From seven months ago, that is one well rotted fish!


Fly safe??
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Delta Airlines oops while taxiing on runway.
Delta runway taxi accident.

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Carola bridge, one of the four main bridges crossing the Elbe river in Dresden/Saxony (500K inhabitants) collapsed partly one day ago at 3 a.m. Bridge consists of three separate bridges (2 for cars, 1 for trams and pedestrians). Only the tram bridge collapsed. Last tram crossed the bridge just 18 minutes before. Bridge was build in 1967-71. It is the prestressed concrete bridge with the longest span (120 meters) in eastern Germany. Bridge condition was known to be poor for a long time; corrosion on exposed prestressing elements was reported in maintenance assessments; renovation planned for 2025. Middle section now blocks the river. Flood is expected for the weekend.



Trams each 10minutes and 30,000 cars crossed the bridge each day. There will be a traffic chaos for the foreseeable future.

[photos]

Good news is: no death or injured.

Interesting pictures. Some appear to show how the bridge was constructed, in particular 2/24 & 7/24. I hope the authorities get to the route cause of this failure quickly, and that bridges of similar construction are inspected and "cured" before any more collapse.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Interesting pictures. Some appear to show how the bridge was constructed, in particular 2/24 & 7/24. I hope the authorities get to the route cause of this failure quickly, and that bridges of similar construction are inspected and "cured" before any more collapse.

I find 21/24 the most interesting.

At the time, it was an extremely modern, cost-efficient construction that for the first time had only one pillar in the river. (The previous bridge, blown up in WW2, still had two river pillars). But as with the Ponte Morandi in Genoa, if the prestressing wires are embedded in concrete, you cannot inspect them visually or replace individual wires during maintenance. You are restricted to inspect the concrete from the outside for cracks, so you really know almost nothing about the condition within. I'm no civil engineer but I think today's bridges are constructed differently; with easier to inspect support structures.

Someone won't be getting the best father of the year award
5-year-old backs car into traffic while driving 3-year-old sibling, Texas cops say

A 5-year-old drove their father’s car onto a road as he shopped inside a Family Dollar store, Texas deputies say.

The child’s 3-year-old sibling was also discovered to be in the car, which the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said had backed out of the parking lot of the store on Monday, Sept. 9.

According to a report from the sheriff’s office, witnesses saw the younger child exit the car as it was in the San Antonio road. The child was picked up by bystanders, authorities said.

The 5-year-old then put the car into drive and reentered the parking lot, running into a curb, deputies said.

The father of the children, deputies said, later told investigators he had left his children unattended in the vehicle with the ignition on as he shopped inside the store “for less than ten minutes.”

“The father stated he was alerted by staff his vehicle had moved and crashed in the parking lot,” according to the sheriff’s report.

Deputies said the children were not injured and no damage was done to any vehicles or property.

The 41-year-old father was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office. Charges were not announced.

Serco should be charged over this bit of dangerous stupidity.

A weird device that looks like it stepped out of a science fiction program spotted on the roadside has left drivers and cyclists alike incredibly puzzled.


It is illegal to park in bike lanes, or do they think that they're above the law?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c93p35wd00eo Another truck gets hit by aTrain

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Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care

Carnival cruise ship collides with large piece of ice

The words “Titanic moment” are possibly the last thing you want to hear on a boat – but that was the phrase used by one passenger on board the Carnival Spirit cruise ship last week, after the vessel unexpectedly struck a large piece of ice.

No one was hurt on board and the ship was undamaged by the incident, which a Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson described as the vessel hitting “an errant piece of drifting ice.”

Carnival Spirit was sailing in Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska, a waterway south of the city of Juneau known for its spectacular beauty – and pieces of floating ice.

Videos of the incident circulated on social media in the aftermath, as multiple passengers filmed the moment the ship collided with the large piece of ice.

... Despite these difficult conditions, “we very rarely – if ever – see any issues related to sailings in icy waters,” said cruise expert Chris Gray Faust, executive editor of Cruise Critic, a review site and online cruise community.

“Today’s cruise ships are specifically built to sail a number of different waters,” Gray Faust told CNN Travel. “Those that sail in Alaska are not only able to withstand icy waters, they have experienced captains who are familiar with the landscape, which is why the incident being reported caused no issue to the ship or the sailing."

No harm. No foul. Just pushed a arrant ice cube out of the way.

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That'll need fixing again.

Footage has captured the moment a Qantas plane ripped up part of a runway at a major airport during take-off.

