Out riding today near my house in Weatherford, OK. In flooding last weekend a bridge was washed out about 1.5 miles away. In the pic (L to R) are: me, a friend from here (former owner of my GS and geekonabike on this forum), my nephew and my dad (both visiting from TX).
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/trumpetguy_01/4bikesfar.jpg)
Bikes (L to R) are my 1998 GS500E, a 2007 V-Strom, a 2004 Triumph Trophy 1200, and a 1994 BMW R1100RS.
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/trumpetguy_01/4bikesclose.jpg)
Then we rode to another bridge about 4 miles south. This bridge is still standing but is closed. Water was above the bridge (!) and washed out the sides AND (most importantly) bracing that went from the middle of the bridge to one side. The steel I-beams that braced it are twisted and lying in the bottom of the creek.
Bracing went from the left side to the middle beam under the bridge. You can see where there are gaps in the yellow paint on the left side -- that's where the bracing used to be attached:
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/trumpetguy_01/bridgedamage.jpg)
And the bracing is now in the creek -- twisted I-beams attest to the power of that much water and debris:
(http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/trumpetguy_01/bracing.jpg)
wow..good pics
Cool picture.
I give up. Who took the photo and how did they get on the other side of the wash out?
My wife took the picture. There is a good bridge a mile away -- she went over that bridge and came in the other side.
The totally amazing and scary thing to me is that the one wooden sawhorse sign that you see behind the bikes is the ONLY warning that you are about to die if you keep going. If some punk kid stole the sign, there would be deaths. It is in a fairly remote area usually only traveled by locals, but someone who was lost wouldn't know of the damage if the sign were gone. At night it would be awfully hard to see in time. I'm calling the county tomorrow about the signage issue.
Amazing to see the power water has when it want to go down hill. Not much that man can do unless we're prepared for it. Thanks for for posting those pictures.
Too bad those bridges will be out of action for many weeks to come.
Quote from: trumpetguy on August 26, 2007, 04:35:36 PM
My wife took the picture. There is a good bridge a mile away -- she went over that bridge and came in the other side.
The totally amazing and scary thing to me is that the one wooden sawhorse sign that you see behind the bikes is the ONLY warning that you are about to die if you keep going. If some punk kid stole the sign, there would be deaths. It is in a fairly remote area usually only traveled by locals, but someone who was lost wouldn't know of the damage if the sign were gone. At night it would be awfully hard to see in time. I'm calling the county tomorrow about the signage issue.
aye tg there is a motel along 40 in weatherford i statyed at i believe called eeehh hell i canot remember, BUT that area even along the interstate is sparse. BUT good call on the signage. id even be so inclined to get a can of spray paint and mark warnings on the road leading to teh bridge from both sides. vandalism perhaps, BUT a good versin of it :thumb:
Wow!
Wow,
We called some friends while we were out of town last friday, heard it rained like hell here. Was this the flooding from the remains of Erin 2 weeks ago or is this from last friday?
Quote from: bettingpython
Wow,
We called some friends while we were out of town last friday, heard it rained like hell here. Was this the flooding from the remains of Erin 2 weeks ago or is this from last friday?
This was the Erin storm. It parked over us for a while and was dumping 5 inches/hour for a little over an hour. It was all flash flooding. No buildup, no residual water to speak of. Just a hell of a wall of water for one night.
wow, we had a big nor easter hear last april. it took down a tree in the front yard which took down all the lines running to the house which got caught by a tractor trailer and BAM everything was ripped out. i had to go get my mother and drive like a mad man for high ground and avoid all the rivers. it was a week before i got back into the house and power set up.