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Very sad.....
I can't imagine that bridge survived, that's a lot of fire!
That was within 20 miles of where I lived when in the NW. I am surprised more of the wooden trestle bridges up there have not been burned with all the brush fires.
The question remains, how the heck did it "catch on fire"???
That is horrible to see, in addition to all the other fires going on in the west.
One question. Assuming this is part of a larger fire that consumed that trestle / bridge - would a modern steel bridge have survived the fire structurally intact?
Stu?
Paul
Most likely the previously mentioned brush fires.
Thanks for posting but why does this pass the copyright filter on the forum?
@Quarter Gauger 48 posted:The question remains, how the heck did it "catch on fire"???
Just watch the news story at the link provided by the OP - it clearly notes there were fires in the area, and other structures were also burned.
There have been a lot of brush fires in that valley. With the heat, sagebrush and tumbleweeds that permeate the land not farmed or settled on, it is a tinder box, the entire Horse Heaven range has been plagued by fires this year, one nearly got my old home and shops.
@breezinup posted:Just watch the news story at the link provided by the OP - it clearly notes there were fires in the area, and other structures were also burned.
Thanks, I didn't see that link... when I watched the video'.. terrible shame...
@rplst8 posted:Thanks for posting but why does this pass the copyright filter on the forum?
Not sure why this is of concern to you, but applicants to be copyright policemen might start by familiarizing themselves with the Fair Use exception. 
@breezinup posted:Not sure why this is of concern to you, but applicants to be copyright policemen might start by familiarizing themselves with the Fair Use exception.
It’s of concern because I’ve had posts removed previously that linked to my own photographs and the moderators have consistently repeated that no copyrighted photographs can be posted. There have been numerous times where posting a photo would have helped to answer a question outright but I’ve avoided it altogether for fear of giving the impression I was not paying attention to the forum rules and risking banishment.
I apologize to the OP but it’s just frustrating not knowing what is and what isn’t allowed here.
@rplst8 posted:......the moderators have consistently repeated that no copyrighted photographs can be posted. There have been numerous times where posting a photo would have helped to answer a question outright but I’ve avoided it altogether for fear of giving the impression I was not paying attention to the forum rules and risking banishment.
I apologize to the OP but it’s just frustrating not knowing what is and what isn’t allowed here.
Well, you're hardly the Lone Ranger here. We all have to do the same. Many of us have had to stop posting photos that could be helpful to others in certain cases, due to copyright issues. Don't know about your personal photos you say you couldn't post, but you should state they're your personal photos when posting to avoid confusion. Most photos from other sources seem to have copyright protection, so you have to direct people to their location with links rather than posting the photos themselves. Posting a link to a TV news story is OK, which is what the OP was doing.
@breezinup posted:Well, you're hardly the Lone Ranger here. We all have to do the same. Many of us have had to stop posting photos that could be helpful to others in certain cases, due to copyright issues. Don't know about your personal photos you say you couldn't post, but you should state they're your personal photos when posting to avoid confusion. Most photos from other sources seem to have copyright protection, so you have to direct people to their location with links rather than posting the photos themselves. Posting a link to a TV news story is OK, which is what the OP was doing.
I know linking is OK, but OP posted a link AND an attachment that looked to be a screenshot of the web page.
A lot of times if you put a link up a preset picture will show up without you doing anything. It's embedded in the link.
@Railrunnin posted:That is horrible to see, in addition to all the other fires going on in the west.
One question. Assuming this is part of a larger fire that consumed that trestle / bridge - would a modern steel bridge have survived the fire structurally intact?
Stu?
Paul
This is really challenging my engineering abilities 
, but I'd say yes, a steel structure would fare better than a timber structure during a brush/wild fire.
Stu
@rtraincollector posted:A lot of times if you put a link up a preset picture will show up without you doing anything. It's embedded in the link.
That is not the case in this situation. This was a link AND an attachment.
Attachments
Images (1)
So . . . back to the bridge . . . I looked on a map to see where this is located. It looks like it might be on the Oregon Trunk. Can anyone verify this?
No, Tom, not on the Oregon Trunk. It is a former NP/BN branch in Benton County, WA that connected Prosser to the towns of Sunnyside and Granger. It is now operated by Columbia Basin Railway.
If you are on Facebook there are some excellent pictures posted by the Benton County, WA Sheriff's Office (also appearing on the Stampede Pass Railfans group pages).
