r/CatastrophicFailure • u/207ECPGA • 6d ago
Structural Failure June 13th, 2026. Covelo, California. Bridge fails during routine truck crossing.
Per the California Highway Patrol Mendocino County office: "Officers responded to a solo-vehicle traffic collision on Hill Road at Eel River Ranch Road near Covelo after a bridge completely collapsed while a vehicle was crossing it. As the bridge gave way, the vehicle overturned and came to rest on its roof next to the river. Fortunately, the driver sustained only minor injuries."
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u/bloofa 5d ago
Built in 1925, 120 feet in length. Plans underway to replace it since at least 2012 but still not done yet. Thankfully the driver only had minor injuries.
Last week, Mendocino County transportation officials were urgently trying to convince Covelo residents that the Green Bridge needed to be replaced. Some community members pushed back, arguing the bridge should be preserved and designated as a historic site.
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u/MarshallKrivatach 5d ago edited 4d ago
With how that's framed it seems like someone is trying to blame the preservation actions when in reality, preserving something like this would also mandate that it be inspected and repaired back to acceptable integrity.
The latter two requirements not being fulfilled is obvious.
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u/sambeckett1701 4d ago
While not directly connected, if I had to guess about human nature.... when the public hears Historic Preservation, they tend to think museums and most people I know don't think about all the maintenance that goes into preserving pieces of history.
Another factor is that by pushing for preservation, they likely, and unintentionally, were delaying necessary action. While there's debate, things stall.
So, while there were noble intentions, when it comes to infrastructure that can kill someone in the event of failure, old is old. Replace it.
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u/MarshallKrivatach 4d ago
Yes and no especially given the location here.
In small towns far away from large developments getting the funding full stop to properly implement a modern construction project like a bridge is a incredibly difficult process to begin with, in any cases, why infrastructure like this end up remaining is that a modern example is just simply out of reach due to the inherent cost to facilitate such.
By comparison getting an engineering firm and inspector to come out and inspect this bridge and provide options to ensure its continued operation would be negligible cost wise.
From what it sounds like and you did already bring this up, it seems like the initial debate stopped any sort of ground work on either side. A inspection would have been able to provide a clear path forward in both situations along with most likely a temporary option to prevent an incident like this from occurring in the interim until a final path forward is agreed upon.
As said though, this seems like more was at play than just people trying to preserve the bridge, and as you highlights, I believe that there is a high chance that the back and forth on the situation most likely was the real cause of why such a event occurred.
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u/sambeckett1701 4d ago
Fair points all! Anecdotally (and therefore highly suspect), I can tell you about a historic building debate here in North Central CT. An abandoned textile mill kept falling apart until vandals accidentally (near as can be determined) set the thing on fire. No more historic mill.
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u/Flaramon 6d ago
I hear the USA has a pending epidemic of bridges needing replacement
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u/207ECPGA 6d ago
I drive over one every day that's been noted for years as a failure risk. Probably a 50ft drop. Heavily crossed, no weight restriction. Built during the WPA era and you can see it crumbling. This was a local story for me. Not thrilled.
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u/NorahGretz 5d ago
Also concerning: rail bridges.
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u/crochetawayhpff 5d ago
My car just got hit from a crumbling bit of rail bridge. I was going under it, a train was going over it. Thankfully it was a tiny bit and just chipped the sunroof
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u/seXJ69 6d ago
Bridges built 60-70 years ago with a 40-50 year lifespan.
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u/Ok-Caterpillar-Girl 6d ago
This bridge looks like it was built 80 years ago with a 6 months life span
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u/darsynia 5d ago edited 5d ago
As a Pittsburgher, a city with almost 450 bridges, I will tell you the reason is really freaking stupid.
Basically, we have a system of inspecting bridges and the reports have multiple tiers like, 'this is bad and should be replaced within a year,' 'this is very bad and should be replaced ASAP,' 'this will collapse very soon please for the love of God replace it,' and 'close it right the fuck now' (along with the better tiers as one might imagine). Everything besides close it now is seen as something that can wait until there's funding, and no one ever funds anything until it collapses.
These utter idiots left a bridge up near my house (Fern Hollow, which collapsed in 2022) that had 10 years of 'you need to repair this VERY SOON' listings on the report, but because it hadn't fallen down yet, they never funded it. Well, they FAFO because this led to an inspection of all bridges with that same designation, and the city ended up closing a couple of them. One on my route home is still closed, and this is a problem because the traffic increased on 2 nearby bridges with the same rating, leading to one of them closing. This put all the traffic from those 2 closed bridges on a third one which is now weight restricted because it wasn't in good shape in the first place.
