Part of I-85 collapses in Atlanta after massive fire

FoxNews.com ^ | March 30, 2017 | Staff

[Vlad The Inhaler]

Part of Interstate 85 collapsed north of downtown Atlanta Thursday night after a massive fire broke out under the busy highway during afternoon rush hour traffic.

The fire broke out at around 6 p.m. Atlanta fire officials told Fox 5 the blaze caught giant spools of plastic utility conduits which were being stored under the overpass.

No injuries to motorists or firefighters were reported. Georgia State Patrol Capt. Mark Perry told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that terrorism is not suspected.

Prior to the collapse, structural engineers told FOX 5 they were worried about fire melting the metal under the bridge. Witnesses say troopers told motorists to turn around on the bridge because they were concerned about its integrity.

The bridge collapsed at around 7 p.m. Foam trucks were eventually brought up from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to smother the remaining fire.

[Vlad The Inhaler]

[SamAdams76]

This will have the effect of forcing commuters to seek alternate routes.

[generally]

Any ideas on what the cause was? Terrorism? Homeless people (or illegals) setting fires? Construction accident? Lightening?

[Flag_This]

Prediction: Flammable materials will no longer be permitted to be stored underneath roadways.

[Deplorable American1776]

Connecticut will have a major traffic jam, soon if they rebuild the I84 viaduct in Hartford. I remember when the Miamus River bridge fell..What a nightmare...

[Thumper1960]

What idiot or gaggle of idiots allowed such a practice to begin with. I doubt any “officials” will ever be held accountable for their stupidity. None ever are.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Fake news. Rosie O’Donnell said when the twin towers fell that fire can’t melt steel. /s

[deport]

[TXnMA]

"Prior to the collapse, structural engineers told FOX 5 they were worried about fire melting the metal under the bridge. "

~~~~~~~

Ignorant reporters trying to be dramatic -- or abysmally stupid engineers!

Dumb@$$3$! That metal (structural steel) did not "melt".

At those (low) temperatures, it merely lost most of its structural strength (annealed) and, perhaps, just softened a wee bit.

See "blacksmithing 101"..

[Vlad The Inhaler]

"Hey LeRoy, Let's jus' stack all this cable stuff under this bridge."

Good idee Earl - "So's we can get 'er done and quit early!"

"Shore, What could go wrong?"

[Pollster1]

FYI, in the unlikely event that you missed the story.

This is the sort of thing I could imagine happening in one of your books (not all that different from letting sections of California burn), and this time it’s real.

[Prov1322]

This reporting says that the materials stored under I-85 had been there, undisturbed, since 2012. Good series of Google Street View pix.

Atlanta I-85 collapse: What was underneath?

[gleeaikin]

You think this was a bad accident caused by human stupidity? Check out the site below. It refers to a massive landslide knocking over 13 buildings caused by improperly stored construction debris. The article also refers to the massive Tianjin explosion which also killed many, many people and included large amounts of improperly stored poison chemicals. [Note: I don’t like Al Jazeera for middle east/muslim news, but they give decent coverage on other issues.]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/dozens-missing-massive-landslide-china-151220130002098.html

[dp0622]

THAT’S GONNA TAKE AT LEAST A WEEK TO FIX!

[Fitzy_888]

I’’m a structural engineer, structural steel loses about half it’s strength around 700 degrees and in the proper terminology the steel surpasses the “yield strength” and “yields”.

Having said all that, the bridge girders appear to be precast concrete. Reinforced concrete members typically fair well in fires, better than steel...that is, when you don’t have a stockpiled fuel source stack 10 feet high under the structure.

[PAR35]

Cross indexing to other, more heavily commented upon threads

Part of I-85 collapses in Atlanta after massive fire
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3539680/posts

Part of I-85 collapses in Atlanta after massive fire
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3539680/posts

Also appearing:

I-85 collapses after massive fire: ‘The entire bridge is compromised’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3539677/posts

While the original story is relegated to ‘chat’

BREAKING: All lanes shut down on I-85 due to massive fire
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3539582/posts

[nralife]

BREAKING: 3 people in custody in connection with fire that led to I-85 bridge collapse, authorities say. LIVE report NOW on Channel 2 Action News.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/3-charged-in-connection-with-fire-that-led-to-i-85-collapse/507974468

[Vlad The Inhaler]

Thanks for the heads up and the link.

[ColdOne]

All three who have been arrested are homeless.

[toothfairy86]

This sort of thing almost happened to the Liberty Bridge in Pittsburgh last year. They managed to put the fire out before the whole thing collapsed into the river. Still not totally repaired yet.