Highway Collapse Spurs Bay Area Headache

Burning Fuel Truck Melts Section Of Heavily-Traveled Northern Calif. Freeway

(CBS/AP)  The promise of a nightmarish morning commute led many San Francisco Bay Area residents to use public transportation Monday, one day after a fiery tanker crash caused the collapse of a heavily-trafficked section of freeway.

An elevated section of highway that funnels traffic from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to a number of key freeways was destroyed early Sunday after flames from an overturned gasoline truck caused part of one overpass to melt and collapse onto another.

Traffic into the city was largely flowing as usual Monday morning, except for drivers slowing on nearby interchanges to peer at the damage. But officials warned the afternoon drive would bring bigger headaches.

The accident damages an essential interchange connecting the busy San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to three major freeways, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. Locally it's known as "the MacArthur Maze" for good reason: it's a tangle of roadways and overpasses which 280,000 vehicles a day pass through on their way to and from the bridge.

On any weekday morning, traffic snarls on the approaches to the Bay Bridge, and Monday's jam did not appear worse than usual. But more severe delays were expected in the afternoon.

"The most worrisome thing is the afternoon commute coming out of San Francisco toward the maze," said Jeff Weiss, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation, "because the traffic from the Bay Bridge fans out from across three freeways. Taking away two-thirds of the capacity is really going to cause a bottleneck."

Authorities said the accident would cause the worst disruption for Bay Area commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Bay Bridge itself.

In declaring a state of emergency, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger authorized free transit Monday on the Bay Area Rapid Transit rail system, ferries and buses. "On April 30 everyone here in the Bay Area will get a free ride," he said Sunday. "The State of California will reimburse the transportation agencies." BART will be adding extra trains during the rush hour and adding extra cars to its trains.

Parking lots at outlying BART stations like El Cerrito and Pittsburg-Baypoint filled up earlier than usual as commuters tried to beat the rush they imagined was coming.

"I'm mad," said Crystal McSwain, who has a commuter pass to take the trans-bay bus, but was taking BART — a more expensive option. "My life is upside down, and I don't know how long it's going to take."

While some trains appeared more crowded than usual, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials said overall ridership did not appear greater than normal as the Monday morning rush hour got under way. Riders were likely delaying their morning commute to avoid crowds, or staying home, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.

"If you didn't know what the situation was, you might just assume it was any other day," Allison said.

Leo Kay, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, took a bus from the East Bay to his office in downtown San Francisco. Like other riders, he craned his neck to catch a view of the crumpled freeway as the bus approached the Bay Bridge.

"This is about the same as normal," he said of the traffic flow. "We'll see what the afternoon has in store."

Standing near the wreckage Sunday night the governor said the state will respond quickly to rebuild the freeway.

Schwarzenegger said he hoped the state will "cut through all the red tape and all the bureaucracy ... so we can get the work done as quickly as possible. After the Northridge earthquake it was within 60 days they rebuilt everything."

The 1994 Northridge quake in southern California damaged several sections of freeway in Los Angeles.

The governor's emergency declaration will help streamline contracting and environmental codes to hasten cleanup and rebuilding efforts, according to a statement.

California Department of Transportation director Will Kempton said intense heat from the flames caused the steel beams holding up the roadway to buckle and bolts holding the structure together to melt. The cost of repairs would likely run into the tens of millions of dollars, and the agency was seeking federal disaster aid, Kempton said.

[duckarmv]

I was rear ended by a felon truck driver driving 9000 gallons of fuel - How is it we allow felons or criminals or people with false credentials drive our fuel turcks. What if they decide to sell out for drugs and we have a terrorist in possession of 10,000 gallons of flammible materials in the Holland Tunnel or blows it up on times square etc? Its time to stop the "madness" and get good drivers on the road! Concerned about America - Victor

[debtobar1]

Shame on you. It is sad to me that if you have committed a crime and did your time, You are still a criminal? You are not cappable of changing?? Once a criminal always a criminal? Shame on you. People with a checker life as you call it. Should not have a life? try to do right have a family, live, pay bills, have a new start? This is wrong. But yes it does seem people are guilty intil proven innocent. Would it been better for this man to stay doing drugs living on the street? My Husband and I dicide to not watch your News cast know longer. This is not right. Shame Shame. Hope you,or any one in your family will not be treat as if you should not have, or try to make a life for yourself. Always held back because of something you have payed the price for,and done your time for. Shame

[fascistusa]

What kind of MORON tries to compare this disaster with 9/11?

