SR 520 Floating Bridge - Simulated failure by wind storm

[lin2k4]

Exciting!

[andotech]

Hey, if that thing floats up north, can I use it to more easily travel from Juanita to Lake City? Hands off it, people. I called it first!

[SteveCarras]

@andotech

LOLOLOLOLLOLOL!!!!!! Good one andotech!

[djjimi]

This is a joke. You intentionally sank the old i90 bridge... and now there's talk about tolling the I90 next, then there are plans to start tolling lanes on both 405 and I5 corridors. This shit is unconstitutional.

Get used to it, there is no "plan" to build a new bridge. This is all about controlling how and where the people of this state travel.

[GMoney1207]

@djjimi This is about making money. The interstate highway system was built using taxpayer dollars and is maintained using taxpayer dollars (regardless of use). The concept is to have the people who use the most expensive sections of road to partially pay for maintenance/improvements.

There is nothing unconstitutional about creating a product/service the public finds useful and charging for it. What we would need is complete transparency to watch for kickbacks, corruption, etc.

[gaytacoma]

HAR D HAR HAR lol. mmm looked like a bath tub not lake washington

[petenice666]

Yeah! Another Seattle disaster video! Needs SFX and music.

[leonel1982]

Also B actors over acting in front of the camera with the most unpopular B actor sacrificing him or herself to save a baby from certain death.

[eskercurve]

* gulp * once in 20 years?  How long has the bridge been open? I just moved here, will something like that happen most likely within the time I will be here?

[commutterr]

Apparently you have hot seen the line up of cars going east in the morning and west in the evening. Yawn... Why not take a look and then get back to us. BTW, Commutting by car uses lots of gas... this is an major expense for our regional economy. The bottom line is always reduce expenses. Also you seem to fail to see the point that there are good jobs and good housing on both sides of the lake. Many people have been too lazy to swich sides. Perhaps a financial incentive will bring us efficiency

[EnElBarrioFino]

you forget that many families have commitments to both Seattle and the Eastside.

[blaubak]

I think you're trying way to hard to feel smart. Read the taglines and think a bit more before opening your mouth.

Idiot.

[123carrie]

omfg!!! why do we use that bridge still isnt it older than 20 years?

[scorcherparker]

If they didn't stop collecting tolls in 1979, they'd be able to replace the sorry sucker today. With crude at $108, global climate change, and the like- replacing it with a 6-lane bridge for cars is not the best use of our resources, the rush-hour bottleneck will just intensify at the 405 and the 5.

[joeysipos]

The storm that could develop is from tropical storm Lingling. If it actually happens then I doubt it will be as powerful as the one last year. Sorry if no one cares - I just like to make predictions and i love the power of nature.

[joeysipos]

looks like there can be a big windstorm this thursday/ friday. - Just looked at the computer models and they all point to a powerfull windstorm.

[bdc7e]

every year seattle has a windstorm or two, but a 20-year windstorm happens only about every 20 years and are much more powerful and destructive than normal storms.

[carljohnsonofsa1]

What the hell, might I ask, is a "20-year wind storm" that the video info talks about?

[bebopPete]

Who the hell builds "floating bridges" anyway? Is this some kind of hip stylish west-coast thing that I don't understand? ;-)

[AgentHog]

The 520 bridge is the longest floating bridge in the world so um...

Its not a bad idea. But it is old and needs replaced.

[phatkix]

yep

[commutterr]

Yes! more money spent to scare us... and to get us to spend more public funds to build expensive bridges for those who insist on living far from their work. Shouldn't we build a they type of city we want to have, instead of making car commuters happy? In 15 years when the new bridge is done, will we really still be commuting long distance? or will people have figured out that they should live close to their place of work>

[anthonyd11]

"or will people have figured out that they should live close to their place of work"

If "people" wouldn't have thrown $ at Microsoft, buying their crappy software and stock, then "people" *might* be able to afford to live in Seattle.

[davetileguy]

crappy software? let me geuss you have something better! and your so much smarter than everybody except for one thing billy G. beat you to it and your jealous!

