Highway bridge collapse sends vehicles into river
Four-lane span north of Seattle part of Interstate 5
MOUNT VERNON, WASH. — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
The four-lane bridge over the Skagit River collapsed about 7 p.m., Trooper Mark Francis said. There was no immediate estimate of how many people were in the water or whether there were any injuries or deaths, he said.
It also was not known what caused the collapse of the bridge about 96 kilometres north of Seattle in Skagit County, which stretches from the North Cascades National Park to a cluster of islands off the Washington coast.
Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.
“It doesn’t look like anybody’s in danger right now,” Grospe said.
Helicopter footage aired by KOMO-TV in Seattle showed several rescue boats at the bridge collapse scene with several ambulances waiting on the shore. One rescue boat left the scene with one person strapped into a stretcher.
A damaged red car and a damaged pickup truck were visible in the water, which appeared so shallow it barely reached the top of the car’s hood.
Crowds of people lined the river to watch the scene unfold.
Gov. Jay Inslee’s office said he was on his way to the scene to assess the situation.
The bridge is not considered structurally deficient but is listed as being “functionally obsolete” — a category meaning the design is outdated, such as having narrow shoulders and low clearance underneath, according to a database compiled by the Federal Highway Administration.
The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data, but 759 bridges in the state have a lower sufficiency score.
Democratic Rep. Judy Clibborn, who leads the transportation committee in the state House, said the bridge wasn’t one that has been a focus for lawmakers.
“It isn’t anything that was on our radar screen as being an issue,” Clibborn said. “It is shocking that I-5 would have something happen like this.”
According to a 2012 Skagit County Public Works Department report, 42 of the county’s 108 bridges are 50 years or older. The document says eight of the bridges are more than 70 years old and two are over 80.
The American Society of Civil Engineers said in a 2013 report more than a quarter of Washington’s 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.