They aren't even close. They aren't even in the same galaxy.

EXPLOSIVE CHARGES WERE USED IN THE WTC.

YOU CAN EVEN SEE IT ON VIDEO.

IN FASCISM, 2 plus 2 = 5.

IN FASCISM, JET FUEL MELTS STEEL.

[passerby2]

A mind is a terrible thing to waste!

Posted by mbcsmith at 03:43 PM : Apr 30, 2007

you realize that yet you're so complacent and not willing to think or ask any questions, ironic. I don't have any intention of accusing the government of the 9/11 attack. But there are unanswered questions and circumstances that needs to be accounted for.

[talkingham]

Tucano- why would they have to hijack gas trucks, Arabs run virtually every 7-11 gas station in the country now along every major artery in the country. duhhhhhhh

[michellem99-2009]

The trucker will lose control when going high speeds. Yes he caused the freeway to go down on the bottom one. Yes his rig and petro started it. Was he drunk,tired,or what. Yes this has and will change getting about. If it means changing one schedule at home, school, or other daily tasks to do what must be done. So be it. I am grateful that no loss of life. The damages can and be fixed.What is important is being safe drivers.If not they should not have a licnse to drive. I am one who feels that we need to step upto the plate on this issue. Safety first.

[lochlan-2009]

That stated, I'm not going to jump to the conspiracy side of this story either. There are plenty of possible explanations. Concrete loses it's strength when broken even cracked. Explosions have huge kinetic energy, obviously. You also have a trailer made out of aluminum (most likely molten from the heat) burning with any possible metal oxides, highly unlikly though since even to start a thermite reaction you need temperatures hotter than what diesel burns at. My best guess would be the bridge expanded the steel beams while being heated pushing on the concrete supports, and after the fire started to die out the steel contracted making the bridge fall from it's supports. Just a guess though.

[lochlan-2009]

If this is not the fishiest story around today. Notice the topics being dsicussed. If you do a search on google there are only two stories that come up with a diesel fire melting steel in a structure, (the WTC and yesterdays bridge fire). That's it. No aircraft crarriers melting away after some accident, nothing, just these two stories, and the hundred thousand blogs saying, "I thought diesel couldn't melt steel."

Diesel fuel CANNOT melt steel. It cannot even get it hot enough to lose significant strength. Don't believe me, anyone own a diesel engine? What's it made out of. Those engines are combustion engines, this means they HEAT the air rapidly which expands against the pistons creating work(optimum performance means getting a fuel-air mixture that produces the most heat, without detonation which happens when the mixture is to lean and there are hotspots in the combustion chamber making the fuel explode).

[mbcsmith]

Weak minded? Why isn't osama dead or in custody? why the h*ell are we in iraq? Bush fighting terror? you know how long terrorists has been around, what makes you think that incompetent bush would be capable of ending something like terrorism? When pearl harbor was attacked, we went straight to japan and bombed the hell out of them. you "strong minded" people act as if you are all knowing, but you don't even know that you're being led like cattle.
Posted by passerby2 at 03:07 PM : Apr 30, 2007

So you and Rosie O'Donnel still believe the U.S. Government perpetrated 9/11. A mind is a terrible thing to waste!

[tucano2]

Of course this was an accident - but what a perfect terrorist weapon. Imagine- hijacked gasoline trucks and matches lighted off simultaneously at hundreds of key points nationwide. So cheap and effective. Bridges and tunnels obvious targets, but unguarded multiple level freeway intersections far more vulnerable.

