A friend recently hired on with BNSF and informed me that this bridge had collapsed this morning. The LAUMIS M train was just crossing it as it dropped into the Yellowstone. I had gotten a video of a train crossing it back in April this year.... https://www.wjtv.com/news/a-bridge-...ng-a-freight-train-into-the-waters-below/amp/
Oh, wow! High water, heavy current undermining the piers? And HAZMAT involved, of course. I wonder what cars were involved, DOT 111? They are notoriously fragile in derailments.
Oh, no!! Wonder who did an inspection on that bridge last, cause they have some explaining to do for sure!!
Jeez, what a mess this is gonna' be! Think a pier collapsed, or the train derailed and took out the bridge and pier? Yikes....
Didn't Montana have enormous snowpack this winter? That amount of snowmelt can cause this kind of river conditions conducive to scour and undermining. Unqualified opinion, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night...
Most likely you are correct. There was an adjacent highway bridge, which was removed within these past couple of years, due to the support piers being undermined. Our spring snow melt flows are usually of quite heavy volume. This year has been no exception. You take the erosion from that, along with pounding from debris, and... Nobody is going to fault the most recent inspector for this event- unless they need a scapegoat. Such inspection work is usually for what is above the waterline. Looking underwater might be rather treacherous, at any time of the year. This River is a part of the Missouri River system, and is not just a trickling brook. Everyone seems determined to scream about environmental concerns. On scene professional emergency reports say that NO hazmat entered the water. The steam you see in photos is from the molten sulfur and asphalt cars. Both carry hot materials. The former is heated to almost 300 degrees. The later is at least 325 degrees. When cooled, they simply solidify. We have all seen how UP has been able to quickly gather and repair damaged bridges. I doubt MRL has any such capacity, and will contract out all of the work. It will no doubt be rebuilt to a standard which will make BNSF happy in the long run. So I would believe they will have someone or people on hand, watching the proceedings.
Much less at just above freezing snowmelt waters. I'll guess that water is around 50 degrees F. When the HAZMAT crews arrive, they'll probably string booms out and collect the material, which will have solidified upon contact with the cold waters.
The highway bridge was taken out in '21 due to the condition of the supports. I missed using that bridge for chasing trains! The water supply's do have to secure their water pickup until they get confirmation that the water in the river is not contaminated nor is being sucked into their systems if it is. That is a cleanup job that would be awfully expensive and time consuming! It will be interesting to hear the crews report and the conclusion as to what failed.
Similar looking bridge of about the same age on the MRL in Billings that also crosses the Yellowstone River. https://bridgehunter.com/bridge/mt-yellowstone-mrl-yellowstone-river-bridge
No booms have been emplaced. (I wonder if they could even do so, in that current?) Local water authorities have already lifted their restrictions.
I dunno, a bed that is smarter than me?? Well, some may think that the bed is smarter than me already!
Is it a bad thing when your sleep number is higher than your I.Q.? Took me a bit to get mine set-up on my phone, THEN try to adjust it where I wanted it!
If the link was to YouTube, that is not a surprise. Unless you subscribe, (pay them), you get bombarded with aggravating baloney. That is how YT makes their money- selling advertising. Same for many others. Yahoo, FB, and so on....
I've had an interesting conversation with a BNSF contact. They are moving crews from Havre and Whitefish, to Great Falls- To handle the detours. I did not ask if they were doing similar on the south end. That would seem possible. Anyhow, a lot of unhappy people about being moved. So much that they cut jobs on the High Line, to force people to GF. Nasty business. BNSF continues to have a massive turnover, and just does not care about the people they flush down the dumper. This bridge incident is making matters even worse. Atop this, almost none of the people moved have any familiarity with that line. Which will cause some additional headaches....