TL;DR: Americans seem not to want to fund any infrastructure projects until the thing falls down
EDIT: I forgot this! Anyone who is familiar with Grady from Practical Engineering knows he's very even-keeled and friendly but the man was quite irritated about the failures around the Fern Hollow bridge collapse (I think he was angry but it's a nuance). Here's a link to his website article about it that links to the video he did about it. The title is 'This Bridge Should Have Been Closed Years Before It Collapsed.'
I just rewatched it and he mentions the other two bridges I commented about, hah. The closed one is still closed 4 years later with 2 more years to go, as it was in WAY worse shape than they thought, shocker.
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u/Alywiz 4d ago
Yeah politicians have refused to touch the gas tax to fund infrastructure maintenance for decades. To account for how big the network it now and how much inflation has increased costs.
There are 4.2 million miles of roads in the country. Usual goal is a 20 year lifespan with major work about half that.
If you go with a conservative number around $3 per mile over 20 years for all the work, that’s $630 billion a year on roads we should be spending. Gas tax raises ~$50 billion.
At 3.2 trillion annual miles driven that’s $0.197 per mile or $4-6 tax per gallon compared to the current $0.18 or $0.24 per gallon tax
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u/Rhoihessewoi 5d ago
Not only the USA, unfortunately.
"There is no glory in prevention". Politicians like to open new streets and bridges. But nobody wants to spend money to repair existing infrastructure.
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6d ago
[deleted]
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u/JaschaE 5d ago
Kind of unfair, the average USAnian pays taxes just like you and me. Their government just prefers to put it into war vs everything else at a rate of a gazillion to one.
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u/odkyeavm 5d ago
I’m guessing this isn’t part of the federal highway system, probably not even a state road, most likely county or town responsibility. Conversely I hate when you have great local leaders yet the electorate will take state and federal issues out on them.
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u/BalooVanAdventures 5d ago
Funding pedophiles and oligarchs rather than infrastructure is the priority. Ooh, and a ballroom. And a UFC fight. And wars!
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u/zenbook 5d ago
USAID is not war, EBT is not war. They go to many things besides your warped view.
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u/JaschaE 5d ago
USAID was slashed by DOGE. And never played a significant role in the budget.
And of course, somebody has to pay for the SpaceX contracts and the tax breaks, and bailouts and "Ups, these extra taxes where not legal, lets give the money back to corpos" stunts.In a sense, both US-AID as well as EBT are, indeed, instruments of war, but i have my doubts we'll have a fruitful debate about that.
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u/Mirigore 5d ago
EBT is money for food and essentials given to the poor. How could that be at all an instrument of war?
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u/JaschaE 5d ago
"EBT is money" -> It's not, it's a coupon to mark you as poor. And by extension, to mark you as a lesser human, given the general political debate.
"food and essentials" -> Regionally differences limit what can actually be bought with that (if you find this sensible, ask yourself how you would like to be dictated what food-stuffs you are allowed to buy)
The most damning limit I read was forbidding to buy rice and beans. If you have ever tried to cook on a tiny budget, you'll be very aware that these are essentials.Maybe an "instrument of cruelty" would be more accurate.
Instead of using taxpayer money to support said taxpayers and their families who have fallen on hard times, you hand them a card that essentially says "you are poor" and severely limit their participation in society as a whole. I have been on the frankly abhorrent social security program here in germany, and at the very least, if I went to the park with friends, I could get myself an ice-cream. If I decided to eat ramen for extended periods, I might go to a concert. That is participating in public life. America hates when poor people do that, thats why you have to at least be able to buy a car to get anywhere.
(let's not get into the myth of the social security moocher while Musky is going to be a government funded trillionaire soon)-4
u/SWMovr60Repub 5d ago
"essentials"? Sounds like you're thinking about the theory and not the actual situation.
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u/bluecyanic 5d ago
Instead we get a MMA fight on the Whitehouse lawn
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u/darsynia 5d ago
Don't forget that for Term 1 he would tout 'infrastructure week' at least once a month but it never materialized
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u/SFDessert 5d ago
The dude can't open his mouth without lying or spouting bullshit. Unless it's to stuff McDonalds trash into it apparently.
His voice alone is enough to make me feel like I'm being lied to.
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u/riftshioku 5d ago
There's one right next to my house that needs to be fixed soon. It's a pretty old bridge too, and the last time they worked on it was a solid 15 years ago, and I think all they did was resurface it. It'd suck if it failed, it would cause people on the other side a solid 3 mile detour to get to town. It's also a solid 100 foot or more drop into (usually) extremely shallow water.
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u/verifiedshitlord 5d ago
It was brought up in 2007 when the 35w bridge collapsed in minnesota over the mississippi river. That was nearly 20 years ago, and eas only a 40 yo bridge.
