Linc Ramps To Be Buttressed

While the Eagles’ loss on Sunday may have ended the Birds’ season, it’s not all bad. Now that the Birds will be out of Lincoln Financial Field until a preseason game sometime in August, the Eagles have time to repair those shaky ramps at the Linc.

The ramps, you may remember, first shook after the Eagles’ victory over Dallas in October. The Eagles’ brass and “engineering experts” said it was simply “lateral vibrations” and everything was okay. It was a classic he said, she said — or, in this case, Eagles said, drunk fans said — case.

Nothing much happened as the Eagles’ sunk to 5-6 and fans started leaving games not all of the same time. But when the Eagles rallied to make the playoffs, fans reported more shaking after the Eagles’ first round win over the Giants and even showed camera phone video that proved, uh, that the Eagles play at Lincoln Financial Field. (Even if that. It’s a camera phone video; you can’t tell a thing.)

Well, the Eagles have decided to fix the ramps in the offseason. While the ramps are up to code and there aren’t any cracks, the Eagles will hire people to buttress two of the stadium’s ramps. (A third ramp, in the southeast corner, didn’t have any problems.) It’s a problem that, according to Huntington Valley engineer Steven Kiss, you could “[a]sk any two-year engineering student and he’ll tell you in two minutes.”

City building code, though, doesn’t require ramps to account for lateral vibrations. Says L&I acting commish David Perri: “We can’t arbitrarily impose standards that aren’t part of the law. I can’t say, ‘Jeez, why don’t you throw in a few extra braces on there?’” But, uh, you just did, David.

Eagles to repair shaky Linc ramps [Daily News]
Archives: Rampgate

Rampgate Intensifies At The Linc

There it is, camera phone footage CBS 3 obtained from a person who walked down the ramps at The Linc and lived to tell about it. As you can tell from the video, uhh… yeah. It’s a camera phone video. You can’t tell a thing.

A report is expected tomorrow about the Linc ramps, just in time for us all to forget it when the Eagles beat the Saints on Saturday.

Fan Captures Swaying Ramps At Link [sic] On Camera [CBS 3]
Report tomorrow on Linc ramps [Daily News]
Archives: Lincoln Financial Field

Linc Ramps Continue To Amuse Drunk Fans

Let’s hope the Seahawks and Eagles both don’t win this weekend. If that happens, the NFC Championship would be at Lincoln Financial Field, and then 60,000 fans would die when all the ramps at the Linc collapse.

You may remember back after the Dallas game last fall fans experienced “lateral vibrations” when walking down the ramps to exit the game. Fans said the ramps swayed 4-to-5 feet, but since there weren’t huge cracks in the ramps, and investigators found them structurally sound, it was pretty much forgotten about.

Last Sunday, after the Eagles 23-20 win over the Giants, fans said no less than two ramps were swaying as they exited after David Akers’ game-winning field goal on the final play. The Inquirer’s Andrew Maykuth gets some choice quotes from fans.

• “People started running, and that’s when it got really scary. I didn’t have anything to drink.”
• “A trash can chained to the railing on the ramp was moving back and forth like it was being hit by waves.”
• “I’ve never been in an earthquake, but I imagine that’s what one feels like.”
• “They sell a lot of beer up there, and it’s pretty easy to fall down if you’re trying to go down that fun-house ramp.”
• “I’m not going to lie to you. It was a little hairy. People were really scared.”
• “It was like being on the deck of a cruise ship.” (Editor’s Note: The Inquirer identifies this quote as coming from X-Men member Jean Grey.)

Whatever. It’s like a fun house, people! If you fall down ‘cuz of the swaying ramps, just curl into a ball a la Sonic and you’ll be down in no time!

2d Linc ramp reported to sway [Inquirer]
Archives: Lincoln Financial Field

Alleged ‘Reports’: Ramps Are Safe At Linc

Two weeks after Rampgate — when Eagles fans said the ramps swayed up to four feet at the conclusion of the Eagles-Dallas game — the reports from engineering firms the Eagles hired are in and… uhh… everything’s okay.

(Yeah, right, Eagles. If drunken Eagles fans say the ramps were shaking four feet in each direction, then it must have happened.)

Anyway, although the reports said everything is okay, it also says the Eagles should add some braces to the sides to calm fans’ mental nerves. (Again, yeah right. Those firms? On the take. The Eagles? Totally going to add braces so no one dies. C’mon, guys, I can see right through your transparency! The ramps swayed fifty-five feet in each direction and you know it.) And no ramp damage either.

Here’s the deal:

“This is not required for structural safety but will assist in reducing the potential for reoccurrence and help to restore the psychological confidence of your patrons,” Thornton Tomasetti vice president Mark Coggin wrote. “With the temporary control in place, an engineered solution could be developed.”

Let’s just say that next home game against Jacksonville is going to be a scary one. Well, moreso if the Eagles lose this weekend.

Linc ramp is shaky but safe, experts say [Inquirer]

Rampgate Controversy Intensifies!

A day after the news broke that fans felt the exit ramps at the Linc shaking, suddenly all those fans were “wildly exaggerating” about far the ramps were swaying.

“Inspectors” — probably stooges for either the government or the Eagles — said the ramp did not sway four to five feet as was originally reported. The Inquirer also quotes a bunch of “experts” who say that the fans were probably exaggerating and everything is probably okay.

Uh huh. Okay. Who am I supposed to believe: all these “experts” and “scientists” who weren’t there or 10,000 drunk people who nearly died? This has all the markings of a cover-up. Don’t worry. While the “main stream media” covers up the story, I’ll be digging for the real story.

City says Eagles fans overstated ramp’s sway [Inquirer]
Yesterday: Good Lateral Vibrations

Good Lateral Vibrations

While celebrating when exiting Sunday’s T.O. Bowl, the fans walking down the ramps at Lincoln Financial Field noticed something a little strange. That is, they noticed that the ramps were shaking oh noooooooo!

That woulda put quite the damper on the game, eh? “The Eagles defeated the Cowboys in a thriller, 38-24, Sunday at the Linc. Oh, and 10,000 fans died when the ramps collapsed after the game.”

Turns out nobody was in any danger. (According to the Eagles, at least.) Spokeswoman Bonnie Grant said it’s simply “lateral vibration” — thanks, Encyclopedia Brown — which is common among structures that lots of people walk on.

That hasn’t made fans feel any better, though. KYW 1060 reports:

But fans like Ed Haas aren’t so sure. He’s a lifelong season ticketholder and says he saw people falling, others grabbing their children, and genuinely scared.

“I’ve been going to football games since I was 10. I’m 50. I’ve been to Franklin Field, Lincoln Financial Field, the Vet and that’s the first time it’s ever happened.”

It’s a little known fact that the Vet wasn’t knocked down by explosives. No, they just got those ramps rocking and the whole thing came tumbling down.

Fans Call Ramps at Linc ‘Unstable’ [KYW 1060]