Laval overpass collapses

[ArcsVibe]

They are now saying that 5 people were killed RIP to the victims and our prayers go out to the families as well. Canadian PressPublished: Saturday, September 30, 2006LAVAL, Que. -- Premier Jean Charest toured the scene of a highway overpass collapse that killed five people, offering his condolences Sunday to the victims' families and promising to find out what happened.His Liberal government had earlier announced Sunday that it will hold a public inquiry into the overpass collapse on a Montreal-area highway.Tonnes of concrete fell on Saturday from the overpass, crushing two cars and leaving the victims with no chance of survival on the highway below."For the time being, it's inexplicable," he told reporters are looking at the gaping hole where part of a three-lane overpass used to be."I guarantee we will do everything possible to find out what happened," Charest said."I can only guess how frightening it was for the people involved."He acknowledged a lot of the province's network of bridges and overpasses is old, but said his government is spending the necessary money to do repair work and will continue to do so. The overpass in question passed an inspection last year and was built in 1970."When it's a question of safety, it's not a matter of money."Six people were also injured in the overpass collapse and remain in hospital.The inquiry will be headed by former Parti Quebecois premier Pierre-Marc Johnson."The public inquiry will allow us to understand the situation that is exceptional because no expert can explain to us how a modern structure could have fallen here in Laval," Transport Minister Michel Despres told a news conference.As a precaution, Despres also said he ordered the closure of a second overpass of similar design in the Laval area that also was built in 1970.Despres said an inspector called to the scene Saturday found no reason to close the overpass after conducting a visual and auditory review. The department official was called after a piece of concrete measuring 38 centimetres by 18 centimetres fell off the overpass.The structure collapsed four minutes after a second chunk of concrete fell off less than an hour after the first."If there was the slightest indication that the bridge could fall, it would have been closed," Despres said.He said department officials worked overnight reviewing the design of all 4,500 Quebec overpasses and bridges and found 20 that need close review.Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt also moved to reassure people."There is no indication this could happen on another structure," he told the news conference. "All the analyses are telling us it is probably something that was not predictable that happened."But he acknowledged there will be worried motorists."Everybody is going to live with a certain nervousness."It's the second overpass that collapsed in the Laval area in the last six years.In 2000, 50-year-old Gilbert Vinson died when a section of overpass that had been under construction for six months collapsed and eight 70-tonne beams fell on the car he was riding in.A coroner's report later concluded a construction company didn't properly secure the concrete beams, and accused the province's construction industry of shoddy work and questionable corporate practices.Meanwhile, Quebec provincial police identified three of the five dead."We have one vehicle where we are now able to confirm that three individuals were actually inside," said spokesman Jayson Gauthier.Gauthier identified the three individuals as: Jean-Pierre Hamel, 40, his partner Sylvie Beaudet, 44, and Hamel's brother, 44-year-old Gilles. All three were from Laval."Our sympathy goes out to these families," Gauthier said.He said the families had some idea of the bad news they were going to get after the three, who were travelling together, failed to return home on Saturday.Gauthier said police haven't yet identified the two victims travelling in the other vehicle.Eyewitnesses who saw the vehicles being removed from the rubble in Laval, north of Montreal, said they were crushed so badly they barely reached the knees of one firefighter who was at the scene.The cars were pulled out about 15 hours after Saturday's dramatic lunchtime accident when a 20-metre stretch of three lanes of an overpass collapsed, sending several other vehicles crashing onto Highway 19 below.Firefighters and other workers had to use cranes and other heavy machinery to painstakingly break up the concrete into as many as 18 huge slabs so they could get to the flattened cars.One of the people injured Saturday when several vehicles plunged into the void was counting his blessings the day after.Robert Hotte was driving over the overpass when the road in front of him began to disappear."I was wondering what the. . . what is happening," he said in an interview Sunday. "As we went down with the bridge, my first words were to say 'Anne-Marie,' the name of my girlfriend."We went down, falling with the bridge. It was all dark."Their vehicle crashed into the debris below, landing on the passenger side window."It was like being in a roller-coaster," Hotte said.They crawled out a window, waiting for a few minutes in a police car for an ambulance to arrive and take them to hospital.Hotte suffered some minor injuries and was released after X-rays. His girlfriend remained in hospital in stable condition on Sunday but she had some internal bleeding.As for the six injured, doctors at Sacre-Coeur Hospital in Montreal said some of the other injured patients improved overnight.The highway is one of several thoroughfares linking Montreal and Laval. The road is normally quite busy but not as much as other highways between the two cities. It crosses into Montreal where it becomes Papineau Street in the city's east end.The designer of the overpass said with regular maintenance, there shouldn't be any problems. Gilles DuPaul told the LCN all-news channel that it's lifespan should be "indefinite."© Canadian Press 2006

[ragingfish]

I remember hearing about this yesterday. Tragic indeed. Sounds not too much unlike problems Boston had with it's enormous Big Dig project back in July (see here.)

[new05vibeowner]

A tragedy indeed.......