Well, shit. Never heard of a highway collapsing like that before. Usually I hear about floods washing 'em away

Yea, it was an unusual combination of circumstances that led to a particularly hot fire beneath that section of the highway. It weakened the structure to the point of collapse.

Funny thing, when reinforced concrete is heated past a certain point, it starts to release CO2 and convert back into lime. It begins to spall in big chunks as the weakened structure sags. If it gets hot enough, the rebar will soften, and eventually it falls apart like wet clay. That's what happened to the World TRade center. :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKQ.....ature=youtu.be

Here's a video of it, it's fucking crazy

The same thing happened up in Connecticut maybe 5-6 years ago. A petrol tank truck caught on fire and it melted the roadway and the structure supporting I-95 which is a major North South highway.

That must be so stressful especially with such a busy day anyway. Can you talk to your school about studying from home a bit more until it's sorted? You have circumstances outside your control. <3

I hope things get better soon.

I'm going to try to muscle through it... I thought about swapping one of my classes for the online version, but it turned out to be a hell of a lot more work...

That's very brave of you. I hope the problem sorts itself out soon and please remember to give yourself some time where you can to relax. <3 Good luck.

I live in the metro area too, and I can understand your hesitation about traveling on the Marta especially at night. Have you considered getting a weapon like mace to protect yourself?

I think the state law for pepper spray is you have to have a permit if it isn't flat out illegal.

you can buy pepper spray from any outdoor or sports store down here.

yeah... I was thinking of maybe using Marta on my days where I only have to be at school 2-5. That'd save me the added fuckstorm of rush traffic...

Some crackhead burned down a highway.

cant imagine being that guy. sooo many people hate him right now

No updates about when they will finish repairing the highway? Well, it is a nasty thing doing backtracks everyday, but at least you are more safe than walking to home late night... Hope things get better and you can enjoy FWA though =/

They're still cleaning up the rubble, then they got to still take more of the road down from the other side because they might have been damaged to do to the heat. So ya, Atlanta got screwed by this. A lot of the traffic went threw that 6 or 8 lain highway. Didn't help there was a stock pile of plastic cable covering that caught of fire. Nothing can put it out once it got going.

Goddamn =/ Guess they will probably finish it by the half of the year more or less... Argh, such a shame this happening and making everyone's routine a mess.

Unfortunately 85 is going to be shut down in that area for months, they have to take down 3 extra sections of the highway at least to repair it. The fire was intentional arson, someone lit a huge pile of pvc pipes on fire which after they get past their burning point and break down, it becomes an oil fire.

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this and I definitely think you've got a good head on your shoulders to not screw around with downtown Atlanta at night. I wish you the best of luck.

I live just south of Atlanta now (and used to live actually in Atlanta, near Buckhead) and heard about this! I knew as soon as this happened is was going to be a big clusterfuck and probably take forever to fix. :( ATL is not really known for high quality roads and speedy repairs. Best of luck working around this, it has to be incredibly frustrating! Hang in there!

This was actually on the news here. One of the first times I actually hear someone on FA being affected by a news thing that ISN'T a natural disaster.

Have you tried Highway 92?

I live up northeast in doraville and have to get to midtown ; - ;

Then that's a pain, I use to live in Douglasville. Only option I can think of is maybe, eh never mind, 166 wouldn't help either. Sorry love your artwork though.

We can be pouty buddies at FWA Pidge. It'll be okay, we'll be okay. Foff is the adult he will take care of us surely.

thank god for that

Downtown isn't the best for back roads. I would take the bus if I were you. If you're concerned about night time (I am always myself) you can carry a taser, take an uber, or heck take your car to the station and back. You're welcome to hit me up if you have any questions. I know how stressful it is in Atlanta and maybe I can offer you some other advise.

I'm gonna try my best to drive... if they hadn't shut down 13 south I wouldn't have a problem!!! ; - ;

Had no idea you lived in GA..I have family that work downtown luckily they didnt have to cross i-85.

Yeah, heard about it when it happened and then heard on the radio yesterday it was actually arson..apparently they made the bridge out of plastic or it had alot of plastic in it?

omg XD there were industrial spools of plastic tubing stored underneath because it was close to a train depot.
and as for arson, I have a hard time believing that a crack addict BURNT A BRIDGE XDD

Never know, I mean bridges don't just spontaneously combust so arson is kinda the most likely cause if ya ask me, I donno if I believe the crack addict bit though.. e.e

Why does sonething like that starts burning? :o

there were industrial spools of plastic tubing stored underneath. Once they hit their burning point they're basically like burning petroleum.

HAHA!

An hour you say?

An hour long commute because a bridge burnt down?

Try driving from Calabasas to Los Angeles through the #1 voted worst designed and most congested freeway in the world "The 101 leading upto the 101-405 interchange and then their respective freeways after that" With no alternates and no side roads that are any faster.

Middle of the night it only takes about 25-30 minutes or less... Then, about any time during the usual business day it can take 3-5 hours to cover the same distance, and that is with no accidents and all lanes open.

It has taken me 5-6 hours, multiple times, to make it just 80 miles through that route... Meanwhile, a trip from the same starting point to Las Vegas, 300 miles away, only takes 4 1/2 hours.

So at the very least you can feel better knowing your situation isn't as bad as the daily grind out here. ^_^

it aint a contest.

K.. Never said it was. Just that it could be a whole lot worse. ^_^

Oh noes. That really sucks. I remember dealing with messes like that going to college. The whole time I was in school here they were doing construction on the main road in and out of campus. They're STILL working on it, and occasionally it's closed completely. It was always so stressful trying to get to and from class on time.

I hope that isn't an area the BF and I need to take on our way to FWA. We're coming down from TN and driving down there is going to be bad enough (I am directionally challenged and have anxiety) without having to wander into backroads.

That really sucks, and given that everyone in that area is now going to have to go around, I would suggest using Waze as your GPS/mapping solution. Even if you know the area well enough to not need one, Waze does the best job about knowing where traffic is and using alternate routes.

If you don't live on the Eastside or in the SWATS, I'm fairly sure you'll be ok if you take MARTA. idk, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to make ends meet.

Yeah - I'm up in Greenville, but I'll be in Atlanta the week after for Frolicon. I'm already trying to find alternative routes @n@

I hope that it doesn't take too long for them to get it running again D:

My family and I saw the whole thing on the news. It was certainly
one of the most impressive fires I've ever seen. I know it won't
help you much, but concentrate on the fact that twenty or thirty
people could have been easily killed when that span of
highway collapsed including yourself. And speaking just for me,
I'd much rather have you alive and inconvenienced, than dead.
The Furry art community has already lost too many special people.

appreciate the kind thoughts <3