Bridge collapse in Toledo

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Ohio.
MRC_Andrew
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 3:28 pm

Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by MRC_Andrew »

Numerous outlets are reporting the Maumee Avenue bridge in Toledo collapsed onto the NS/Amtrak mainline around 2pm today. No injuries reported. Some news reports:
https://www.13abc.com/content/news/Maum ... 64691.html
http://www.wtol.com/2019/04/03/maumee-a ... ews-scene/
https://www.toledoblade.com/local/trans ... 0190403154

No word on when the railroad will be re-opened, and haven't seen reference to any detours in the meantime.

northstar16
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 306
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:25 pm

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by northstar16 »

I was just up there a week ago. I did see they were working on the bridge taking it down. Boy plenty of concrete there going to take a day or so to get that off the tracks then repairs may need to take place on the tracks.

JoJames
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 733
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:21 pm
Location: Hamler Ohio

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by JoJames »

Tracks were opened five hours after the bridge collapse.

northstar16
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 306
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:25 pm

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by northstar16 »

Impressive!

User avatar
redcrumbox
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:39 pm

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by redcrumbox »

Looks like the collapse was planned to land on the rails. There are two cranes onsite and neither has the capacity to lift any part of the bridge deck. The one crane is to small and the other crane has a pile driver attached to the boom and is to far away from the collapsed deck.
Old EMD’s are the gift that keeps on giving.

JCinSummerfield
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:23 am
Location: Petersburg, MI

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by JCinSummerfield »

This collapse wasn't planned at all. The organization I work for has a shelter down in that neighborhood, and they went many days without their phones/internet because of this.

User avatar
redcrumbox
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:39 pm

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by redcrumbox »

While I'm certainly no expert, I can tell you this, all bridge demolitions are indeed planned. I have been around a few bridge demolitions in my time. 99% of the demolitions include the bridge landing on the ground. It doesn't matter if its water, an interstate highway or a rail line, the bridge is gonna come down, not go up. First you break up all the small stuff and eventually you are left with the bridge deck/beams. Then you knock them to the ground and break them up and haul it off. Its exactly what is being shown in the news video. Youtube has endless videos of bridge demolitions, and some have rail lines under them. I stand by my comment that the are two cranes onsite and neither one has the capacity to lift any part of the bridge deck shown in the news video. As to why the shelter had no internet, I wouldn't know. Could be some one forgot to locate the lines properly?
Old EMD’s are the gift that keeps on giving.

User avatar
DaveO
Read more, think more, post less
Posts: 1453
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:57 pm
Location: Between here and there

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by DaveO »

redcrumbox wrote:While I'm certainly no expert, I can tell you this, all bridge demolitions are indeed planned. I have been around a few bridge demolitions in my time. 99% of the demolitions include the bridge landing on the ground. It doesn't matter if its water, an interstate highway or a rail line, the bridge is gonna come down, not go up. First you break up all the small stuff and eventually you are left with the bridge deck/beams. Then you knock them to the ground and break them up and haul it off. Its exactly what is being shown in the news video. Youtube has endless videos of bridge demolitions, and some have rail lines under them. I stand by my comment that the are two cranes onsite and neither one has the capacity to lift any part of the bridge deck shown in the news video. As to why the shelter had no internet, I wouldn't know. Could be some one forgot to locate the lines properly?
You need to read the articles. The bridge fell before the planned removal time. The tracks were active and it's fortunate a train wasn't passing through at the time the bridge collapsed unplanned.

chapmaja
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 1262
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:02 pm

Re: Bridge collapse in Toledo

Unread post by chapmaja »

redcrumbox wrote:While I'm certainly no expert, I can tell you this, all bridge demolitions are indeed planned. I have been around a few bridge demolitions in my time. 99% of the demolitions include the bridge landing on the ground. It doesn't matter if its water, an interstate highway or a rail line, the bridge is gonna come down, not go up. First you break up all the small stuff and eventually you are left with the bridge deck/beams. Then you knock them to the ground and break them up and haul it off. Its exactly what is being shown in the news video. Youtube has endless videos of bridge demolitions, and some have rail lines under them. I stand by my comment that the are two cranes onsite and neither one has the capacity to lift any part of the bridge deck shown in the news video. As to why the shelter had no internet, I wouldn't know. Could be some one forgot to locate the lines properly?

Yes they had planned to remove the bridge. No this did not happen at the time the bridge was supposed to come down. Part of the issue with bridge removal is the fact that the ROW's often carry cables that are used for things like telephone, internet and related services. These need to be relocated prior to the bridge being removed. In this case, when the bridge collapsed prior to the time it was supposed to come down, it is highly likely that the collapse tore out these cables, causing the disruptions of service.

As for you idea that all bridge demolitions are indeed planner. There are numerous cases where bridges have collapsed prior to the planned time, or without any planning for them to come down. Yes, this was planned, but no it was not planned to come down when it did. Had it been planned to come down when it came down the railroad would have had crews on site to oversee this, even if the plan was for the spans to be dropped onto the tracks.

Post Reply