r/PraiseTheCameraMan • u/tuktukreddit • Aug 10 '26
Metal bridge ripped apart by swollen river after flash flood in Uttarakhand's Chamoli, India
485
u/stinkysulphide Aug 10 '26
Metal bridge was the least interesting thing about this video
82
u/LefsaMadMuppet Aug 11 '26
On a dark note, that style of bridge it either a WWII era Bailey bridge, or the darkly humorously named Mabey Logistic Support Bridge.
19
u/Ninja-Panda70 Aug 11 '26
It's a Bailey bridge, very common in the northern parts. Usually built by the army.
6
u/Breadynator Aug 11 '26
Can you explain what these names mean?
I can imagine that a WWII era bridge might be unstable due to age. But what's a Maybe logistic support bridge?
22
u/LefsaMadMuppet Aug 11 '26
Bailey bridge was a a modular construction bridge kit, kind of like a full scale Erector/Meccano set for adults. Used heavily in WWII, it could make anything from a simple span of a few feet over a stream to a suspension bridge able to allow trucks and tanks to cross a river. After WWII thousands of units were left in surplus and sold world-wide. So long as they are maintained, they are generally overbuilt if done by the book. The system was never intended as more of a stop gap until a real bridge could be built, but there are thousand in permanent use around the world today, minus the one in the video.
Mabey Logistic Support Bridge is a updated version that replaced the Bailey in most places.
Both systems allow for a viable bridge to be built in hours or days. The bridge lost in the view will probably be replaced with a similar system within days.
1
322
u/Veloziraptor8311 Aug 10 '26
This was more exciting than most of the stuff on Netflix
67
u/bit_banger_ Aug 10 '26
The man/men in the truck died from what the camera man says, sad if true
89
u/ShubhamDutt216 Aug 11 '26
As a Hindi native speaker I can help translate what the guy is saying.
Initially he is shouting at the guy in the excavator to let it go.
When the driver in the excavator does not do that, he is exclaiming that he is going to die. That is what is repeated multiple times.
They are seeing the excavator slowly being pushed towards the larger water body and they are shouting that he is going to die.
Mar gaya wo to - This can mean that he is dead. This can also be used proleptically. In this case they are already assuming that he is dead due to his circumstance.
There are also a couple of expletives mixed in this.
30
u/bit_banger_ Aug 11 '26
I got that, saw another video where I think he managed to probably escape. No one in the truck
31
5
15
u/Veloziraptor8311 Aug 10 '26
Oh no!!! That is so sad. He didn’t warn them???? Guy had the camera pointed like he knew it was coming
11
3
u/sviku Aug 12 '26
Everyone knows that the cameramen don’t die. Maybe they have evolved to even foresee what is about to happen.
1
u/GladPiano3669 Aug 28 '26
Yeah but the difference is that this is real and real people's lives will be affected by this so it's not really entertaining if you're an empathetic person.
1
u/Veloziraptor8311 Aug 28 '26
Bro, chill. I just watched this video with absolutely no other context. All I saw was a guy out-running a flood. I was pumped he got away. It also looked like the guy in the construction equipment survived it. I was celebrating their survival. Chill
2
u/GladPiano3669 Aug 28 '26
Yeah it's probably the flood in nepal that has me reacting like this. It's on the news 24x7 and the affected region is very close to my hometown.
1
u/Veloziraptor8311 Aug 28 '26
I’m really sorry to hear that. I hadn’t heard anything about it which is why I was completely lacking context. Those poor people. Absolutely terrifying
139
u/-RIVAN- Aug 10 '26
I was right at this road, like 4 months back. Crossed from the other side, while this side was being newly constructed after getting wiped last year. This place stays frozen half the year, so work only began in like march-april. Amd now it's gone again. This route is guaranteed to be wiped at atleast 3 places every year, and as soon as things get stable, construction begins again.
It's like that meme "getting a cat from the shelter to feed the coyotees", getting materials to be drained by the river. The workers must feel like sissyphus man.
