Ontario's Nipigon River bridge fails, severing Trans-Canada Highway

[Algernon Moncrieff]

Source: CBC News

A newly constructed bridge in northern Ontario has heaved apart, indefinitely closing the Trans-Canada highway — the only road connecting Eastern and Western Canada.

The Nipigon River Bridge has been closed for "an indefinite time due to mechanical issues," according to the Ontario Provincial Police. The bridge remains open to pedestrian traffic.

Steven Del Duca, minister of transportation for Ontario, said in a statement late Sunday the ministry "will do everything they can do to restore the bridge quickly, while also making sure that the safety of the travelling public remains of paramount importance."

The west side of the bridge has pulled away from the abutment connecting it to the river bank's edge, lifting up about 60 centimetres.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nipigon-river-bridge-closed-transcanada-1.3397831

---

From what I understand, those travelling across Canada are being urged to detour south through the Northern US.

[elleng]

1. 'those travelling across Canada are being urged to detour south through the Northern US.'

HOLY SH*T, SOUNDS like ONION!!!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

3. Not the Onion

(Nipigon Mayor) Harvey added that police quickly started to stop people heading out on the Trans-Canada Highway at larger Ontario centres like Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Terrace Bay, telling them to turn back or use an alternate route through the U.S.

[elleng]

4. Thought not,

but sounds so improbable!

[Marty McGraw]

13. ( ._.)

( '-')

[XemaSab]

15. Sad trombones

n/t

[starroute]

8. What if they don't have passports?

Are they turned back at the border?

[elleng]

10. Problem.

I just asked a poster, who said has been traveling across his/her whole life without passport, if that was done recently, because I thought the rules had changed.

[MADem]

26. If they have a passport card on them, they're good.

[KamaAina]

72. As long as they brought their passports

[George II]

2. That's a pretty serious problem. Re-routing through the US isn't going to be easy....

....one needs a passport to enter the US.

[ViseGrip]

6. I go across the border to Canada with a driver's license. All my life, between Detroit and Windsor

[elleng]

9. Recently?

[George II]

11. Really?

I've been going to Canada for 60 years (mostly by car), up until about 15 years ago I only needed a driver's license. Then back in 2000 (before September 11) I flew to Toronto and got an arrogant woman in customs, gave me all sorts of crap and sent me off to a "supervisor". He wound up apologizing to me and cleared me.

I've been bringing my passport ever since.

Just wondering, is the US or Canada your home, and do you have a Nexus card?

[PassingFair]

12. You need an "enhanced license" ...

Or a passport.

[a la izquierda]

23. How do you get back in the US?

I'm a US citizen and I cross at Alexandria Bay or Plattsburgh to go to Montreal. I have to show my passport or global entry card, even though I have an enhanced license.

[sharp_stick]

25. Not anymore

Passport books or cards are required to enter the US by land or water. Passport books are needed for air travel.

[MADem]

27. Not any more, you don't. Not for a decade and a half. nt

[R.A. Ganoush]

31. As mentioned above

If you have an enhanced drivers' license you can travel between the US and Canada without needing a passport. I live on the US-Canada border and haven't had any problems crossing with just my enhanced license. Now if someone doesn't have one they will need a passport so there are some potential issues with Canadians being able to gain access, but I would imagine that they would make some exceptions under the circumstances.

WHTI

According to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), all persons entering or re-entering the U.S. from Canada by car must have a passport or one of the following WHTI compliant documents. These documents are Trusted Traveler’s Cards such as Nexus; state-issued enhanced driver’s licenses, Enhanced Tribal Orders, U.S. military ID with travel orders, U.S. Merchant Mariner Document when traveling on official maritime business, Native American Tribal Photo ID card or Form I-872 American Indian Card


http://traveltips.usatoday.com/documents-needed-between-canada-usa-car-21162.html

[MADem]

33. When did those come out, though? They haven't been de rigeur for the past fifteen years.

I have a MA driver's license and I've needed a passport to get over the border in the times I've so done post 911.

[R.A. Ganoush]

34. From what I read, the WHTI was passed in 2004

With effective dates of 2007 for air travel and 2009 for car travel. That's about the time I got my enhanced license so it would make sense.

