Here's a worse reputation waiting to happen

Discussion in 'Truckers News' started by ken0001, Apr 29, 2007.

  1. ken0001

    ken0001 Bobtail Member

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    Apr 26, 2007
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    This is gonna make all of us HazMat tanker driver sand future tanker drivers look very bad...........................( I had pics, but can't post links yet)

    OAKLAND, Calif. - A section of freeway that funnels traffic off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed early Sunday after a gasoline tanker truck overturned and caught fire beneath it, authorities said.
    The heat was intense enough to melt part of the freeway and cause the collapse, but the truck's driver walked away from the scene with second-degree burns.
    No other injuries were reported, which officials said was only possible because the accident happened so early on a Sunday morning. The truck driver took a taxi to a nearby hospital, Officer Trent Cross of the California Highway Patrol said.
    Authorities said the damage could take months to repair, and that it would cause the worst disruption for Bay Area commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged a section of the Bay Bridge itself.
    Transportation officials said they already had added trains to the Bay Area Rapid Transit light rail system that takes commuters across San Francisco Bay, and were urging people to telecommute if possible.
    State officials said motorists who try to take alternate routes Monday instead of relying on public transportation would face nightmarish commutes.
    The tanker carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline ignited around 3:45 a.m. after crashing into a pylon on the interchange, which connects westbound lanes of Interstate 80 to southbound I-880, on the edge of downtown Oakland about half a mile from the Bay Bridge's toll plaza.
    A preliminary investigation indicated he may have been speeding on the curving road, Cross said.
    The fire melted a second interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound I-580 located above the first interchange, causing a 250-yard section of the roadway to collapse onto the roadway below, according to the highway patrol.
    Witnesses reported flames from the blaze reached up to 200 feet high.
    Late Sunday morning, the charred section of collapsed freeway was draped at a sharp angle onto the highway beneath, exposing a web of twisted metal beneath the concrete.
    "I've never seen anything like it," Cross said of the crumpled interchange. "I'm looking at this thinking, 'Wow, no one died ' that's amazing. It's just very fortunate."
    The Bay Bridge consists of two heavily traveled, double-decked bridges about two miles long straddling San Francisco Bay. State transportation officials said 280,000 commuters take the bridge into San Francisco each day.
    San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the accident showed how fragile the Bay area's transportation network is, whether to an earthquake or terrorist attack, and has the potential to have a major economic effect on the city.
    "It's another giant wakeup call," Newsom told reporters at the California Democratic Party convention in San Diego.
     
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  3. pro1driver

    pro1driver Heavy Load Member

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    Mar 30, 2006
    North East, USA
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    an accident almost like this happend up in Connecticut a few years ago, but with a slight twist.

    a tanker was on a overpass when a 4 wheeler came onto the highway using an on ramp. the girl, yes, girl ran into the tanker causing the driver to lose control and slam into the right wall that protects vehicles from going over the highway. it exploded, and the whole section of highway melted so badly that the road was closed down. it melted the I-beams from the overpass which was below this accident.

    so under or on top of an overpass can cause the beams to melt and the roadway to turn to liquid..........

    strangely enough, that overpass had just re-opened after being fully replaced several weeks prior to this wreck. it took the construction company 3 years to build it the first time...........

    it only took less than 2 weeks to replace it after the fire....???

    why.............??

    they shipped in the new section jack flash quick to get the road re-opened, as the northbound side had already had 3 lanes shut down for the construction on that side, and they diverted southbound traffic to that northbound side........

    why take 3 years to build, when they can take only 2 weeks to replace it....??

    i think its called job security....................
     
  4. ken0001

    ken0001 Bobtail Member

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    Apr 26, 2007
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    Sounds like RI, that kind of job security would be capital wouldn't it??? The funny thing about accidents like this is, whether the driver was at fault or not, it's always the truckers fault. Even if the news states otherwise, it seems as if people point fingers at the driver of truck anyways..................kinda messed up.
     
  5. pro1driver

    pro1driver Heavy Load Member

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    Mar 30, 2006
    North East, USA
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    no, if you read the first sentance, i said it was in Connecticut...............
     
  6. ken0001

    ken0001 Bobtail Member

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    Apr 26, 2007
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    I know, I read that, I meant it sounds just like something that would happen in RI!! :biggrin_25525: Sorry for the confusion.
     
  7. whispers65233

    whispers65233 Medium Load Member

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    Mar 3, 2006
    Boonville, MO
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    My husband had a similar situation like that in RI. I was in the truck with him and we were on the highway in traffic when this woman was entering the highway from a ramp and kept coming trying to squeeze in and cut in front of us. We had nowhere to go and she was running out of road. She ended up off the road onto the concrete curbing. Thankfully us never touched us nor did we ever get a call saying she complained we ran her off the road. In fact we got on the OBC and sent a message to the DM telling him of the incident to cover our butts.
     
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