Hopple Street Bridge Collapse (Cincinnati, Hamilton: home, construction, general contractor)

[ohioaninsc]

Overpass collapse closes I-75 SB, kills worker | Local News - WLWT Home


"
The roadway is expected to be shut down for at least 48 hours. I-75 SB traffic is being detoured to WB I-74.
The ramp from I-74 eastbound to I-75 southbound is also closed indefinitely.
News 5 Traffic
All commercial traffic traveling through Greater Cincinnati via I-75 must reroute onto I-275 or I-71 unless the driver is delivering within the I-275 loop.
All other drivers are asked to avoid the area if at all possible. Traffic traveling eastbound on I-74 will be rerouted to northbound I-75 or the Colerain/Beekman Avenue exit.
WLWT will provide more information as it becomes available


Horrible situation...prayers to the family...and if you live in W Chester, Fairfield, Hamilton, Monroe, Evendale, Sharonville, Glendale and so forth, I cannot imagine the suckage now of your commute to downtown. I probably went under that bridge hundreds of times.

[cincydave8]

The two good things you can pull is that the ramp was closed, since it was about to be torn down anyways and that this happened late a night. Could have been really bad had it happened during the day.

71 south was worse than usual this morning but I have to be at work at 7am, so it wasn't horrible at that time. I heard by 8am 71 was just a parking lot.

What a mess.

[flashes1]

Traiffic on 71 is going to be INSANE tonight. I'm leaving work early and will work from home tomorrow.

[kjbrill]

Here's hoping the media backs off with their stupid insinuating questions until the facts are learned in this collapse. I watched the TV briefing the Cincinnati officials conducted from near the sight and was appalled at how often they had to politely remark it was way too premature to address such a question.

My engineering background whispers to me somebody did something wrong here. The fact the bridge was in the process of being demolished says a mistake was made. This could be one of several things, such as improper evaluation of the inherent structural integrity to begin with, incorrect weakening of the structural integrity due to lack of training, experience, or just plain not paying attention. Since the span was being removed with an operating highway beneath it, I have to assume removal was to be in sections, likely at night when partial highway shutdown could be accommodated. But this early not much has been released on the planned removal process.

It is my understanding the Cincinnati Police will be the lead for Cincinnati in the investigation. Obviously the police must be involved. but to me this incident is a result of incorrect adherence to and application of engineering principles, and the police are not engineers. I sure hope the engineers from ODOT are (should have already been) employed in force to take pictures in minute detail so they can try to determine what actually happened.

I am concerned that in the haste to clear the debris to open the highway certain clues as to what actually happened may be lost. That debris must be moved with heavy equipment which will likely destroy much of it in the process.

It is also obvious to me just the tonnage of the debris falling on the roadbed must have caused a lot of damage. But once the roadway is cleared they can come in with pavement cutters, dozers, dump trucks, etc., dig out and replace the damaged section in the matter of several hours. If in fact a capable general supervisor is used, he can start replacement of one section of the roadbed before the other end is even cleared. This is when we find out whether our public employees can get their act together or not.

[maxmodder]

There's no job too urgent that it cannot be done safely, and sadly....safety was not taken into account here. Now the mistake of a few must inconvenience many.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by flashes1

Traiffic on 71 is going to be INSANE tonight. I'm leaving work early and will work from home tomorrow.

northbound 75 is still open, right?

[h Steve]

Originally Posted by progmac

northbound 75 is still open, right?

I checked the traffic cameras and 75N appears open. Of course you know it's going to run slow because of the 'rubber necking'.

[American Luxury]

Southbound 75 is now back open. That was quick.

[Serpens]

Indeed. And it honestly it really wasn't that big of a inconvenience going from West Chester back to downtown today. Just took the I74 exit (4), essentially did a U-turn, and got home via central parkway instead.

[wrightflyer]

Originally Posted by cincydave8

71 south was worse than usual this morning but I have to be at work at 7am, so it wasn't horrible at that time. I heard by 8am 71 was just a parking lot.

What a mess.

I can vouch for that. It was stopped at Mason-Montgomery so I jumped on 275 and swung through NKY to 471. Was much, much better. Despite the inconvenience (the one day I have to be in downtown Cincinnati!), glad the road (I-75) was cleared quicker than they thought.

Hope that the general contractor will be investigated heavily and properly. Does anyone know if NTSB or OSP has the first dibs on this investigation. Just curious if anyone has heard.