[JMTGeorge]

That is a pretty stupid comment. A lot of people are far from work by necessity. It's expensive to live in Seattle. And that's where a lot of good jobs happen to locate. Get over it.

[commutterr]

JMTGeorge: I am sorry, but your comment demonstrates ignorance about the price of houses on the east side. If you actually observe the bridge, there is a major traffic jam from poeple who live IN seattle and commute to the east side for work.

The fact is, cross county commuting is inefficient. Tolls on roads will bring the true cost of these commutes to the market place. As it is, property and sales taxes subsidize the roads used by wasteful commuters.

[JMTGeorge]

Houses in King County as a whole are rising, not just on the Eastside.

Your comment about more people commuting to the eastside is false. Consider I-90, the HOV lane goes into Seattle in the morning and out of Seattle in the evening. That's because there are more people commuting into the city then there are leaving. The reason traffic looks worse to people like you is there is no HOV lane in the other direction.

Cross country commuting is efficient as long as you're making enough money.

[commutterr]

You mean money to buy gas and repair cars??? this is a drain on our economy, and less time with family and friends.

[djjimi]

First of all, anyone who drives the 520, knows that the bridge serves as a wake break. The conditions shown in this video aren't even realistic.

[lac0nix]

Doesn't seem so bad. I'd be willing to risk it.

[safecochalee]

Microsoft employees take that bridge to the Redmond office. No more Windows if that happens!!

[korobieniki]

Obviously some company is interested in getting a contract to build a new bridge.

[NjRetard13]

o well at least i dont live there

[agerrard]

omg somebody get bill gates outta there and to higher ground.

[lol1412]

lol

[maegenicockmawr]

wank

[snakeyez85]

..as mentioned earlier... I hope this bridge collapses so I can invest in the local economy. We would like to purchase up all of the land in the surrounding area.

[modanfa]

It's your Boy!-- young HOV-- jigga! lol

[MrQ1989]

k. now watch my video. k thanks :)

[gypsycamptrash]

Even sexier.

[bsnyder100]

why not look at the Chesapeake bay bridge-tunnel for inspiration??

[revengefrommars]

Lake Washington is about 6x deeper than Chesapeake Bay.

[dalejr82010]

Not necessarily, right after the second tunnel the water drops to 148 feet

[percussionmafia]

The Chesapeake Bay is about 65 feet deep at the Chesapeake Channel and about 50 feet deep at the Thimble Shoal Chnl (which had to be dredged).  The majority of the bridge is over water that is anywhere from 6 - 24 feet deep.

On the other hand, Lake Washington starts out at 33 feet at the 520 East Span and quickly deepens to 193 feet for most of the floating portion. Just east of the West Span, is a maximum depth of 203 feet. Depths at I-90 are similar, except averaging ~10 feet shallower.

[dalejr82010]

I fish in the Chesapeake Bay and i can tell you there is a location, not directly under the bridge (it was built around that area because it was so deep) that quickly goes from 50 feet to 148 feet for about 300 feet, not a large location, i was just proving m point

[Puckor]

No explosions. This sucks.

[Psgpimp16]

lmao fo reall

[narbeg]

Build a tunnel under lake washington!

[velvetsmog]

it's like 150ft deep. you can't build a tunnel.

[nathan909]

That bridge is indeed a massive pile, I've seen it

[mrpeters123]

Please vote for higher taxes to pay to replace this bridge of death. Wa. state makes me sick with their obvious attempt to scare voters. go pound sand.

[dimewyld]

straight boring

[esshole3000]

WANK

[dietchess99]

When I read all the idiotic comments made here then it just confirms my suspicion that allowing all people to vote was a grave mistake.

[paulwall08]

i hate washingtons roads. just hate them. there's like a gabillion potholes.

[ianallan1964]

Weak video. Just not the same when there isn't real destruction and casualties involved. On the subject of the bridge, however, what we need is "frog tongue" technology. A bridge that can be retracted into Mercer Island when the winds get high. We also need a heavy duty roof to protect the bridge against asteroids.

