5 Massive Bridge Failures Caught On Camera

from a massive bridge in new zealand buckling and floating away after days of torrential flooding to the shocking moment a historic bridge in pakistan crumbles into a million pieces here are five massive bridge failures that were caught on camera chiang mai is the largest city in northern thailand and the country's second largest city overall it rests on the ping river and the name translates to new city but the city is ripe with east asian history dating back to its founding at the turn of the 13th century of course few architectural marvels remain from the time as the area is also known for destructive floods the flood season was awful in october of 2017 when a tropical depression sent heavy rain across northern thailand and parts of vietnam floods lasted all month affecting 23 provinces and 120 000 households and while most infrastructure is built to withstand the impressive water power one 30 year old bridge missed the mark oh oh believing the bridge will keep them safe spectators watch and record as debris floats down the river and passes under their feet although it seems like some are too timid to cross perhaps afraid that the bridge could collapse at any second thankfully our cameraman isn't too bothered he records as water rushes around the debris but something must have spooked the bridge folk as the whole thing clears out moments later then mother nature shows her true power and devours the bridge into the murky water below events like these are no stranger to the people of thailand floods are a common natural disaster happening at least once per year somewhere in the country they usually tie into the monsoon season which begins in early october and ends sometime in march if you thought spring showers were a problem where you are just wait until you experience one in thailand hasanabad pakistan tucks itself into the country's northernmost tip about 2100 meters above sea level surrounded by the himalayan mountains hasanabad isn't the middle eastern village you might be picturing only about 1 500 people live in the town and all 1500 were barred from crossing the hasanabad bridge in may of 2022. record high temperatures swept across a country that regularly sports 100 plus degree days in april a city in southwestern pakistan hit 120 fahrenheit among the highest april temperatures recorded worldwide while it didn't get that hot on the opposite end of the country it did get hot enough to do severe damage [Music] authorities do what they can to get people away from the bridge they blow whistles and holler at onlookers knowing it isn't safe to be near the water's edge still a local premier times journalist ijlal hussain stood his ground to record the catastrophe bit by bit chunks of concrete fall off the bridge and splash into the water then the entire far side collapses the water leaves behind a grey crater of destruction the mere skeleton of a bridge that once was further downstream the water continued to wreak havoc footage even shows the moment erosion on a hill leads to a massive landslide so what caused such violent flooding pakistani officials blamed the relentless heat wave that melted part of the shisper glacier which caused the glacial lake to rise by 40 percent and eventually overflow the raging rapids did far more damage than what we see here they damaged several homes buildings and even two power plants because of global warming more than 3 000 glacial lakes loom over pakistan and other himalayan areas extreme temperatures melt the glaciers that form these lakes in the first place but as they keep melting the water has nowhere to go but up and over the new zealand islands sit a few thousand miles off the southeast coast of australia the country itself splits into two main islands north and south with the latter being the larger of the two while north island is more heavily populated south island is home to the southern new zealand alps and the country's highest peak mount cook standing over 12 000 feet state highway 6 or sh-6 runs from the northeastern tip of south island 722 miles down to the southern shores at one point the highway must cross the waihou river a body fed by melt water from the nearby glaciers but during a period of heavy rain and melting snow in march of 2016 water levels grew to dangerous heights and the current was much stronger than normal this put many bridges along the river under extreme stress ultimately leading to this incredible collapse [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh the whole bridge is going holy taking it fog makes it a little hard to see but the close part of the bridge failed shortly before our cameraman started rolling onlookers watch in awe of the powerful rapids moving underneath the waihou river bridge slowly the failed piece of bridge inches closer to the water once it's somewhat submerged the powerful rapids push against the reinforced steel frame eventually the entire bridge gives way and floats downstream in a crumbled pile of debris mayor bruce smith declared a state of emergency and called the heavy rain a 100-year event he had never seen every river in westland impacted simultaneously and hoped to never see it again eighteen frantic days later the bridge was back up and running thanks to the quick work of contractors and government agencies though the patchwork repairs were only enough to sustain traffic during the day the crews shut the bridge down at night to keep working on more durable maintenance the nanfang ao fishing port is a popular fishing harbor in taiwan that's been in operation since 1923. the port acts as taiwan's largest supplier of mackerel supplying 90 of all mackerel consumed in the country taiwan has been through a lot in recent years so a catastrophic bridge collapse in 2019 was the last thing they needed at the time the nanfang ao bridge was the only steel single arch bridge in the country construction began in 1996 and wrapped up in 1998 but almost 20 years later corrosion improper maintenance and disrepair caused it to fall 500 feet into the water security camera footage captures a perfectly normal day in the port then without warning the nan fangio bridge collapses plummeting hundreds of feet into the water below the impact sends a powerful wave across the harbor shaking the boats docked near the camera now while the footage is incredible the collapse was a complete catastrophe officials feared that five people may have been on the bridge when it fell and the ensuing search and rescue mission was hindered by murky underwater conditions the collapse claimed six lives from those standing on the bridge to those on the fishing boats below miraculously an oil truck driver who was on the bridge when it broke was saved by petrol station workers who pulled him from the wreckage and carried him to safety he suffered several fractures including a spinal cord injury and underwent emergency surgery thankfully he made a full recovery it was an engineering and natural catastrophe of epic proportions and one that countries around the world can hopefully learn from the late 1930s and early 40s were an odd time for america while hitler was trying to take over the world in europe americans kept themselves occupied with massive construction projects across the country one of those projects was the tacoma narrows bridge built between 1938 and 1940. it spanned the tacoma narrows straight between tacoma and kitsap peninsula in washington state the bridge opened for business on july 1 1940 but collapsed into the water four months later workers nicknamed the bridge galloping gertie because of how it looked in strong winds if the winds got too rough the bridge would bend twist and turn like string cheese workers tried everything possible to stabilize the bridge but their efforts were of little use remember it's only 1940 the bridge collapsed on november 7th of 1940 as 40 mile per hour winds rocked it back and forth [Music] following the partial collapse workers eventually dismantled the remaining towers and cables selling them as scrap metal the last person to drive on the bridge was leonard coatsworth an editor at the tacoma news tribune he was standing on the bridge when he felt it shake beneath him the warbling made it impossible to get back to his car so leonard crawled back to the toll plaza behind him he must have made it in the nick of time because as he turned around he saw the entire bridge collapse behind him taking his car along with it though people tried to replace the bridge america's entry into world war ii put the rebuild on hold finally in 1950 the new tacoma narrows bridge was open to the public then in july of 2007 a parallel sister bridge opened right next to it well that's about all we have for you today but if you enjoyed this video and want to see another just like it then be sure to click the link on screen now as always thank you all for watching and be sure to tune in next time [Music]

Channel: Underworld

Views: 4,295,467

Keywords: Underworld, Underworld channel, Top 10, Top 5, Facts, viral, recent discoveries, mystery, scary, 2022, bridge, collapse, bridge failure, catastrophic failure, caught on camera

Id: Il0U9_WPGPk

Length: 13min 31sec (811 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 26 2022