Bridge collaps in real time

[Rogue Hawk]

Jeeze, is this common to build a bridge with traffic flowing under it?

[Rogue Hawk]

Oops, just saw someone posted about it

[Easy Rider]

The span was built off to the side and then "swung" into place with special cranes.
There was no traffic in place when that occurred.

I think it is pretty obvious that there was a defect in either the design on in the materials used.......or both.

Might have something to do with the contract going the the lowest bidder.
And the fact that the responsible party in something like this almost NEVER results in criminal charges; somebody is guilty of MURDER, about 6 counts.

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

wasn't that an irwin allen movie in the '70's?

[asp125]

Preliminary information said the contractor had previous safety issues. So even if the engineering was done right, there might've been procedural problems during the incident. The obvious one was, why wasn't the street closed during structural testing?

[Bob Denman]

And the fact that the responsible party in something like this almost NEVER results in criminal charges; somebody is guilty of MURDER, about 6 counts.

Murder? nope!
But there has to be some "Criminal Stupidity" in there someplace!

[Chupaca]

That is scary... but I do agree they should have placed it tested it with weight before they allowed traffic to flow under it. They mentioned that it had been in place for a week or so but they also said there were cracks in it that needed looking into....

[ARtraveler]

Lots of issues with this one. The lawyers are going to have a field day. Suits already filed. for the families of the victims.

[Easy Rider]

The obvious one was, why wasn't the street closed during structural testing?

I've seen this mentioned a couple of times now but have NOT seen anybody directly involved actually SAY that any testing was actively going on at the time.

I did see a scale model demonstration of how the span was put in place......and it looked like the basic structure was I-beam steel.......and the concrete was mostly cosmetic, like a very thick coat of paint.

[canamjhb]

I watched the video, stopping frame by frame. There was a worker on top of the bridge on the left side fiddling with something in the area of the crane. That is the end that collapsed. From what I understand, they had just completed a stress test. Seem like a pretty silly thing to do with traffic on the road.

[DGoebel]

Jeeze, is this common to build a bridge with traffic flowing under it?

RH, It was built with ABC (Accelerated Bridge Construction) techniques, which I bet are being scrutinized a lot closer after this tragic event.
Makes you want to check infrastructure maintenance as part of your route planning. Though I think seeing the big crane in the roadway as I approached this, would have made me want to take a detour. I suspect many of the victims were regular daily travelers on that roadway though.
Trusted their government to protect them and were let down. to all involved, I'm certain no engineer thought "I could save some money if we skipped some steps in this project" The FIU president looks haunted everytime I see him on TV.

[blacklightning]

I did see a scale model demonstration of how the span was put in place......and it looked like the basic structure was I-beam steel.......and the concrete was mostly cosmetic, like a very thick coat of paint.

No, this was a structural concrete bridge (prestressed). This was by no means a simple precast cladding project. I have done a few of those and they would not collapse in that manner. The only steel there were the connections, rebar, and cable strands.

[Easy Rider]

The only steel there were the connections, rebar, and cable strands.

Engineers are human. They sometimes make mistakes.
Especially when they are trying to save a few pennies.
VERY sad.

Just looking at the length of the span, it doesn't seem to me like that construction technique would be appropriate........at least not without a support in the center.

[Rogue Hawk]

However it goes, this construction company will likely be put out of business because no one will hire them. True, we don;t know the cause yet, but I hope the investigators are able to learn what went wrong and make other companies aware.