighed 224 million pounds and was going 9 mph. That’s a momentum of more than 2 billion pounds-miles per hour. Civil engineering professors from the University of MD and the Johns Hopkins University said that they doubt that any bridge in existence today could have withstood that impact.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/45 "2024-03-31T14:07:17Z")

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> [@jtsanders](#):
>
> Civil engineering professors from the University of MD and the Johns Hopkins University said that they doubt that any bridge in existence today could have withstood that impact.

Surely they know less than non-credentialed internet “experts”!

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**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/46 "2024-03-31T14:19:13Z")

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Sorry if this has already been answered here, but how long do they expect the shipping channel to be down before ships can safely pass, and will building a new bridge stop the flow of ships any?

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**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/47 "2024-03-31T14:54:45Z")

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It’s just a guess this early with the first section of the bridge removed last night. The head of the Army Corps of Engineers said he thought weeks to months before a temporary shipping channel can be opened. Not only the metal must be removed but the road bed as well. Restarting commerce might also be delayed while searching for the four remaining dead construction workers.

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**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/48 "2024-03-31T15:37:44Z")

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Are they considering a suspension bridge replacement? Whoa.

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**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/49 "2024-03-31T16:57:10Z")

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Thanks, I didn’t think it was going to be a few years to reopen like some (not on here lol) people were saying… Shipping channel I mean…

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**Author:** ![Rainflurry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cab0a1/32.png) [@Rainflurry](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rainflurry)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/50 "2024-03-31T22:50:17Z")

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> [@bing](#):
>
> the 35 bridge is a beautiful suspension bridge

> [@bing](#):
>
> The replacement was a suspension bridge as in Minnesota.

Umm, have you seen the the I-35W replacement bridge? It is not a suspension bridge.

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**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/51 "2024-03-31T23:06:43Z")

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> [@davesmopar](#):
>
> how long do they expect the shipping channel to be down before ships can safely pass

The channel is 50’ deep. A ship as large as the Dali has a draft of 48.5’. They have to clear out all the metal and the concrete and rocks from the piling before it can open. They have to cut the metal into pieces small enough for a crane to lift. (They have the largest on the East Coast, lent by the Navy, which can lift 1,000 tons.) They have to know whether its safe for diver-welders (underwater welding!) to work on it. So I don’t know. The engineer on the radio this morning didn’t have a firm prediction.

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**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/52 "2024-04-01T01:06:01Z")

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Yeah I’ve been over it many times. I believe it was pre cast sections like the Stillwater bridge but it’s beautiful anyway and done a little over a year. Going home that day I missed my chance to be on it when it went down. I’ve been on a lot of bridges.

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**Author:** ![wolyrobb](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wolyrobb/32/45497_2.png) [@wolyrobb](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wolyrobb)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/53 "2024-04-01T05:48:06Z")

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The replacement bridge along with the 2nd bridge next to it were designed learning lessons from Galloping Gertie, the ships that would pass under the two spans are about half the size of the ship in Baltimore. larger ships stop at the port of Tacoma well before the narrows, Olympia mainly sees bulk carriers or lumber ships between 400-700ft long and those ships pass through the narrows to get to the Port of Olympia.  
[Tacoma Narrows Bridge history - Bridge - Lessons from failure (wa.gov)](https://wsdot.wa.gov/TNBhistory/bridges-failure.htm)

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**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/54 "2024-04-01T16:20:36Z")

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![4-1-24-1024x735](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/e/5/e5a62e20a9bda86d17d22602db020ad855146a12.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/55 "2024-04-01T18:42:15Z")

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![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/a/baa0d6a05124fb9b96727d5f037ac7c40e107230.jpeg)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/56 "2024-04-01T18:58:17Z")

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You are quoting the midland gazette? Your lack of certification in the kook identification field is showing.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/57 "2024-04-01T19:01:26Z")

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> [@bing](#):
>
> Your lack of certification in the kook identification field is showing.

You’re correct.  
I haven’t done sufficient internet research in order to self-certify as an expert in that category.

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**Author:** ![CapriRacer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/capriracer/32/22_2.png) [@CapriRacer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/CapriRacer)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 12:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/58 "2024-04-02T12:05:30Z")

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The latest is a new shipping channel is open. It’s not as deep as the old one, but at least something is moving in and out.

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**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 1:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/59 "2024-04-02T13:51:27Z")

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It’s not a shipping channel. The open waterway north of the ship is about 10 ft deep and is for tugs, barges, and other support ships. Another channel about 15 ft deep south of the ship is next and then a third one that will be 25 ft deep. That one will allow some commerce to begin.

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**Author:** ![ChrisTheTireWhisperer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/christhetirewhisperer/32/34798_2.png) [@ChrisTheTireWhisperer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ChrisTheTireWhisperer)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-bridge-collapses-and-a-vital-port-expires/194619/60 "2024-04-04T00:56:36Z")

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A lot of whom you described visited the U.S. Capitol a few years go…

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