Edit - Also, if I understand correctly, not all states issue enhanced licenses so that may be why you needed a passport.

[MADem]

35. And Massachusetts STILL doesn't have REAL ID--along with a boatload of other states.

The Federal Government does not issue driver's licenses. They have absolutely no right to demand that states' do their "immigrant hunting" for them, and that IS what this is all about--separating those 'south of the border illegals' from the pack, pushing them into the shadows.

You are absolutely correct--not all states issue these licenses, and many states have a real problem with complying, which is why Homeland Security keeps pushing back the date where they're "Not gonna let you fly without one, dad-gum-it!!!" There are too many people--to include the people of the densely populated state of MA--who would have something to say if they were denied boarding on an aircraft travelling WITHIN the USA because their stupid license doesn't have a star on it.

This is all about federal overreach--they should ALLOW people to "pay extra" to get an enhanced license if they're going to Canada, but they shouldn't make enhancement a pre-requisite for driving in any state.

[R.A. Ganoush]

36. I agree

I don't understand why they're trying to make it more difficult to travel within the CONUS. Of course, they have to justify their jobs somehow I guess.

[MADem]

40. This is because the illusion of privacy is being chipped away--we've not had real privacy for years,

and this is Phase II, basically...to get people used to the idea that there's no privacy, that we're not citizens of states formed into a union, but that we're just a big old Federal Borg, and there's no difference, really...ineffectual little "governors" notwithstanding! Ironically, it's the REPUBLICANS who have been pushing this shit (so much for their "states' rights" stances). I guess they figured since they've lost out on the racial discrimination and other forms of inequality that they loved so much, they might as well do the Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer routine (pardon my Godwinning!) In fact, That Fucking Idiot Charlie Baker (sorry for my language, I really think that is his full name), Governor of the Commonwealth of MA, is pushing the legislature to get on board with REAL ID and fuck the "illegals" (i.e. undocumented residents of our commonwealth) by pushing them back into the shadows.

I've been crabbing, ineffectually, about this chipping away of privacy since the seventies. The horse HAS left the barn. It's just that most people still smell the faint whiff of horse poo, so they don't quite realize it. And they also gleefully give up their privacy on stupid places like facebook....Ooooh yes, my full name is Clueless Wonder Nitwit III, and I was born on 10 Feb 1950, and here's my dad, Clueless Jr., and my mom, Vapidly Insipid (that's her maiden name, doncha know), celebrating her birthday in this picture taken on May 1 2010, for her 75th birthday! Oh, and I live on Dumbass Street in Idiotville, and graduated from this high school and that college, and here are my kids, Huey, Dewey and Louis, etc., etc.,...detail upon detail! It's insane how much people willingly give up--never mind the bullshit "What's your zip code?" or "What's your phone number?" at retail stores (my zip code is always 90210, my phone number is 867-5309).

In UK in the eighties, even, all you had to do is LOOK UP...and see a camera looking back at you. We in America are slow to adapt, and less urban and "village-y," really, so it's harder to 'cover' all of our land. However, people are so eager to protect their stuff that they do it themselves--AND pay for it! And hook their cameras up to the internet so they can see what's what on their smartphones (and NSA can see, too!).

It's too late, baby, as the song says! We'll never roll back the clock on this. The only people who will be able to 'stay off the grid' will be the Mountain Men without internet access-- people who will draw suspicion to themselves if they ever HAVE to interact in society because they've no record. Being anonymous will, in itself, be suspicious....!

[AngryAmish]

38. So is the route south through souo St marie, then st ate highway

Across the UP and Minn then back up through international falls?

UPer DUers - is 28 paved all the way through? Is US 2 paved? The roads will be crushed by all the traffic and semis.

[Mendocino]

42. You betcha

they're paved. UP also has them new fangled electric lights, horseless carriages and book learning.

[NutmegYankee]

56. LOL

[NutmegYankee]

18. The US Border Patrol accepts Enhanced Driver's License/Enhanced Identification Cards.

The problem for US travelers coming home was we didn't have this until the last few years. Passports are still required for air travel.