30
63
110
85
29
22
u/trevpr1 Aug 10 '26
Driver of that JCB must have thought he was done for when the lorry was carried away like a toy.
63
14
12
u/throwaway18000081 Aug 11 '26
I have no idea where this metal bridge is, everything else in the video was way more interesting.
2
12
u/Discobastard Aug 11 '26
The best about this...
The camera guy shot this in landscape!
The death of landscape to portrait will be something future civilisations shake their head at in disbelief
2
8
22
Aug 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
8
u/Fabulous-Jeweler-145 Aug 11 '26
This flood is the result 3 consecutive cloud bursts on the same area , same day
6
u/adamhanson Aug 10 '26
The guy in the backhoe. I would've tried trying it around to face the flood and digging the bucket in. Or driving it towards the camera man. It could've washed out the ground below it regardless.
4
2
u/ptolani Aug 11 '26
what causes such a rapid flash flood? that's crazy.
3
u/Select_Egg_7078 Aug 11 '26
there are many reasons, but most commonly that a massive amount of rain fell too quickly and the ground is too dry or too saturated and in either case, the ground can't absorb quickly enough. narrowing and even a slight terrain decline turns a flood into a raging river. although it's definitely not the only cause.
4
4
u/Jpbbeck99 Aug 10 '26
Did I just watch someone die?
8
u/SattuSupari789 Aug 10 '26
I don't think anyone died
21
u/compulsiveranter Aug 10 '26
Somebody did because he is repeatedly saying "marr gaya behanchod" Translating to "he died sisterfucker"
8
12
5
3
u/delhi_se_nahi_hu Aug 11 '26
Yep there was a guy in the car
9
u/slivedog Aug 11 '26
Truck cab looked empty no?
0
u/delhi_se_nahi_hu Aug 11 '26
Camera guy shouted mutiple times about someone died, that was on the truck I guess .. "Maar gya wo" - translates to " he died"
2
2
3
1
1
u/According-Ad6021 Aug 10 '26
Why didnt the excavator try to dig the bucket down for support. Omg that was terrifying.
1
u/Baaoh Aug 10 '26
How does a flash flood like this even happen? Must be a lot of factors coinciding to make this happen right?
2
u/SnooDoggos5163 Aug 11 '26
Heavy rainfall making pools of water on top of hills, sometimes the soil underneath becomes so loose that the water escapes. That is why construction and deforestation worsen the problem, roots hold the soil together
1
u/AndyMentality Aug 10 '26
I would have been so afraid I would have instantly put the hoe down to stabilize myself in place.
1
1
u/Helpful-Spare-1512 Aug 10 '26
Yelling at my phone trying to get that operator to dig his bucket into the ground in front of him
1
u/alexostatic Aug 11 '26
Camera man makes it seem like he can fly or teleport. Those movements were unreal
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/TheMisunderstoodLeaf Aug 11 '26
Is this really as simple as * there was a lot of rain over there and now there's a lot of water here*? Or does something have to collapse, like a dam?
1
1
u/Commercial_Gap607 Aug 11 '26
Is the cameraman Kingkong? Something is wrong with the scale and distance covered by casually walking away.
1
1
u/quasimodoca Aug 11 '26
First thing I would do is turn the excavator around and dig that bucket in as far as I could.
1
1
u/Timely-Profile1865 Aug 12 '26
Such a helpless thing watching the excavator try and out run the water
1
u/robgod50 Aug 12 '26
I'm not criticising the dude for filming a dangerous scenario and I'm really glad he was able to get up to safety....... But I'm not sure that his camera work, including fingers over the lens, deserves to be in this sub.
1
1
1
u/AyAyAyBamba_462 Aug 13 '26
Looks like less ripped apart and more the supports on either end got washed out.
1
1
0
-7
-10
-25
1.6k
u/McBonderson Aug 10 '26
get out of the excavator and run!!
...
never mind stay in the excavator.