May 1, 2007: Melted freeway

[daniwong]

So - I live in the bay area - but I live in south bay - San Jose - and I work in Fremont (about 30 mins south of Oakland). This was expected to cause ALL sorts of traffic nightmares - but so far it hasn't been that bad. Public transportation is free this week. Oddly enough - everyone has been pretty gracious about the whole thing.

Funniest thing though - CalTrans has said that they hope to have this fixed by the end of the week - I say HAHAHAHAHAHAH to that.

[tulzscha]

Originally Posted by daniwong

Funniest thing though - CalTrans has said that they hope to have this fixed by the end of the week - I say HAHAHAHAHAHAH to that.

Eh, it *should* all be modular, so they just need to unbolt a few sections, and slap in a couple new ones. Unless the support pillars are damaged, which they shouldn't be - concrete is pretty fireproof. Didn't they show us that in a movie? Volcano, i think it was?

Is it a modular structure? I have no idea...

[tw]

Originally Posted by tulzscha

Unless the support pillars are damaged, which they shouldn't be - concrete is pretty fireproof.

Concrete is not fireproof. Concrete simply raises the temperature necessary to destroy the structure. In Philadelphia many years ago, rags in a pile started a skyscraper fire that destroyed the structural integrity of that entire building. A 30+ story building had to be disassembled because concrete encased supports may have been too hot. If concrete is so fireproof, then the building would have been cleared and quickly reoccupied.

That fire was fueled only by room furnishings. This gasoline fire was far hotter. Surprising is that the damage was so limited.

Is this new roads built after to replace and bypass the Admiral Nimitz freeway?

[SquadRat1]

Originally Posted by tw

Concrete is not fireproof. Concrete simply raises the temperature necessary to destroy the structure. In Philadelphia many years ago, rags in a pile started a skyscraper fire that destroyed the structural integrity of that entire building. A 30+ story building had to be disassembled because concrete encased supports may have been too hot. If concrete is so fireproof, then the building would have been cleared and quickly reoccupied.

That fire was fueled only by room furnishings. This gasoline fire was far hotter. Surprising is that the damage was so limited.

Is this new roads built after to replace and bypass the Admiral Nimitz freeway?

Correct....concrete contains moisture. So when fire heats it up it "spalls", cracks and breaks apart.. Then the fire hits the steel and guess what? It begins to weaken (not melt). Steel weakens at approx. 1000 degees, meaning it could start at 900 or 1100 etc...
I could bore you with more FACTS about steel and concrete. But, I'll leave it at this