[Turmi0n]

lolz

[JMTGeorge]

The chances of casualties is low. The Department of Transportation closes the bridge whenever it gets really windy.

[smellymelly1981]

I like the way they specified "bridge drifts north" hahaha...the fact that the bridge is "drifting" is enough information for me.

[jonbroadus]

I dunno...it might be nice to phone your your mom and let her know whether she should pick you up in Kenmore or Mercer Island.

[lrooff]

You must not be from around here... It's a _floating_ bridge. If it breaks loose, it's gonna float away.

[terpene12]

You're an idiot. Last time I checked, concrete SINKS if not properly secured above a surface of water.

[velvetsmog]

that's why there are pontoons keeping it afloat, terpene12. really, it's not an engineering miracle. look it up and maybe you'll learn somethin'.

[saltsmcdars]

fake.

[abockelie]

Uh yeah, duh Captain Obvious. It says "SIMULATION" right on the title. Last time I checked, that also means fake.

[bigcheese268]

LOL

[Valarauko]

Just add some Steel and things will be fine. ;) Steel hydraulic absorber on the bottom of the lake with beams attaching to the main floaters at a specific angle, maybe 45 or 72 degrees. Make them as thin a possible and it might help. ;) j/k

Awesome video though. Washington State needs to do much to improve it's roads. It is essential to our State Economy.

[miamad]

Washington State (west side, Seattle) is liberal HELL. They waste more tax dollars than you could ever imagine. Ron Sims is a crook.

[fredastaire1]

Then just go back from where you came from. Nobody is making you live there.

[velvetsmog]

worst comment ever.

[dhRzztt]

Just hook some pontoons on the alaska way viaduct and float it on over for a spare bridge. "just in case" Just float er on through the locks. Then build a nice park on elliot bay over a tunnel

[acaldwell1958]

another scare tactic. this shit will never happen cause weather wise, the wind will never get that high!!!

[badgrammar]

you're a moron. winds have been clocked higher than that in seattle in the last few MONTHS. it's not if, it's when.

[SeigneurDeTemps]

Wow. That is pretty impressive. In a "I really hope that never happens!" kind of way, of course.

[keith98148]

We just recently had winds near that level. a 20 Year storm is just that.. one that happens once every 20 years. Yes the Bridge is now around 40 years old, but the reason for this is because now it is old and has handled alot of stress from the lake. Often crossing it one side will be white caps and high waves while the other is smooth and calm a good example of the stress the bridge takes. Simply opening the center is not enough anymore. Bridge? We don't need no stinking bridge!

[FromLimotoMetro]

Fabulous stuff! Can see we the Space Needle fall over in the next video?

[velvetsmog]

there should be a "crap falling apart simulation" video series!

[corbing12]

Wha?

[shortattentionspan1]

When the wsdot hands out a warning of this clarity, it would be foolish to ignore it!

[fuzzbeans]

Nice animation. Please add tag: "Evergreen point"

[adroitmedia]

Gee...everybody is scared to death now. Boy we sure better vote yes on whatever Olympia wants. In the meantime, I am going to turn off the TV and get under the covers. Or maybe move to another state.

[adroitmedia]

Wow. Judging by the size of those waves DOT should consider tearing down the current bridge and forget about spending anymore money on anything other than surfboards.

[RXTRUX1]

How often do winds that high occure?

[ryochiji]

What's a "20-year storm"?

[amnesiakdotcom]

My only suggestion is to add some local music. Seriously though, great work.

What is the highest wind that the 520 bridge has withstood so far, and what was the damage?

[wakedawg30]

Yeah, right. i think they forgot about the ability to open the bridge in a windstorm. 20-yr storm? The bridge is about 40 years old....

[xongkkerije]

OMG...I used to go over that bridge daily!

[chadlupkes]

Welcome to the 21st Century, Washington State Department of Transportation! Looking forward to more simulations like this.