By Land and Sea (including ferries) - Canadian citizens traveling to the U.S. by land or sea are required to present one of the travel documents listed below, and may generally visit the U.S. for up to six months. CBP will accept: Canadian passport, Enhanced Driver's License/Enhanced Identification Card, NEXUS, FAST/EXPRES and SENTRI enrollment cards.

[Ford_Prefect]

5. Looks pretty Grim.

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3397851.1452482523!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/nipigon-river-bridge-fails-in-cold.jpg

[Algernon Moncrieff]

7. Big Gust of Wind

Ashley Littlefield, who lives in nearby Dorion, Ont., witnessed the failure Sunday afternoon as she was driving with her husband.

"As we turned [onto the highway], we saw the whole bridge — a kind of big gust of wind came underneath it and blew it up and then it came back down," she said, adding it shifted by about half a metre.

"We watched two pickup trucks come flying over. … They didn't see us, didn't hear my horn honking, and they flew over and smashed their front ends down on the cement."

[drm604]

14. There's only one road connecting eastern and western Canada?

I never would have guessed that. I wonder if they can use ferries across the river?

[XemaSab]

17. I know!

That's as shocking as anything else I've heard this week!

[George II]

37. In that part of Ontario there is. It's pretty much uninhabited there....

...and going through Northern Michigan is a major detour - hundreds of miles.

[americannightmare]

16. I thought the Trans-Canada...

ran through Southern Ontario...I don't think Thunder Bay, Wawa and Sault St. Marie are considered Northern Ontario.

[Art_from_Ark]

21. The bridge failure was 100km/62 miles northeast of Thunder Bay

Looks like it's "Northern Ontario" the same way that San Francisco is "Northern California"

[longship]

22. Well, there is very little north of Lake Superior.

The trans-Canada splits. One route goes north, one goes around the lake. They meet at the middle of Lake Superior where the one route goes west.

BTW, it is a two lane almost the entire way across the continent. And the last stretch that was paved is within a days drive from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It is a brutal wilderness there. But it is really beautiful.

One of the best places on Earth to vacation. However, dress warm, even in the summer.

One can always go there to see Agawa Rock, a cliff on the north shore that has pictographs of the Hiawatha story.

Here:


It is an astounding walk to get to the pictographs:


The entire area is amongst the most beautiful on the planet. There are waterfalls everywhere!

[Mendocino]

48. It is breathtaking

Old Woman Bay, Sand Falls, Pukaskwa, Agawa Canyon, Sleeping Giant... all wonderful.

[americannightmare]

57. Incredible! So the Trans-Canada splits...

and the part that heads northeast toward Kapuskasing is the part where the bridge failed? I once drove from North Bay to Cochrane just to see the place of birth of hockey great Tim Horton! We crossed over into Western Quebec, came through Kirkland Lake and started to see the trees getting shorter (this was in late September). Turns out we had woefully underestimated how far it was from NB to Cochrane. It took us nearly 3 times longer than we had expected, and it was because the map we were using had a different mileage indicator on each side. Ooops! Absolutely stunning country. The most vibrant fall colors I've ever seen were at Lake Nippising.

[trillion]

19. Glad nobody was hurt. Good luck Canada, hope they put you back together soon!

[trillion]

20. The bridge

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3397851.1452482523!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/nipigon-river-bridge-fails-in-cold.jpg

[houston16revival]

24. Engineers designed that bridge

with computers and CAD no doubt

What went wrong?

[rjsquirrel]

28. Canadian engineers?

Molson probably.

[gregcrawford]

39. The photos suggest...

... that the weight and tension of the suspension cables exceeded the tensile strength of the abutment connections. Already strained connectors just needed a bitchin' gust of wind, coupled with the contraction caused by extreme cold, to make the bridge tear away from the abutment. It appears the designers were cutting corners with the specs just a wee bit too close.

Betcha some construction engineer is packing his bags for Timbuktu, eh?

[haele]

65. May be bad steel from overseas. Market's been flooded with discount foriegn steel for 10/12 years

There are concerns about the upgrades to the Bay Bridge repair that was done due to the poorly QA'ed Chinese steel and steel components (bolts, toggles, etc); assumed to be up to spec for the grade assigned to it. It would "look like" it was the proper grade, and would weld okay, but even when it was being installed, there were some questions as to the quality; it would rust far more quickly than grade specs, and was prone to micro-fractures under stress.
Even so, shipments were rarely tested because of cost reduction efforts with a project that had already seen cost over-runs and short-cuts due to laxly ignorant (and not risk-averse enough) management decisions before it began.