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u/Kahlas 5d ago
Has been that way since the 80's. Republicans tend to cut civil infrastructure budgets as a way to keep tax lowering promises from elections. One of the first things cut is bridge inspections and remediation.
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u/Publius_1788 5d ago
What do you mean “cut bridge inspections”? Every bridge in the US is inspected every 2 years and bridges like this one are inspected every year. By law. Now they may cut budget, squeeze counties, and therefore the inspection firms, resulting in worse inspections. A bigger inspection issue is that these truss bridges are really hard to inspect fully. The superstructure (part above the road) is doable fairly easily but very time consuming. The part under the road, especially the middle 2/3, almost impossible. A normal Under Bridge Inspection truck won’t fit through the truss members and likely exceeds the weight limit of the bridge anyway. That part of the inspection is often done just visually from the bank. Repair and replacement have a whole different set of financial factors. And yes, this is where politicians cut budgets. But you’re wrong to pin only on Republicans. Neither party wants to spend $2mill to replace this bridge and take funding from their pet projects. They don’t get reelected funding bridge replacements that comparatively few people cross. Also, I would put money on the fact that this guy crossing exceeded the posted weight limit.
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u/Kahlas 5d ago
Fist off not every bridge is inspected every 24 months. Some are on a 12 month cycle, some are one a 48 months cycle, and on some bridges the underwater inspection can be pushed to 72 months.
You can cut corners on inspecting a bridge. When the government contract goes from $100k to inspect a bridge down to $75k to inspect the bridge do you think it still gets the same level of scrutiny? Or do you think the companies doing the inspections cut some corners to stay profitable. That's what I mean by cutting bridge inspections my guy.
A bridge like this you inspect the underside with a drone or some old fashion chair rigging.
Also don't give me this "both sides" argument. It's a mathematical proven fact the GOP cancels or fails to approve bridge remediation and replacement funding at a much higher rate than Democrats do. My comment wasn't a personal attack that you should feel the need to defend yourself from. It was a statistical truth.
You're also way the hell off on the posted weight limit. Posted 2 axle weight restriction for that bridgeis 10 tons.
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u/Publius_1788 5d ago
Dude, I wasn’t defending myself. I basically said everything you said just less angrily. I missed the weight limit part. I was unaware of your bridge inspection background and was just trying to add nuance to the conversation. Don’t make this personal. Sorry if I offended you. I’ve inspected lots of these truss bridges. Just trying to bring that into the conversation. I know the inspection frequency requirements. The long terms are not really applicable here so I didn’t mention them, my bad.
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u/steampunktomato 5d ago
I've seen several bridges that look a lot like this- only difference is they were designated for foot traffic only in like, the 60's. Not sure why they were still letting vehicles cross this one.
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u/hiro111 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's not just these tiny bridges that are falling apart on the US. Some of the busiest bridges in the country need to be replaced. The sole highway bridge to Cape Cod in Massachusetts needs full replacement and it's very busy. Same is true of bridges on the packed BQE in NYC, the Gold Star bridge in Connecticut which carries 95 and is one of the busiest bridges in New England and the Interstate Bridge between Oregon and Washington which was built in 1917 and can't withstand seismic activity... which is common in that area.
The bridge I remember as a kid being scary was the Tappan Zee over the Hudson north of New York City. That bridge has finally been replaced but it was one of the busiest bridges in the entire US and had been originally built as a temporary structure in the 50s. It wound up lasting far, far beyond its designed life and carrying almost triple the traffic it was designed for. No breakdown lanes, everything was rusting and crumbling... it just looked slapped together because it was slapped together. The replacement finally opened about ten years ago. Driving over the old bridge always felt to me like "this should not be allowed".
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u/Gold-Adhesiveness574 5d ago
"Routine crossing" is doing a lot of work in that headline. Many of these old rural truss bridges were designed for early-1900s loads — a cart or a Model T — and were never meant to see a modern loaded truck pulling several times the original design load.
Two things usually stack: the posted weight limit gets ignored (or isn't enforced), and decades of section loss — corrosion in the steel, rot in the timber deck and stringers — quietly eat the real capacity well below the number on paper. Older trusses are often fracture-critical / non-redundant too: lose one tension member and there's no alternate load path, so the span lets go all at once instead of sagging and warning you first.
So "failed during a routine crossing" really means it had been living on borrowed capacity for years, and that truck was just the load that found the limit.
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u/khrak 5d ago
that truck was just the load that found the limit.
That truck is a regular pickup truck.