I believe it is the rail bridge across the Yakima River at coordinates 46.237964, -119.665986 on Google Maps.
Was this on the line known as the Camas Prairie?
@NOT LionelLLC posted:This is really challenging my engineering abilities
Stu
I agree,. Even though modern steel structures tend to be fireproofed, the purpose is generally not to *keep the steel from burning*, it's to increase the amount of time that steel in a confined or enclosed area can be subject to heat from flammable materials burning around it without weakening. It gives fire crews precious minutes to reduce the interior temperature before catastrophic failure of the structure.
The trestle is not in a confined space, and has plenty of air moving around it to help remove heat of burning materials *around* the trestle. So unfortunately, the wood itself was providing the fuel (cellulose and probably all sorts of petroleum-based preservatives if it's an old bridge). Steel would have no such issues. Its surrounding environment would not likely get hot enough to weaken it. Although the ties on top might have burned anyway.
Or maybe the question was asked tongue-in-cheek, in which case I'm coming across as a know-it-all punk. Either way, the answer stands!
Thanks to all who posted about this bridge fire. This is a good discussion.
Thanks for posting JOVILA, i'm driving out that way (from Chicago) in a couple of weeks. Hopefully things will be under control by then.
Charlie
This bridge was in a very low density population area, along the old primary road that the Interstate made into a local "Route 66".
It is the favorite route for the car clubs, Motorcycle enthusiasts and Winery enthusiasts when traveling from Benton City to the Upper Valley. Long known for its fruits and produce, this area has blossomed into wine country that is as popular as NAPA Valley.
I enjoyed seeing their vintage Diesels switching out loaded cars from the Cold Storage, Food Processing, manufacturing facilities in Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser. It will be a loss if this bridge is beyond their means to replace.
Dominic Mazoc,
This is in the lower Yakima Valley, as far as I know ( I lived there for 41 years), it is not part of the Camas Prairie, which winds across a lot of the North West.
Camas Prairie RR is in Northern Idaho.
The bridge that burned is less than a mile off the BNSF Main that runs down the south side of the Yakima River between Yakima and Pasco Washington.
The BNSF line continues down through Badger Canyon, splits in Kennewick, Washington, one crosses the Columbia River to the main facility and along the Hump yard in Pasco as it continues toward Ritzville while the other continues through Finley and Hover as it curves along the North side of the Columbia River.
@Railrunnin posted:That is horrible to see, in addition to all the other fires going on in the west.
One question. Assuming this is part of a larger fire that consumed that trestle / bridge - would a modern steel bridge have survived the fire structurally intact?
Stu?
Paul
Also assuming this is not a tongue in cheek question. Structural steel is is quite resilient through around 780 to 790 deg F. At 800 degrees and up bad things start to happen to the such as permanent changes to the grain structure and embrittlement. Steel can be made to be used at temperatures about to 1100 deg F but there is no reason to build a bridge out of such material, and the relatively small delta T would not help you against a large hot fire.
As far as surviving a fire the answer is generally it would fare much better, but no guarantees. A small brush fire around the concrete based for steel bridge piers would likely be insignificant, and for the reason if the fire was contained to the valley, any wooden ties on top might survive. Flame resistant coatings would of course help. The flip side is that a modern steel bridge will be designed for very efficient use of the materials. So if one section gets fire damaged it is possible that a resulting failure could transfer stress and cause mechanical damage to adjoining sections.
Of course since the material itself doesn't really burn, a steel bridge would also be less likely to propagate a fire. In this case if a brush fire approached the bridge from on side it may have been possible to extinguish the fire with minor damage to the bridge, and the bridge itself would not have carried the fire to the other side.
John Z.
Thank you for the replies to my question . Of course steel will fare better than wood - I just wondered at what point the metal changes and becomes insufficient or unknown to handle the load after a severe fire situation.
Paul
@Railrunnin posted:Thank you for the replies to my question . Of course steel will fare better than wood - I just wondered at what point the metal changes and becomes insufficient or unknown to handle the load after a severe fire situation.
Paul
As an aside, and apropos jha563's comments above, some interesting information about this is available if you read about the loss of structural integrity of the steel structural beams of the World Trade Center buildings during 9/11.
My friend and I walked across that bridge many times when I was a kid. It was part of the Northern Pacific at that time. Don