Now, they may have to close sections again to properly repair the bridge, or wait until it begins to fail, then start the repair process all over. It would be cheaper to do it now, but you have too many managers and planners who can't seem to think much beyond the next quarter's profit or election cycle.
Quality is not as important as shareholder expectations, y'know...

Haele

[gregcrawford]

66. Good point!

It's going to be a long, hard, and costly battle to overcome the current corporatist mindset, and to flush that polluted philosophy back into the cesspool from whence it came. But the cost of NOT bringing these soulless sociopaths to heel will be infinitely greater than any "end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it" scenario they can fabricate to defend their malicious deceit and depredation. And if we can't kill this abortion called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it will be worse by several orders of magnitude.

[daleo]

29. Something like that happened to a bridge being constructed in my city

The steel beams buckled and twisted suddenly, while being set up. Bad steel, inadequate cross-bracing, inadequately trained workers, engineers cutting corners??? Lots of theories, but no firm answers.

[trillion]

43. I'm always reminded of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse.

It was too dangerous and many people wouldn't take it the day it was opened. The news showed it blowing in the wind and noted it was too dangerous before it collapsed too. It didn't last long before it fell and killed people when it did. Wind also took it down.


Because this picture and the video of it swinging bothers me. He's my favorite image from Tacoma - recent:



This is at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA

[NutmegYankee]

51. No human was killed in the Tacoma Narrows collapse.

The only fatality was a dog left in one of the cars.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

54. And an attempt was made to rescue the dog, but s/he bit the would-be rescuer.

[daleo]

71. Tacoma Narrows is a classic

The film is often shown to first year engineering and physics students, to reinforce the concepts of resonance and forced oscillators.

[liberal N proud]

30. Is this where the Ice Road truckers come in?

It is far enough north.

[Sunlei]

32. gusts of wind lifts the bridge and slams it down, like it's a sail on a ship.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

41. Mechanical issues? A new bridge?

And here I thought our infrastructure was in trouble.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

45. New Bridges

Bad design - 1940 "Galloping Gertie"

By 11:00 a.m. the extreme twisting waves of the roadway, magnified by the aerodynamic effect of wind on the sides of the bridge, began to rip the span. Huge chunks of concrete broke off "like popcorn" (in the words of one witness) and fell into the chilly waters far below. Massive steel girders twisted like rubber. Bolts sheered and flew into the wind. Six light poles on the east end broke off like matchsticks. Steel suspender cables snapped with a sound like gun shots, flying into the air "like fishing lines," as Farquharson said.

The strange sounds of the bridge's writhing filled the air. When the tie-down cables failed, the side spans began to work the main cables back and forth. The movement shifted the steel covers where the cables entered the anchorage, producing a metallic shrieking wail. By now, several hundred bystanders stood on the eastern shore of the Narrows. From the bluff, a workman on a pile driver repeatedly tooted his whistle to try to warn the approaching Coast Guard cutter, Atlanta, which passed under the bridge. The shrill whistle blasts mixed with the howl of gusting winds and the grinding and screeching of metal and concrete. The wild noises gave onlookers a sense of dread and impending calamity.

At 11:02, a 600-foot long section of roadway in the eastern half of the center span (the "Gig Harbor quarter point&quot of the heaving bridge broke free. With a thunderous roar, the massive section wrenched from its cables in a cloud of concrete dust, flipped over, and plummeted 195 feet into Puget Sound. A mighty geyser of foam and spray shot upward over 100 feet. Great sparks from shorting electric wires flew into the air.

Faulty/Substandard Materials - the new east span of the SF Bay Bridge

Long-standing concerns about more than 400 steel rods that secure the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge tower to its foundation gained urgency this week.

State Transportation Department officials told the San Francisco Chronicle that tiny cracks found in two rods – which are about 26 feet long and up to 4 inches in diameter – might also be present in many other rods, placing them at risk for sudden fracture. The cracks appear to be related to corrosion – caused by water leaking into the spaces around the rods.

