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[nosey]

Haha new Port Mann Bridge closing down already, sounds like the Liberals just built their own fast ferry to me.

[Noahs Arc]

I love how the builder called the weather the last couple days an anomaly.
Come on really? Seemed like a pretty standard slushy wet windy mess we usually see down here to me.

[jimmywits]

Let's not rush tearing the old one down quite yet!!??

[Johnny Canuck]

I can't remember but did they have the cables up last year when it snowed? They could have foreseen this problem and could have prevented this whole fiasco that could have very easily killed someone.

[alwaysfishn]

It's apparently a problem with suspension bridges. However the weather condition that causes it, is rare. Happened in Tacoma in January....  http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/wsp-tacoma-narrows-bridge-closed-due-falling-ice/nGWg8/

In the case of the Port Mann I think you would probably be more accurate if you blamed them for the weather,   ... rather than the bridge.....    

[jimmywits]

It is a problem only with suspention bridges that are designed in a configuration where the cables run over top of the roadway. The Alex Fraser bridge is also a suspention bridge but the cables run up beside the roadway, not over top of it, no problem. The Lions gate bridge does not run cables over the roadway either and hence no problems. Somebody dropped the ball!

[alwaysfishn]

It is a problem only with suspention bridges that are designed in a configuration where the cables run over top of the roadway. The Alex Fraser bridge is also a suspention bridge but the cables run up beside the roadway, not over top of it, no problem. The Lions gate bridge does not run cables over the roadway either and hence no problems. Somebody dropped the ball!

Looks like somebody dropped the ball on the Alex Fraser as well....   http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/01/11/bc-fallingice.html

[jimmywits]

Looks like somebody dropped the ball on the Alex Fraser as well....   http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/01/11/bc-fallingice.html

There were 60 damage claims on the Port Mann!!

[leapin' tyee]

Right now is more than double

[chief]

Apparently contractors working on the bridge construction  last winter experienced similar problems and concerns were documented at safety meetings etc. Of course "powers that be" can't recall details but eventually s**t will hit the fan !!!

[1son]

Pretty crazy stuff girlfriend of mine had ice come crashing down and smashed up her windshield a few days ago must've been quite a scare I would image

[elroyperch]

watch those expansion joints on the bridge roadway there slicker than snot ,car in front of me braked hard  so i did to ,hit that steel i swear the car sped up!!pitched me over towards next lane,not cool in traffic

[nosey]

I can't imagine having to pay a toll to go to work and then have to miss half a days wages every now and then because the bridge is shut down, anybody that has ever stood under a bare cottonwood or maple tree in a slush storm should have been able to figure that one out. So far the builders only defense is that it was built to Canadian codes, which i guess means "we did not do due diligence on it before we started we just built it the cheapest way possible". It was built and designed by people that don't have snow, I hope they will be held accountable, if this continues it will cost the city  and the province extra billions if this is a going to be a regular thing. Maybe they'll have to raise the tolls to pay for the shut downs.

[troutbreath]

I heard they are hiring temporary foreign workers to clear the ice from the cables as a solution.

[liketofish]

So are they going to close the bridge every time there is heavy snow? That will be so disrupting to traffic and communters.