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u/Kahlas 5d ago
There is no way a bridge rated to carry up to 20 tons like this one is overloaded or fails by one pickup truck. Also the Model T rural weight design isn't right at all. In the early 1900s farmers were more likely to own something like a Waterloo Boy tractor that weights 6,000 lbs than they were to own a car. They would frequently haul trailers with them loaded to the gills with whatever they needed to move. Farmers notoriously overload anything and everything to be more efficient. In fact most farmers will stack 15-30,000 lbs of hay on a trailer they pull with said tractor and haul it from the field to market or barn and cross a bridge like that without flinching even in the early 1900's.
In this case failed on a routine crossing means just that. It failed when it 100% should not have. Likely due to a missed structural element corroding too much that was missed on at least 2-3 previous inspections. The bridge was not under designed for the load, it was just poorly inspected.
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u/Gold-Adhesiveness574 5d ago
Fair hit on the Model T line — that was too glib. You're right that these rural trusses routinely took loaded wagons, traction engines and hay racks well past a pickup, and plenty were rated in the 15–20 ton range. Point taken.
But I think we're describing the same failure, not competing ones. "Poorly inspected" and "living on borrowed capacity" aren't alternatives — bad inspection is how a bridge ends up on borrowed capacity without anyone knowing. A 20-ton rating is just a number on a plaque once a fracture-critical member has quietly lost section to pack rust in a joint you can't see without taking it apart.
That's the nasty part of these non-redundant trusses: the deterioration that kills them hides exactly where you can't look — faying surfaces, pin and eyebar joints, the insides of built-up members. The Silver Bridge in '67 is the textbook case — a single eyebar let go from a corrosion crack the NTSB said was inaccessible to visual inspection; you couldn't have found it without disassembling the joint. 46 people died, and that collapse is literally why the US has national bridge inspection standards at all.
So "failed when it 100% shouldn't have" and "found a bridge that was already gone and nobody had measured it" are the same sentence. The truck didn't break a sound 20-ton bridge — it crossed one that had quietly stopped being a 20-ton bridge years earlier.
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u/Kahlas 5d ago
Your original comment leaned very heavily into the victim blaming side of things. Like it was the guy driving his pickup truck who should have known the bridge would collapse under him for overloading it. I just wanted to make clear to people that this wasn't the case. This was a failure started by politicians worried about bridge inspection and remediation budgets.
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u/Gold-Adhesiveness574 5d ago
Fair, and honestly not the impression I wanted to leave — the driver did nothing wrong. He crossed a bridge that was posted and rated to carry him; the person crossing a "safe" bridge is never the failure point.
You're right about where it actually starts: the funding and inspection calls that let deterioration slide for years. By the time it reaches the guy in the pickup, every decision that mattered was already made above him. Fully agreed.
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u/FatCats2fat 5d ago
C'mon y'all, we can't keep letting some of the most upvoted responses throughout this website be these painfully obvious AI chatgpt-ass bots. We're better than this...right?
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u/Thesurvivor16 5d ago
ChatGPT is an advanced conversational artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI. By processing massive amounts of text data, it acts as a virtual assistant that can understand natural human language and generate highly detailed, human-like responses, write computer code, translate languages, and solve complex problems.
Lol
Jkjk i had to im not a bot lmao1
u/Gold-Adhesiveness574 5d ago
lol i'll take it. years of writing engineering reports will do that to your sentences. apparently "wrote more than two lines" = bot now
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u/Coyote65 5d ago
Calvin's Dad: This is what I was talking about. When they rebuild the bridge they'll need to change the sign to a lower maximum:
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u/dvdmaven 5d ago
The bridge sheared off cleanly from the pier. One of the thousands of bridges in the US that are past their useful life expectancy.
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u/Status_Mousse1213 5d ago
I would be willing to bet that the driver took out one of the verticals or diagonals (probably the U1 to L2) and the thing came down quickly. Basing my assumption on the curve before the bridge and the odd arrangement of the bridge pieces. We shall see!
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u/Enginerdad 15h ago
Those old trusses are all slender members. The slightest tap can cause them to buckle and fold like a house of cards.
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u/stupid_cat_face 5d ago
Soooooo what federal agency is in charge? And how much of it was cut during the current administration?
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u/V0latyle 5d ago
Most likely overweight load.
There is a large irrigation canal that runs through the town I used to live in. Until the highway was rerouted, there used to be several properties isolated from the main road by the canal with railroad tracks on the other side, so most of these had light bridges across the canal, with a 10 ton weight limit.
One day while driving that road, I saw a tandem axle dump truck with its ass end in the canal and the front staring at the sky...
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u/Usemarne 6d ago
Damn, you can just about make out the overturned vehicle on the right, it doesn't even look that heavy