Article

2007-04-29 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Oakland CA overpass collapses after fire

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, authorities said. The heat from the fire 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 apparent terrorist connection here, just a careless and/or stupid trucker. Fortunately this happened in the middle of the night. Since Truthers believe this sort of thing is impossible, maybe they will blame this on Bush or Cheney.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-04-29 14:44|| || Front Page|| [17 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Since Truthers believe this sort of thing is impossible, maybe they will blame this on Bush or Cheney.

I was thinking the same thing. Charlie Manson's insane "theories" were more logical than the Truthers'.

Posted by xbalanke 2007-04-29 18:51|| 2007-04-29 18:51|| Front Page Top

#2 That qualifies as the "aw-shit" of the day.

Hey, wait - fire melted steel? Somebody tell ~~Idiot~~ Rosie!

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2007-04-29 18:57|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2007-04-29 18:57|| Front Page Top

#3 It's going to royally screw commute traffic out here for at least a month (Hah! Far longer if I know CalTrans and contractors).

No terrorist connection so far as anyone knows at this time - the driver hailed a cab and went to the hospital with 2nd degree burns, but nobody else was killed - so far as they know before they begin sorting the debris (just hedging my bets here and I do hope no one was caught underneath the collapse).

Unfortunately, it spells out in plain and simple language just exactly how vulnerable certain portions of the Bay Area are to extremist attacks (I cringe every time I travel through the Caldecott Tunnel which is just about every day).

Posted by FOTSGreg">FOTSGreg 2007-04-29 19:45|| www.fire-on-the-suns.com]">[www.fire-on-the-suns.com] 2007-04-29 19:45|| Front Page Top

#4 World class traffic jam tomorrow in Oakland. In all of California this is just about the most perfect spot to drop a ramp and cause everyone in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco huge traffic nightmare. Wait, thinking about these cities and their politics, God does have a sense of humor. Certainly it amuses me!

Posted by JustAboutEnough">JustAboutEnough 2007-04-29 20:02|| 2007-04-29 20:02|| Front Page Top

#5 This actually quite serious. Whereas Los Angeles had the wisdom to hire a private contractor after the January 17, 1993 Northridge quake, Alameda County relied upon CalTrans. The LA contractor specifically demanded huge bonuses for early completion and cheerfully accepted heavy late penalties in the final contract. He then went out and hired every cement worker and paving equipment operator in sight and ran the project on a three-shift schedule. The work was finished on April 11, 1994, in a little over one year's time, so far ahead of schedule that even all of the overtime and shift differential pay could not stop him from walking away with several million dollars in early completion bonuses.

After the 7.0 quake of 1989, the five mile Cypress section of I-880 that collapsed was replaced at a cost of 1.25 BILLION dollars. That amounts to some $4,000 per inch. Compare this to the Los Angeles work which cost half as much and was completed in some sixteen months instead of almost a decade.

While the Cypress interchange rebuild was no small project, its lengthy reconstruction was a boondoggle of massive proportions. Estimates are now citing a few months to replace this small portion. Commuter delays will total in the billions of dollars worth of lost time. There will also be an additional kiloton of vehicle emissions from drivers taking slower alternative surface routes.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-29 20:24|| 2007-04-29 20:24|| Front Page Top

#6 the contractor in LA (like the bay area) was hired under Caltrans approval - it was work on the state/interstate highway system, and the local agency (I work for one) has neither the $ nor the authority to do that work without CT and FHWA approvals. Both jobs were done by private contractors with agency oversight. I realize you've worked a lot of places doing multi-exciting jobs, Zen, but in this case you're full of shit. Read/Know/Live It before you comment, Jeebus. The cost difference was in "community activists" and local pols requiring add'l "features" like expensive architectural looks and lighting.

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-04-29 21:06|| 2007-04-29 21:06|| Front Page Top

#7 The cost difference was in "community activists" and local pols requiring add'l "features" like expensive architectural looks and lighting.

Yes, there was some site remediation (a PVC plume) that increased costs plus there were also "local hiring" clauses and other riders that drove up the Oakland project's expense wildly. Among them was the "outcry" of how the old Cypress freeway had "divided" the existing (slum)neighborhood, thus requiring the rebuild to be diverted westward by some distance.

Due to the incredible "flyovers" and changeover from stacked to side-by-side corridors that took place, I'll not argue costs, but the time frame was simply inexcusable. CalTrans has a well-deserved and exceptionally shitty reputation for on-time and on-budget completion of projects. Let me know if you have proof otherwise.

From the California State Auditor's 2004 report:

Managing a program of this size, complexity, and cost requires a consistently high level of diligence in applying accepted project management practices. However, Caltrans has not fully incorporated generally accepted standards for project management. This report considers Caltrans' efforts in managing project risk, cost, and communicationsareas in which it could have guided the program better to achieve the maximum chance of success. In the area of risk management, the report focuses on the East Span, which accounts for $2.5 billion of the $3.2 billion in cost overruns and the four-year delay. Although Caltrans took steps to identify and mitigate risks to the East Span project, such as hiring consultants to perform a risk assessment in February 2003, it lacked a comprehensive risk management plan for the East Span. Without a risk management plan, Caltrans never defined its risk management activities for the program. As a result, Caltrans lacked processes to identify, track, and quantify risks throughout the project's life.
[emphasis added]

I realize that the Bay Bridge eastern approach involved some serious non-functional related esthetic issues, but that does not change how badly they tend to mismanage projects.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-29 21:38|| 2007-04-29 21:38|| Front Page Top

#8 I have worked with CT on several projects. Like local projects, timelines are dictated by issues/complications. The NEPA process is no more complicate than teh California CEQA process - they generally run conurrently. It's not my intent to defend CT - I have no dog in their fight. Your first allusion to local control vs state control was demonstrively false. I wouldn't appreciate it if the tables/blame were turned, and I don't think you should get away with that crap here

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-04-29 22:00|| 2007-04-29 22:00|| Front Page Top

#9 and I only have 22+ years of direct experience to balance your feelings.

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-04-29 22:01|| 2007-04-29 22:01|| Front Page Top

#10 There was a virtually identical incident here Friday. In that case the overpass stayed up, but the driver died. The headline seems to blame the crash on an illegal shortcut, but that's probably bull.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2007-04-29 22:13|| 2007-04-29 22:13|| Front Page Top

#11 Obviously another false-flag operation committed by Bushco, the Mossad, and the UFO's Google it!

Posted by Rosie ODonnel 2007-04-29 22:14|| 2007-04-29 22:14|| Front Page Top

#12 Your first allusion to local control vs state control was demonstrively false.

If it is, then I withdraw it. All I know is that, somehow, the LA damage was repaired by almost an order of magnitude less time.

I only have 22+ years of direct experience to balance your feelings.

And I have a lifetime of being stuck in crappy commute conditions because CalTrans can't manage it's way out of a paper bag. The auditor's report I cited is only for one single project. Yes, a whopper, albeit, but one they should still be able to negotiate. CalTrans is a state agengy, fer cripes sakes! You'd figure that they knew how to navigate the paper trail required of them. They quite obviously don't and I'm fed up with them sucking down major tax dollars in the process. I've seen the glacial speed with which they address even the most crucial bottlenecks here in Silicon Valley and it's nothing short of criminal.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-29 23:12|| 2007-04-29 23:12|| Front Page Top

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