Part of I85 Overpass in Atlanta collapses due to fire.

[clarkrd]

Source: wsbtv

ATLANTA - A large fire has caused an overpass on Interstate 85 to collapse.

Read more: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/large-fire-shuts-down-interstate/507589453

[groundloop]

1. Geeze what a mess, glad I don't have to drive in that area anymore.

[Hortensis]

25. Our son and his family expected to come through

Atlanta on I-85 a couple hours ago on their way here to Florida. Traffic problems make him grouchy anyway, so I didn't call during to find out what route they took.

[liberal N proud]

2. Glad I am not dealing with that traffic.

Atlanta is bad on a good day.

[Calista241]

3. Thank god I left work a few minutes early today.

I drive over that bridge every day.

[CatWoman]

5. i'm in Stone Mountain

and I can see the billowing smoke from here

[Cattledog]

4. This is one of 2 main arteries into Atlanta from the north.

This is going to make some of the worst traffic in the nation come to a virtual halt. The communities
north of Atlanta have for years fought the expansion of MARTA (our transit system) citing "crime" but mostly
race based fear. Now they are gonna have to pay the piper.

[CatWoman]

6. same for those in Cobb County

where the Braves now play in that new stadium

[Spider Jerusalem]

18. Cobb's up I-75, at least, so it should be slightly less affected

[CatWoman]

34. the thing is

ALL traffic is affected.

yesterday traffic was backed up here in Stone Mountain. I'm near HWY 78 and 285.

It was a mess.

Coming home from work I tried to use side streets and it was still pretty messed up.

Mountain Industrial, Ponce De Leon, Lawrenceville Highway -- EVERYWHERE.

[EarthFirst]

7. From what I read, the cause of the fire is due to flammable liquids being stored under the bridge...

[CurtEastPoint]

8. Yep. Some heads are gonna roll. Especially since it's the DOT who stores crap there.

[Cal Carpenter]

10. "...the fire is burning piles of plastic wiring..."

"Atlanta police said the fire is burning piles of plastic wiring under the I-85 overpass near the Lindbergh MARTA station."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/atlanta-i-85-fire-overpass-collapse/

Sounds nasty and toxic. The area around it is probably a really fucking bad place to breathe. And from the pics at the link it is a huge amount of smoke.

Ugh.

[EarthFirst]

11. Thanks, Cal...

I remember flammable substance, however liquid resonated for some (erroneous) reason.

Thanks for the clarification!

[csziggy]

13. Google street view under that section of bridge shows stacks and stacks of plastic wiring

Image capture Nov 2016

I searched Google Maps for "Atlanta I-85 at Piedmont" and "drove" south on Piedmont under I-85 then "looked" to the east.

Here is the view:

[Scruffy1]

28. It's not wiring.

Looks like Pex to me. Wire is coated with pvc which has a very high flash point and doesn't give off much heat when it burns. Polyethylene burns about 12 times hotter. It would take an accellerant to get it started. Obvious arson.

[csziggy]

32. Ah - I read the "wiring" in another post and accepted it

Thanks for the clarification.

Someone mentioned there are homeless living in that area and that it was very windy yesterday. They thought maybe a cooking fire got out of control.

As hot as that was burning and with the section of the overpass dropping onto the scene I wonder if they will every be able to figure out what started the fire.

[YOHABLO]

9. Atlanta's traffic problems are a mess. Their MARTA is totally inadequate.

[Demsrule86]

23. They did not send MARTA to the outlying areas because they didn't want Atlanta

rif raf (they are Black don't you know) taking public transportation out to the burbs. People literally said that.

[IronLionZion]

27. Just wait until Atlanta gets gentrified

and the yuppies move to the city and lower income people find more affordable housing in the suburbs.

[Demsrule86]

29. It serves them right!

I will say that Georgia -even in Woodstock- was way more diverse than Ohio. My kids went to school with people of color. We met Latinos who worked in the building trade who were just trying to get ahead like anyone else...I have a heart for dreamers because I knew those kids; they were friends with my kids...many don't even speak the language of their parents...it is just cruel to send them back to these countries which they can't even remember. So you had racism in Georgia for sure, but you had less segregation ...go figure. There were three kids of color in my daughter's graduating class here in Ohio.

[CottonBear]

35. MARTA, unlike other state's public transit systems , receives NO state funding.

The state may need to finally help fund MARTA trains and buses to provide extra service.

I have to drive out of town soon. I will not take my usual route through Atlanta on I-85.

[dawg]

12. Yikes!

Traffic's gonna back up all the way to my house.

[Demsrule86]

24. I lived in Woodstock and traffic will be awful...

And it was already really bad.

[Rollo]

14. Something similar happened in the SF Bay Area a couple three years ago...

A gasoline tanker truck crashed and caught fire, either under or on top of the elevated roadway, and the heat severely melted the roadbed and weakened the overpass structure. However as I recall there was no collapse, and the section was fairly rapidly repaired and put back into service.

Interesting though to read that the North Atlanta commuters, who opposed extension of the light rail system on racial grounds are now going to have to endure massive traffic jams because of this fire and collapse.

A similar short-sighted isolationist, if not racist, view kept BART from expanding to Marin and San Mateo counties - some of the priciest real estate in the nation. The karma is that if they ever decide they want it, they'll have to pay through the nose for it.

[Egnever]

15. Good lord the webmaster of that site should be beaten

The ads on that site are out of control.

[JudyM]

16. Same reaction here. I was looking to see if anyone was hurt, gave up.

[Egnever]

17. Same

took so long to load the page with so many things flying in my face I just left.

[FakeNoose]

20. Somebody posted this - no injuries due to the fire

It's just a massive long-term headache of horrible detours.

We had a similar sitch in Pittsburgh a couple years ago.

A major bridge was being worked on and fire broke out from some guy using a blowtorch in the wrong place. It took so long getting the fire put out that it caused structural damage on the bridge. Some of the original 80-year-old girders buckled and they thought maybe the bridge would collapsed. This was the Liberty Bridge that crosses the Monongahela from the South Side and feeds major traffic into downtown Pittsburgh, for anybody who's wondering.

It caused rush hour problems for about 6 months, but they saved the Liberty Bridge, thank God. It would have been a disaster if the bridge had collapsed.

[Demsrule86]

22. That bridge has needed to work for years...but the GOP governors would rather give the money

to their rich cronies.

[xor]

19. I used to avoid using adblock because I wanted to support sites I use...

But the ads on sites got so out of control that I had no choice. I don't mind dealing with a couple ads, but don't do dumb stuff that freezes up my browser.

[OldHippieChick]

33. LOL! My reaction as well

I gave up and went to WXIA, but it wasn't much better. Finally decided the only choice was to go where there would be some still photographs - Atl Jrnl Const. At least they have Luckovich

[Demsrule86]

21. Jesus...spaghetti junction.

I lived outside of Atlanta...there used to be an auto plant there in Doravile GA...the traffic is already bad really bad. It used to take me an hour most days to travel 12 miles to get home. I would leave very early in the morning so as to beat the traffic but I had to get out during rush hour in the evening. This will be really bad...I hope no one was hurt. There are businesses under the part that collapse

[greymattermom]

26. This is in midtown

even worse. But if you get up early you can park at the Doraville Marta station and take the train to downtown.

[Demsrule86]

30. That would be the way to go.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Time to re-discover the joys of MARTA