[passerby2]

Give me a Hollywood budget and five fiction writers and I can convince you WEAK MINDED people that your a$$ is on fire!
Posted by mbcsmith at 01:35 PM : Apr 30, 2007

Weak minded? Why isn't osama dead or in custody? why the h*ell are we in iraq? Bush fighting terror? you know how long terrorists has been around, what makes you think that incompetent bush would be capable of ending something like terrorism? When pearl harbor was attacked, we went straight to japan and bombed the hell out of them. you "strong minded" people act as if you are all knowing, but you don't even know that you're being led like cattle.

[smb221]

I hope Rosie O'Donnell is completly humiliated right now. Jackass.

[booyaw_77]

Thats one big damned foot, buddy.. One big damned foot in yer mouth.

[booyaw_77]

Ya can't beat that 4 year college degree in "nation building". Something our cops do everyday. But ya send a 18 year old soldier to build a country engaged in a civil war? Well I say you should be a criminal. If there's any justice in this world, I mean.. If there's anybody whose ever read a single history book. Or knows one damned thing about freedom. There should be a jail somewhere for people like them.

[booyaw_77]

My bet is, that if there's a really really good self-help book out there somewhere about meeting people and having worthwhile friendships? It wasn't written by a Republican. Republicans would call it: "A violation of National Security laws."

[booyaw_77]

"Intelligence agencies, BY LAW, couldn't share information. This MORONIC law, which by the way was sponsored by a 9/11 commissioner was signed by Clinton. THERE'S a conspiracy for you."

Thats what they said about WW2. But of course, in WW2 everyone was on our side.

[nolalou]

talkingham,

I agree Bush used exaggeration, misinformation, and outright lies to justify a war with Iraq. That doesn%u2019t mean I believe in phony science to come up with some oddball theory about the World Trade Center. I believe it's collapse was due to terrorists crashing jets into the buildings. Do I belive the government shares some blame? Sure, for lack of intelligence, failure to share information among rival agencies, etc. But I don't for a second believe the buildings were blown up by our own government, any more that I believe the people who claim the levees were blown up on purpose after Hurricane Katrina.

Are you now suggesting the collapsed highway in California is also some kind of Government conspiracy? Do you think somebody hiding behind a grassy knoll blew it up?

[mbcsmith]

ball on preventing the 911 disasterwhich clearly could have been prevented if the FBI had shared their information with themselves about terrorists learnign to fly jet airliners and you - well not you, someone has to ask the tough questions about the whitewash by the whitehouse and their powerful friends. When you have a government run by liars and crooks conspiracy theories Posted by talkingham at 01:33 PM : Apr 30, 2007


Intelligence agencies, BY LAW, couldn't share information. This MORONIC law, which by the way was sponsored by a 9/11 commissioner was signed by Clinton. THERE'S a conspiracy for you.

[mbcsmith]

The questions surrounding the collaspe of the twin towers are not conspiracy theories, they are logical question that has been ignored. How can anyone who've seen the 9/11 mystery video, not raise an eyebrow to the events of the 9/11 attack?
Posted by passerby2 at 12:38 PM : Apr 30, 2007
+ report abuse

Give me a Hollywood budget and five fiction writers and I can convince you WEAK MINDED people that your a$$ is on fire!

[talkingham]

nolalou
you still can't anme one can you?- and I don't believe all conspiracy theories just most of the ones about a bunch of liars who got us into a war with Iraq for absolutely no reason - remember Bush's conspiracy theory was that Iraq was behind 911. I think the 911 collapse theories are more on target than Bush was. And frankly I didn't subscribe to any of the 911 theories until it became painfully clear that people in our government totally dropped the ball on preventing the 911 disasterwhich clearly could have been prevented if the FBI had shared their information with themselves about terrorists learnign to fly jet airliners and you - well not you, someone has to ask the tough questions about the whitewash by the whitehouse and their powerful friends. When you have a government run by liars and crooks conspiracy theories are bound to evolve unless you're talking about a nation of braindead morons who aren't allowed to think for themselves. Why did the 47-story building pancake when it wasn't consumed by jet fuel. You don't know and you don't want to know. You want someone to tell you it's OK so you can get about shopping at the mall and pay for $3/gal gas.