Just Another Day on the River

[Tamaroa]

If you want to see a truly remarkable sequence of photgraphs, click on this link. A bystander happened to be on a bridge as a tug lost control and hit the bridge. The recovery is just amazing.

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com...wa/towboat.htm

Bill

[David]

I have seen this photo sequence before and really wonder if it is real or faked. A couple of things do not add up for me in these pictures.

1. The alignment of the railing on the bridge is static. Bridges are built to be able to move under stress so they do not snap apart like a popsicle stick. The railing running along the right hand side of the pictures can be clearly seen to have either been shifted by the current of the river or just by settling over time before the boat strikes the bridge. What is missing is any further movement of this railing under the pressure of the boat hitting it and scrapping under the bridge.

2. Why are there people on the bridge to begin with? In the 12th picture the author points out that the guard rail of the bridge is under water. This would indicate that the bridge itself was underwater were it made landfall on that side of the river. The third and forth pictures show us what appears to be a father and his young child and an older gentlemen. I hardly think a father would take his child through a raging river covering a bridge head for any reason. The older gentlemen would undoubtedly have difficulty gaining access to this bridge as well. It seems much more likely the boat was spiced into the pictures rather then believing any of these three people, who coincidentally appear completely dry in the photos, forged a raging river for this front seat view of the show.

I could analyze these photos further but I would much rather see their real history

[colmurph]

I work in the Maritime Industry and I have seen the photos before. Believe me, they're real! There was a full Coast Guard report on the incident and the photos have been published in various industry magazines.

[David]

Very interesting. Colmurph do you remember the name of the boat or bridge or the state in which the incident occurred? I would love to read the full story.