A Qantas plane tore up part of a runway during takeoff on Sunday at Perth Airport – prompting urgent repair work.

Footage shared online shows Qantas flight QF71, bound for Singapore, moving along the main runway around 12.15pm, before large fragments appeared to be torn off the runway.

“Drama at Perth Airport this afternoon as a Qantas A330 rips up part of the newly relaid section of runway 03,” X user and aviation enthusiast Alex posted.

“There was a Silkway B748-8F due to land after this (and) now was diverted to Adelaide.”

The original footage was captured by aero photographer Mitchell, who goes by the Instagram handle YPPH Plane Guy.

He said the plane reportedly had its brakes on as it increased power.

“(That) isn’t the situation with lots of departures, which probably contributed to the amount of power on the particular area,” he said, according to the Daily Mail.

He said the spot is one of the freshest areas of the ongoing runway renewals........

That'll need fixing again.

Yeah, just a bit of concern that the newly laid section failed.

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Grant
Darwin NT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c70w8w5lw6jo
Officer climbs into moving vehicle to help driver
Officer climbs into moving vehicle to help driver

Traffic cameras captured the moment an officer from the Macomb County Sheriff's Department in Michigan jumped into a moving vehicle to help the driver.

The driver was experiencing a medical emergency when deputies were dispatched, according to the Sheriff's Department. Once Deputy Nicole Miron got inside the vehicle, she was able to stop it.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham commended the officer for her response. “Due to her quick thinking and selfless actions, she safely ended what could have been a tragic situation," Wickersham said.

The driver was transported to an area hospital for further medical care.

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Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care

How easy is it to steal a control key?
17 year old takes train for a joyride

Not as hard as you want. And possibly not stolen by those involved - they used to pop up on auction sites with boring regularity.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Nebraska experts weigh highway safety and electric vehicles

The Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has mobilized to answer the safety and military defense questions raised by the burgeoning number of electric vehicles (EV) on the nation’s roadways.

In research sponsored by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and partnered with Auburn University's Transportation Research Institute (led by Laurence Rilett, former Mid-America Transportation Center and Nebraska Transportation Center director), the Nebraska facility recently conducted a first-of-its-kind crash test of an EV pickup truck to better understand whether currently used guardrails and U.S. military protection measures against hostile vehicles are prepared for the growing number of EVs.

Thousands of fatalities result each year from more than 100,000 run-off-road crashes involving traffic infrastructure such as roadside barriers.

"There is some urgency to address this issue," said Cody Stolle, MwRSF assistant director. "As the percentage of EVs on the road increases, the proportion of run-off-road crashes involving EVs will increase as well."

A crash test performed on a guardrail on October 12, 2023 highlighted the concern. At 60 mph, the 7,000-plus-pound, 2022 Rivian R1T truck tore through the barrier with little reduction in speed. In a separate test conducted in September 2023, a 2018 Tesla Model 3 sedan lifted the guardrail and passed below it, coming to rest behind the barrier.

A crash test performed on a guardrail on October 12, 2023 highlighted the concern. At 60 mph, the 7,000-plus-pound, 2022 Rivian R1T truck tore through the barrier with little reduction in speed. In a separate test conducted in September 2023, a 2018 Tesla Model 3 sedan lifted the guardrail and passed below it, coming to rest behind the barrier.

Oouch... large inertial masses; resp. a mid-sized car with a low silhouette but also a very low center of gravity meets road safety equipment of the 20th century. Guard rails are supposed to detach from the ground anchor and deform in order to absorb impact energy. But 'lifted'? When were guard rails developed and standardized... 1960s? Surprising findings. I still haven't heard of such research or tests with BEVs being carried out in my country.

There is a weight mass and placement difference with BEV vehicles. Those batteries are not light.
The Rivian truck at over 3 metric tons at 60 mph. The majority of the vehicle weigh at guardrail height. The guardrail didn’t stand a chance of properly doing its intended job.

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Surely guard rails on mixed-use roads would be designed to handle accidents involving trucks ("Heavy Goods Vehicles") travelling at speed, too? They probably wouldn't be able to stop a runaway completely, but they should contain as much of the kinetic energy as possible, and guide the vehicle back onto its own side of a divided highway - trying to minimise the risk of a crossover and head-on collision?

In the video of the Rivian truck ploughing through the lightweight guardrail. It had no noticeable effect on it. This style of guardrail is much more effective on much lighter vehicles. Now the K-rail that took the head on collision and proudly stopped it is in use as a guardrail in many areas.

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