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Freeway Collapse in the Bay Area

Horse Plains DrifterHorse Plains Drifter Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 39,420 ***** Forums Admin
edited April 2007 in General Discussion
Just watching breaking news now. Appears a oil or fuel tank truck exploded and burned on a freeway interchange. It caused a section of the road to collapse in an area known as the "Maze", an area where numerous freeways join.
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    11BravoCrunchie11BravoCrunchie Member Posts: 33,423 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    See? That's what happens when urban sprawl takes over. Stuff blows up and falls apart.
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    zipperzapzipperzap Member Posts: 25,057
    edited November -1
    Know the interchange well - ought to be an interesting mess tomorrow![8D]
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    spryorspryor Member Posts: 9,155
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by zipperzap
    Know the interchange well - ought to be an interesting mess tomorrow![8D]
    Yep, several zillion $ worth of damage, hope no lives were lost.
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    mrseatlemrseatle Member Posts: 15,467 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Similar incident happened here in Houston the other day, also at a busy interchange, important section of road will now be closed for months...

    http://www.click2houston.com/news/13209749/detail.html
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    moonshinemoonshine Member Posts: 8,471
    edited November -1
    orange alert!!!
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    TRAP55TRAP55 Member Posts: 8,270 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yep, going to be fun, I have to drive an 18 wheeler through there and back two times a night. Add to that the new bridge construction and the gene pool waste products in 4 wheelers, it should be "interesting" for the next couple of months.
    The driver got some 2nd degree burns, but no other injuries reported. Driver jumped in a cab and went to the hospital while his truck was still burning too!
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    PJPJ Member Posts: 1,556 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just drove past it a couple of minutes ago. Looks like a bomb hit it. I'm glad I don't commute anymore!
    Pete
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    FrancFFrancF Member Posts: 35,278 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote: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.


    Thought it had been retrofitted already for earthquakes.[;)][}:)][V]
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    FrancFFrancF Member Posts: 35,278 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    CRUD! just remembered I have to go do a pick up there tommrow YUCK!!!
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    kristovkristov Member Posts: 6,633
    edited November -1
    The heat from nearly 9000 gallon of gasoline must have been tremendous. While concrete will not melt until temperatures begin to reach 2000C (about 3500F), which is well above the limit of heat resulting from a gasoline fire (about 1600F), the problem is that concete will sinter at around 1600F. What this means is that the concrete begins to cook itself into a solid and very brittle piece of rock and then it will begin to disintigrate. Once this happens the re enforcing steel and structural steels inside the structure will lose their protection and isulation from heat. Although mild steel will not begin to melt until about 2600F and structural steel at around 2800F (it boils at 5000F), 1600F will cause them to soften and lose strength. As the structure weakens (if properly designed) it's load will shift to the remaining portions of the structure which are still viable but at some point the load will excede design limits and the structure will collapse. FrancF is our metals expert so I am sure he could tell us just how long a piece of structural rebar or structural steel could be exposed to 1600F before either begins to soften
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    LaidbackDanLaidbackDan Member Posts: 13,143 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    9000 gallons of gasoline destroyed?
    By Jove, that's going to be the reason for a ten cent spike in fuel prices next week. I'll call the CEO's at the other oil company's and let them in on the new game plan.
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    v35v35 Member Posts: 12,710 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Steel doesn't have to melt or soften to drastically reduce physical properties. Yield strength is what we're concerned about and that begins to fall off rapidly above 600deg.f.
    Heat resistant alloys are better.
    For 1018-1020 plain carbon steel at 1000 deg.f., yield strength falls to about 20% of its' room temp yield strength.
    For ASTM-A-201 plate at 1000 deg.f., it's 60% of room temp yield.
    Tensile strengths fall off more rapidly than yield.
    At 1300degrees you're down to zero strength; both tensile and yield.
    It's conceivable that buckling due to linear thermal expansion may distort structures or fail joints at even lower temps.
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