Another bridge knocked down.

[Mace Canute]

This time a railroad trestle over Highway 16 (a very major highway) meets up with an excavator. By the looks of things, it appears the rig stopped rather abruptly which just illustrates the fact that you can never tell when you are going to need your seat belts!

A not too informative news story...

BEST OF THE WEB/PHOTOS: Lloydminster train bridge collapses | News Talk 980 CJME

and a bunch more pictures in this site...

Reader photos: Lloydminster rail bridge collapse

 

[GGB]

That is almost unbelievable-nearly defies logic to see that the bridge would be knocked off while the excavator stayed on the trailer. Wonder what the driver said while it was happening???

Obviously, the equipment was chained down with large enough tiedowns. But it still amazes me that it held.

GGB

 

[LD1]

I just dont think they are going to be able to re-use that dipperstick cylinder


Wow. Just Wow.:confused2:

I also wonder if that trailer is legal now, with the weight of that bridge?? Better break out the scales.

 

[zzvyb6]

Why don't they just start up the JD and raise the bridge back into position and drive off? Probably a repaving job gone bad with the height sign out of spec with the actual clearance height.

 

[oldnslo]

Why don't they just start up the JD and raise the bridge back into position and drive off? Probably a repaving job gone bad with the height sign out of spec with the actual clearance height.

I don't think that JD would lift that bridge with it's cylinder crushed..

 

[Dennis Mickle]

That is almost unbelievable-nearly defies logic to see that the bridge would be knocked off while the excavator stayed on the trailer. Wonder what the driver said while it was happening???

Obviously, the equipment was chained down with large enough tiedowns. But it still amazes me that it held.

GGB

The driver said to his buddy "hold my beer and watch this".

 

[LD1]

The driver said to his buddy "hold my beer and watch this".

:laughing::laughing:

 

[jinman]

It looks like the excavator was being hauled with the boom retracted to full height. The trailer is likely not log enough to put the dipper out and drop the boom, but it certainly looks long enough to bring the dipper back and drop the boom quite a bit. Removing the bucket would let the boom drop even more. All good 20-20 hindsight issues. . .

I would say it's lucky it was an unoccupied railroad bridge instead of a auto bridge, but even more lucky that there were no cars near the truck while travelling in the same direction. It also looks like the towing truck was undamaged.

 

[Dutch445]

wow,
quite a testament to that boom, i would have thought it
would have folded over backwards completely but never
thought it could have moved that bridge span.

wonder how fast the truck was going?

 

[grsthegreat]

It looks like someone forgot to bolt down the bridge in the first place :laughing:

 

[GGB]

It looks like someone forgot to bolt down the bridge in the first place :laughing:

That's what I was wondering. It would be interesting to know how or if the bridge was secured. Still blows my mind.....

GGB

 

[JB4310]

IMO there's no way those beams could of been bolted down.

But it is still something how that boom was able to move that much weight, with out being more damaged. Good advertisement for JD

Looks like continuous welded rail, the only thing still holding.

JB

 

[dodge man]

Believe it or not, bridges aren't really bolted down, mostly just gravity hold them in place, or not in this case.

I think a little heat on the boom of that JD will straighten it out and let it go back to work.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I think a little heat on the boom of that JD will straighten it out and let it go back to work.

:laughing: That will Buff out man! :laughing:

I predict a SMOKING deal on a JD Excavator on Craigslist tomorrow...

:laughing::laughing:
David

 

[jimmysisson]

Should make Eddie Walker feel better about his.
Jim

 

[creekbend]

Seeing is believing and eyes don't deceive. Simply bewildering to believe that the boom held up. Another reader inquired about the traveling speed of the truck, and I wish to reiterate that question. Has anyone found out the answer? I tend to believe that the truck was probably approaching at a slower than normal rate of speed, because of the driver's concern over the clearance issue.??

 

[jinman]

Hello. . . Allstate? I have a little bridge work needed and I ain't talkin' a trip to the dentist here.:laughing:

 

[dodge man]

He may have been going full speed, you never know. He may have also realized at the last second there might be a problem and slowed down. Someone near here hit a bridge with a Cat D8 on a lowboy going full speed. It was a concrete bridge and it didn't give as much. I'll never forget the gouges in the pavement from where the D8 came off the lowboy and flipped down the road.

 

[JB4310]

Yeah, imagine the call to the boss Better not hold the phone to close to your ear :laughing:

As far as speed goes, it had to be fast enough to move that much weight, but not so fast that it would rip the boom right off.

Just guessing between 30 and 40 MPH???

I was talking to an old timer in the construction field about this, he said bridge sections are not fastened rigid, to allow for movement, but should still be secured enough to prevent that from happening.

I've seen a few times where trucks, cranes etc hit bridges and nothing like this. One old train bridge in the next town was low enough that it was hit so many times over the years, the beam edge was bent up like a potato chip.
In one incident it was hit with a mini excavator and the driver abandoned the trailer and machine, they found out later it was stolen.

That bridge has since been replaced.

JB.

 

[johnrex62]

Tsk! Tsk! Such a sad commentary on the state of America's infrastructure. A shame non of our politicians had visited that bridge before so that it would have at least been repainted.



Good build quality on that excavator though, not to mention the chains! :thumbsup: