Baltimore Bridge Disaster

[South Austin 52463]

21 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Having any kind of opinion on this if you’re not a harbor pilot or marine engineer or civil engineer or something is just super stupid.  It’s just this thing that happened, like things do.  

 

[BearSchlong 8084]

We did it first day. I don't remember which coach was our instructor, but first day he was like "okay, who wants to drive first?!" We're all raising our hand and he picks me. We all sit in the car and he's going over all the basics, put on your seatbelt, start the car...that kind of stuff. We pull up to the exit of the parking lot by the TJ cafeteria and I stop and wait for him to tell me where to go. He says "okay, drive to Bridge City" and I think I shit my pants. 

I did mine in the summer at Lamar. They had Cameros. Drove all the way to the end of 1st St in Sabine Pass by the old Coast Guard beacon.

Of course, by then I'd been driving around the mean streets of Beaumont after midnight with a cold beer in my left hand and some father’s teenaged daughter snuggled up to my right for quite some time, but I had to check the boxes.

[closetohumping 17438]

3 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Alex Jones: "Looks deliberate to me. A cyber-attack is probable. WW3 has already started."

[G650 14249]

25 minutes ago, South Austin said:

 

Need to tow it beyond the environment

[The Ace of Aces 5181]

I drive over this bridge 3x a week. It ain’t getting rebuilt within a year. The Tappen Zee took 4 years. 

This shit sucks. 

['stache 21802]

1 hour ago, naija said:

Can't say I ever had a fear of bridges, but after reading this thread, and seeing so many confess to it, I'm wondering if I've just been blissfully naive. 

Sounds like fear of flying, completely irrational when you know the statistics. The most dangerous thing any of us do is get in a car, period. I've read that fear of flying in particular has more to do with having no control over the machine. Maybe it's the same being on a bridge? Even though, again, most accidents involve things out of your control, i.e. some dumbass on their phone running a red light. The only bridge I cross regularly is over the Arkansas River which is non-navigable. I'm also surprised how many on here have that fear. 

[The Ace of Aces 5181]

The Confederate Bridge is the scariest I’ve ever driven. 50 mph winds in a snowstorm over ice isn’t great fun. 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

Some bridge nightmare fuel from Norway. Have done this one multiple times.

 

[Grande Mart 511]

This one in Astoria always concerns me a bit. Not to mention all the bridges in Portland knowing they will pretty much all collapse when the great Cascadia Megaquake happens

[GenXer 2850]

54 minutes ago, Zepol87 said:

Glad I’m not the only pussy who doesn’t like driving over big ass bridges. Not sure what it is now but damn I don’t like them and it’s kind of a new thing for me only notified I puckered up a few years ago in St. Pete. Missed a damn exit in Long Beach last weekend and had to go over that one and I was not liking it at all. 

I intentionally drove over that bridge when I was in the area last Sept so that my wife and I could get a great view of the LA port.

The one lane bridges with no side barriers in costa rica gave me pause. 

Edited March 27 by GenXer

[Wally Fairway 5543]

1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Having any kind of opinion on this if you’re not a harbor pilot or marine engineer or civil engineer or something is just super stupid.  It’s just this thing that happened, like things do.  

Lol - you must be new around here. We have all kinds of opinions, on damned near everything.

[boilerhorn 1375]

4 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

We did it first day. I don't remember which coach was our instructor, but first day he was like "okay, who wants to drive first?!" We're all raising our hand and he picks me. We all sit in the car and he's going over all the basics, put on your seatbelt, start the car...that kind of stuff. We pull up to the exit of the parking lot by the TJ cafeteria and I stop and wait for him to tell me where to go. He says "okay, drive to Bridge City" and I think I shit my pants. 

This is actually the perfect approach.
 

You expose the kids to a challenging situation really quick. They’re not your kids, so you can expose them to super challenges not having to hear about it for the next 20 Easters.
 

On top of it they learn how to drive in stressful situations. And you still have access to the wheel of the brake. 
 

One of the downsides of a moving drivers education from the public schools.

[Incredulity 11665]

Just now, Grande Mart said:

This one in Astoria always concerns me a bit. Not to mention all the bridges in Portland knowing they will pretty much all collapse when the great Cascadia Megaquake happens

The I-5 bridge in PDX is a fascinating tale of aging US infrastructure and complete bureaucratic failure.

[Beau Vine 54211]

If we're doing nightmare fuel roads...

 

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89648]

1 minute ago, Beau Vine said:

If we're doing nightmare fuel roads...

 

 

 

Subaru drivers:

[pantone159 719]

37 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

The Confederate Bridge is the scariest I’ve ever driven. 50 mph winds in a snowstorm over ice isn’t great fun. 

Do you mean the Confederation Bridge, in Canada between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick? That is a long one, and the one time I drove it was during a hurricane, albeit much weakened by the time it got up there, but still windy enough that trucks were not allowed on it at the time.

[Sgt Hulk 13714]

4 hours ago, G650 said:

Well that's better than the dipshits that drive 35 in them and fuck everything up

Fuck man that was theeeee worst. Idiots slamming on their brakes 

[Sgt Hulk 13714]

45 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Some bridge nightmare fuel from Norway. Have done this one multiple times.

 

What the fuck 

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

35 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

This is actually the perfect approach.
 

You expose the kids to a challenging situation really quick. They’re not your kids, so you can expose them to super challenges not having to hear about it for the next 20 Easters.
 

On top of it they learn how to drive in stressful situations. And you still have access to the wheel of the brake. 
 

One of the downsides of a moving drivers education from the public schools.

Yep, that's my take on it too. We had one of those old school 80's 4 door Chevy Malibu fleet cars with a second brake pedal and steering wheel. He was cool as a cucumber about it. "You guys want to listen to some music? What do you like, Rock?" Then he put it on the local rock station. When we got over the bridge and into Bridge City, he had me pull over in a parking lot, looked in the back seat and asked "Who's driving back?"

One day later in the week, we're driving around listening to the radio again and the DJ comes on and says "Caller number 9 wins 2 tickets to Molly Hatchet!" I was driving at the time and he grabbed the wheel and whipped us into the gas station we were about to pass and jumped out and ran for the pay phone...he didn't win, though. 

[Sgt Hulk 13714]

1 hour ago, Zepol87 said:

Glad I’m not the only pussy who doesn’t like driving over big ass bridges. Not sure what it is now but damn I don’t like them and it’s kind of a new thing for me only notified I puckered up a few years ago in St. Pete. Missed a damn exit in Long Beach last weekend and had to go over that one and I was not liking it at all. 

Talking about Vincent Thomas bridge? I’ve ean that several times. Conquer the bridge race. I’ll run. But I refuse to drive over it haha

[Aqua Buddha 14590]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Yeah, social media has been nuts.  Because power failures never happen on cargo ships.  And there’s no current or drift of wind that would ever push a powerless ship off course.  And did the captain really signal “mayday” and did they really close the bridge?  And don’t ships stop moving as soon as they lose power?

The shit about China doing this as the start of a war would be hilarious if some of these idiots didn’t actually believe it.  Occam’s Razor means nothing to them.

At least when they rebuild it, they’ll put better barriers in (bumpers, whatever).

Half of the Republican Party thinks Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift was a CIA operation.

[Da Fino 2779]

2 hours ago, Coelenterate Fuccboi said:

I’m not sure if it’s still an issue but I believe they had many engine problems when the US first required the switching of fuels inside our waters for air pollution.

https://www.standard-club.com/knowledge-news/web-alert-us-coast-guard-issues-safety-alert-regarding-fuel-oil-changeover-procedures-297/

These massive ships all burn shitty bunker fuel. I’d have to doubt that those new regulations from 12 years ago concerning changing fuels for local boats in US waters had an impact here. I’m intrigued though and now reading about fuel tank lining due to that link. 

[Royalfan5 2354]

4 hours ago, choripan said:

For a real ass-puckering bridge adventure, may I suggest taking an iced-over Mackinaw Bridge on a cold, windy day?

200 feet above the water and 5 miles in total with a longest span around 3/4 of a mile long.

I drove over that on a normal summer day and can say riding on a Lao Air Dash8 loaded like a flatbed into Luang Pangbang was more enjoyable for me.

[The Ace of Aces 5181]

45 minutes ago, pantone159 said:

Do you mean the Confederation Bridge, in Canada between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick? That is a long one, and the one time I drove it was during a hurricane, albeit much weakened by the time it got up there, but still windy enough that trucks were not allowed on it at the time.

Doh yes - damn autocorrect.  It’s a spectacular bridge. 

[Steel Shank 9422]

2 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Of course, by then I'd been driving around the mean streets of Beaumont after midnight with a cold beer in my left hand and some father’s teenaged daughter snuggled up to my right for quite some time, but I had to check the boxes.

Well all right!

[956 Worldwide 34705]

[High Plains Drifter 11035]

2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

I’ve always been more afraid of tunnels than bridges. Bridges don’t faze me. 

 

Yeah, me too. Borderline claustrophobe over here. 

 

[Laxtonto 12080]

[butthurt 1524]

2 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

I did mine in the summer at Lamar. They had Cameros. Drove all the way to the end of 1st St in Sabine Pass by the old Coast Guard beacon.

Of course, by then I'd been driving around the mean streets of Beaumont after midnight with a cold beer in my left hand and some father’s teenaged daughter snuggled up to my right for quite some time, but I had to check the boxes.

 

58 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Yep, that's my take on it too. We had one of those old school 80's 4 door Chevy Malibu fleet cars with a second brake pedal and steering wheel. He was cool as a cucumber about it. "You guys want to listen to some music? What do you like, Rock?" Then he put it on the local rock station. When we got over the bridge and into Bridge City, he had me pull over in a parking lot, looked in the back seat and asked "Who's driving back?"

One day later in the week, we're driving around listening to the radio again and the DJ comes on and says "Caller number 9 wins 2 tickets to Molly Hatchet!" I was driving at the time and he grabbed the wheel and whipped us into the gas station we were about to pass and jumped out and ran for the pay phone...he didn't win, though. 

We did both the veterans memorial and rainbow. Drive over memorial to Bridge City, turn around, drive over the rainbow, then pulled into Esther's and switch drivers. Did it in a mid to late nineties Prizm.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

So am I the only one that likes to drive over tall bridges? I'll go out of my way for stuff like that. Sketchy roads like the Moki Dugway? Count me in. 

[Hate 20108]

Here is a bridge threesome to freak you out.  The one in the middle was still in use when I was there.  The one on top is the newest and I think the only active one?  Someone here (Brisket) probably knows.

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

7 minutes ago, Hate said:

Here is a bridge threesome to freak you out.  The one in the middle was still in use when I was there.  The one on top is the newest and I think the only active one?  Someone here (Brisket) probably knows.

The one on the middle is using the other two for protection. Smart.

[Neonmoon 38129]

8 minutes ago, Hate said:

Here is a bridge threesome to freak you out.  The one in the middle was still in use when I was there.  The one on top is the newest and I think the only active one?  Someone here (Brisket) probably knows.

Edinburgh 

I drove over the middle one last year

 

[BearSchlong 8084]

Yep, that's my take on it too. We had one of those old school 80's 4 door Chevy Malibu fleet cars with a second brake pedal and steering wheel. He was cool as a cucumber about it. "You guys want to listen to some music? What do you like, Rock?" Then he put it on the local rock station. When we got over the bridge and into Bridge City, he had me pull over in a parking lot, looked in the back seat and asked "Who's driving back?"
One day later in the week, we're driving around listening to the radio again and the DJ comes on and says "Caller number 9 wins 2 tickets to Molly Hatchet!" I was driving at the time and he grabbed the wheel and whipped us into the gas station we were about to pass and jumped out and ran for the pay phone...he didn't win, though. 

Stephanie Ketchum on B95 FM? She is married to my buddy, such a cool chick.

Seriously, the guy I stay with in Leander during hurricane evacuations - he was driving on the Lake Charles bridge on the way to a fraternity formal in New Orleans when a piece of steel beam flew off the truck in front of him, through his window, and ripped his face and scalp off. He was hospitalized for 6 months. He had great reconstructive surgeons.

I still white knuckle that bridge on my way to Baton Rouge, but my wife refuses. She will take the Veteran’s Bridge but refuses to take the Rainbow.

[Pods 7552]

5 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

The one on the middle is using the other two for protection. Smart.

 

 

and if we're sharing Driver's Ed stories, I've got a non-bridge one.

My first day, about 25 mins in we picked up a girl and the instructor had her get in the driver's seat. It was her last day. 

She put the car in reverse, gunned it across the street and obliterated the neighbor's stone mail box. 

Edited March 27 by Pods

[miguelito 11262]

19 minutes ago, Hate said:

Here is a bridge threesome to freak you out.  The one in the middle was still in use when I was there.  The one on top is the newest and I think the only active one?  Someone here (Brisket) probably knows.

The red one is the Firth of Forth bridge.  It was on the cover of one of my textbooks in college.

[Hook1997 5354]

2 hours ago, Grande Mart said:

This one in Astoria always concerns me a bit. Not to mention all the bridges in Portland knowing they will pretty much all collapse when the great Cascadia Megaquake happens

That looks like a bridge you might try to build on that old bridge building game that would collapse as soon as you ran the test.  

Edited March 27 by Hook1997

[miguelito 11262]

If some of you are afraid of heights, maybe a bridge floating on the water is more your style.

 

 

 

[shadow_operative2.0 15965]

My driver's ed teacher regularly fell asleep. But he sure as shit would pop back up when we passed a drive-thru he wanted. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

56 minutes ago, Hate said:

Here is a bridge threesome to freak you out.  The one in the middle was still in use when I was there.  The one on top is the newest and I think the only active one?  Someone here (Brisket) probably knows.

Those bridges look boring. 

And speaking of floating bridges, would a pontoon bridge not be a temporary solution for trucking traffic at least? But I guess they need to clear a channel to the harbor. 

 

[landman 559]

43 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Stephanie Ketchum on B95 FM? She is married to my buddy, such a cool chick.

Seriously, the guy I stay with in Leander during hurricane evacuations - he was driving on the Lake Charles bridge on the way to a fraternity formal in New Orleans when a piece of steel beam flew off the truck in front of him, through his window, and ripped his face and scalp off. He was hospitalized for 6 months. He had great reconstructive surgeons.

I still white knuckle that bridge on my way to Baton Rouge, but my wife refuses. She will take the Veteran’s Bridge but refuses to take the Rainbow.

Lot of people in Lake Charles will not drive that bridge.  They are convinced it's going to come down at any time.

 

[Helobious 9448]

3 hours ago, Grande Mart said:

This one in Astoria always concerns me a bit. Not to mention all the bridges in Portland knowing they will pretty much all collapse when the great Cascadia Megaquake happens

Drove over that in 2021. Scary than the lake Charles I-10 bridge imo. But way more scenic.

[Hate 20108]

49 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Edinburgh 

I drove over the middle one last year

 

That's the one I went over as well.  I thought they were going to retire it. 

[Foosters 17850]

38 minutes ago, miguelito said:

If some of you are afraid of heights, maybe a bridge floating on the water is more your style.

 

 

 

[gsoda3 3254]

1 hour ago, Hate said:

Here is a bridge threesome to freak you out.  The one in the middle was still in use when I was there.  The one on top is the newest and I think the only active one?  Someone here (Brisket) probably knows.

queensferry crossing is the white one on top, the forth road bridge is the middle, the red one is the forth bridge.  you can use any one.  i'm going to be driving a 9 passenger van across one of those bad boys to st andrews in august.. 

[Homesickhorn 2202]

Yeah, guess I'm the moron here. I'll take the L on this one. The bridge itself was 57,546' and is 1201' in the longest span.
 

FIFY (If not already done).

[Keef 764]

9 hours ago, Grande Mart said:

This one in Astoria always concerns me a bit. Not to mention all the bridges in Portland knowing they will pretty much all collapse when the great Cascadia Megaquake happens

This and the Bay Bridge in SF always freaked me out when I lived in the West Coast.  You know those quakes are coming eventually, and with the Bay Bridge, you can be stuck there for an hour or more during a busy part of the day.

[DigglerontheHoof 21186]

I love going over bridges but fuck tunnels, especially tunnels under bodies of water. 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10232]

Report that ship had radioed it's power issue and police were able to stop all bridge traffic within 2 minutes. All missing/died were construction workers filling potholes on the bridge 

As a second officer arrived on one side and officer radioed he was going to drive the bridge to alert the construction crew when seconds later it collapsed before he was able to.

Edited March 27 by MonkeyDoughnut

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

8 hours ago, miguelito said:

If some of you are afraid of heights, maybe a bridge floating on the water is more your style.

 

 

 

Try one of the old wooden causeway bridges to Padre Island.  You couldn’t steer.