“As an engineer, if I have these micro-cracks, I have to assume they exist in every rod,” Brian Maroney said at meeting of bridge officials Tuesday.

Stress and corrosion affected similar rods on the eastern pier of the $6.5 billion span that opened in 2013. Corrosion caused hydrogen to enter the steel, making them brittle. The rods snapped under tension, necessitating a multimillion-dollar retrofit to secure seismic gear at that location.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

52. the silence about the SanFran bridge has been deafening.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

53. Yes, it has.

Cal Trans seems to want to shrug the whole thing off.

[LeftyMom]

63. Nobody even mentions the substandard concrete anymore.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Concrete-contractor-cuts-deal-with-prosecutors-3212567.php

I literally can't think of a component on the bridge that hasn't proved to be suspect.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

69. All of which is ultimately the responsibility of the engineering firm in charge of the project

Steel, concrete, fasteners -- even things like paint are supposed to be sampled and sent to labs for testing to see if they meet specs.

Yes -- and Cal Trans response has not been adequate, IMO.

[Mendocino]

44. I've crossed the Nipigon

on the TCH, but that was a while back on the old bridge. Lovely country on the North Shore but very isolated. It will be very difficult to sort this out. Due the topography (river valley), setting up a temporary bailey type bridge or ferrying cars across would be trying if not impossible. Weather is a big factor, the highs for the next few days won't exceed 6f. This is an area where temps can drop to 40 below.

I read that the Canadian right is already blaming the new 3 month old Liberal government for this crisis.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

46. Right - Trudeau welds expansion joints in his spare time.

Doubtless the Liberals performed the engineering work and milled all the steel as well.

The poster upthread may have hit on a more likely cause - Molson

[mahatmakanejeeves]

59. And right after Ontario allowed the sale of beer in grocery stores.

Coincidence? Suuuurrrrre.

December 15, 2015 at 6:00 pm

news

Extra, Extra: TTC Not Happy About UberHop, Beer in Supermarkets (But Not Yours), and Pedestrians Try to Help Sad Raccoon

By Sarah Niedoba

....
•As of today, Ontarians can add a six-pack to their shopping carts, as beer is being sold at select grocery store locations. “Select” is the key word here: of the 25 stores licensed to sell suds in the GTA, none are in Toronto’s downtown core. For those lucky enough to live near a beer-filled location (Loblaws is one of the key chains to have acquired a license) available brands will range from major labels (Heineken, Coors) to craft options (Flying Monkey, Amsterdam).

[Mendocino]

62. Well you know

expansion "joints" aren't the ones the right worries about when it comes to liberals.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

47. UPDATE 1/11/2016 - one lane open

Police reopen lane on damaged bridge, reconnecting Trans-Canada Highway in Northern Ontario

Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/bridge-damage-blocks-only-route-through-ontario-town-forcing-drivers-into-the-u-s-indefinitely#ixzz3wxKwIlAJ

NIPIGON, Ont. — Provincial police say a badly damaged northern Ontario bridge has partially reopened.

The OPP says the Nipigon River Bridge reopened one lane this morning, but says traffic will still be moving slowly in the area.

[Mendocino]

49. Shame they didn't

leave the old bridge intact until the project was over.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

50. Yes, and eventually a second span is supposed to go in in 2017

However, you have to wonder if that will a) be sped up, as Canada realizes how dire this infrastructure bottleneck is of b) be delayed as engineers work to enact design improvements to prevent a repeat.

[LeftyMom]

70. A IDENTICAL second span.

[passiveporcupine]

61. What happens with the next big wind gust

I don't think I'd feel safe driving across that until they get it fixed.

It's a beautiful bridge. I hope they don't have to change the design to fix it.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

68. Your guess is as good as mine.

[yellowcanine]

55. Brand new bridge. WTF?

[dembotoz]

58. what kind of return policy do the have on bridges....kohls takes back pretty much anything and this

looks defective.....still trying to wrap my head around there only being 1 way across.

holy isis target batman!!!!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

60. Indeed.

From a security standpoint alone (much less an infrastructure standpoint), this is something Canada needs to look at.

[awoke_in_2003]

64. Let me guess- Chinese steel? nt

[countryjake]

67. Galloping Gertie