I-85 section collapses in Atlanta after fire

[heni30]

BIG chunk of I-85 in the heart of Atlanta just went down. Here's a pic someone took when this massive fire started. The pic seems to indicate that these officers do not appreciate the magnitude of what's about to transpire. You can see there's large spools of some kind of tubing being stored under the section that collapsed - someone's in BIG trouble. 1000's of people stranded.

Re-building an interstate elevated section? - someone on the the news was tossing around a 6 months estimate.

[ManyMartinMan]

Like Supertramp said - "Take The Long Way Home."

[cotten]

According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, all five lanes of the highway in each direction will be closed for the foreseeable future. An estimated quarter of a million vehicles passed through that section of I-85 every day. You don't have to know much about Atlanta traffic to understand that is nothing even close to a good alternate route. Two years ago, a CNN survey found that Atlanta's average commute time was 10th in the country. (New York City, with the longest, was only 5 minutes more than Atlanta's.) Something tells me that until I-85 reopens, Atlanta's legendary traffic woes will increase exponentially.

I am thankful that after 40+ years in Metro Atlanta, I'm now 90 minutes south. I feel for so many people, many of whom I know, whose lives each day will be affected considerably by this closing!

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/30/us/atlanta-i-85-fire/

cotten

[Bob Womack]

Oh my. Been there and didn't enjoy a minute of it but a semi-functioning Interstate is better than a broken one. It sounds like EMS personnel did everything right because there were no injuries.

Bob

[Jim Owen]

Egads. I was just there a few days back. I travel through Atlanta on average twice a month.

This is going to tangle a lot of traffic for a long time.

[sevargnhoj]

I would hope intelligent government officials across the country would immediately be checking their local jurisdictions for similar situations to prevent any "fires of convenience" being set by those whose agendas would benefit from such mayhem.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by sevargnhoj

I would hope intelligent government officials across the country would immediately be checking their local jurisdictions for similar situations to prevent any "fires of convenience" being set by those whose agendas would benefit from such mayhem.

Up to date credible news sources are saying the cause is unknown.

In most cases it appears state DOTs plan and consider safety but I know legislators and change in my state shifted focus on new road building and that really stressed fixing older important stuff. I hope that's not going on all over. Edit: I mean ignoring or putting off attention to older infrastructure.

One way or another it will or should shed light or get focus on the importance of infrastructure. Some years ago not far from me a bridge collapsed in the Mississippi river. An Interstate highway bridge near Green Bay, WI probably didn't same sort of coverage but corrosion cause it to sag and I think it was out of commission for around a year. There's a bridge out 2 mi from my home that I think was around 60 years old and that made me wonder how many local or bigger nightmares there are like that.

Most frustrating is looking where a lot of highway spending is. The road our cabin is on is a perfect example of new US two lane construction. Thing is the road has two year-round residents, one a former governor's staff, and the state's out of money to build roads.

My best wishes to those in the Atlanta area. My sister used to live there and I've traveled in, through and around. Before this a childhood friend there would consider your butt glued to car seat for 2+ hours normal. The whole area gave me the impression of less than stellar urban planning so I don't know if there are ways to ease the blow during repair time.

[Mandobart]

My understanding is there was a bunch of PVC electrical conduit staged underneath for a future project. While PVC is not flammable it is combustible. Something to consider with all the plastic used in modern construction. Our power plant is very careful about combustible loading - we use no plastic pipe or conduit. The insulation on all the wiring is enough of a combustible load to cause concern.

Likewise concrete is not flammable or combustible but can and is frequently destroyed by fire. There is always moisture in concrete, and when driven out by fire it becomes crumbly. Likewise the rebar will expand, causing stress and ultimate structural failure.

[LSemmens]

I can't even comprehend the inconvenience caused to the regulars on this stretch of road. Mostly, if one road is out, there are, at least, alternatives in my area. We had a major road closed owing to a MVA only last week, and the inconvenience was an extra 10-20ks on my journey.

[cotten]

Arson charged; Bond set at $200,000. No motive disclosed. http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/01/us/i-8...nta/index.html

cotten

[GHS]

And whats going to happen to the dopes who started the fire??? Three hots and a cot. Nothing new.