The connection points to the pylons look awfully small. (See the lower right corner.)
Posted on 08/01/2007 4:28:27 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....
Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......
Just now breaking.......
I agree, but it looks like the middle one has disappeared entirely.
Compare it to its twin span running parallel.
Even if the terrorists didn't do it, they'll be tripping all over each other to claim credit for it. Getting credit for something you had to spend no time, money or effort on suits them even better.
You know, I was wondering about those trucks sitting on the ice or if they let them pass carefully, stopping trucks that were not on the ice. They made a very big point in the beginning about trucks not being able to sit on the ice for any length of time or it could cause the ice to collapse.
Thunderstorms moving in
Just south of there,
The bridge that collapsed apparently was not constructed with piers like the one next to it. Nearly a suspension bridge with one large span.
eyewitness on the news said the river span failed first, pulled down the rest
“A steel member in a structure is typically designed to accommodate 40% more than its anticipated “dead” load and 70% more than its anticipated “live” load”
That may be what you require as an engineer, but as a steel detailer, I always design each end connections for 75% of the total uniform load. we always go further than what the engineer calls for. You are right this probably wasn’t terrorism, I just didn’t want people to think that traffic isn’t taken into consideration when designing a bridge. Or that crappy material would be used without many levels of checking. The engineers of this country and the AISC using ASD are the best in the world. I just don’t want people loosing faith in engineers.
Is it just me or do the bus and burning truck seem to be at a sharper angle every time they show them?
They are doing a good job with this disaster yes, but they keep wanting a body count ---- kinda like the body counter they had going with the soldiers in Iraq awhile back.
Normally I don't watch channel 5 and let's see how many more times they can ask how many deaths.
The good news is that there are two or three hospitals within walking distance of this disaster. The Red Cross has a building that actually is within direct view of the disaster.
Shep said about 20 mins ago or more that Homeland Security said they believe it was NOT terror related.
The connection points to the pylons look awfully small. (See the lower right corner.)
A jackhammer in the wrong place at the wrong time *can* bring down a structure. Resonance *can* destroy a structure - see the Tacoma Narrows disaster.
Witness on Fox says that it wasn’t an explosion that he heard/saw, he saw the long span bend and shatter in the center and give way - the actual support pylons were not involved.
I live near Pittsburgh. It has more bridges across the three rivers there than anywhere else in the world. They’ve never collapsed and many are probably a lot older. They are in a cold, snowy area with a lot of freeze-thaw cycles in the winter. This just looks funny to me.
I am shocked the Twins are playing baseball during this.
Is there a strong curent there? Looks a little like whitewater, that can’t be helpful.
I’ve been on that bridge recently.
It was surface construction. I’m not aware of any structural work going on.
Ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things in order to save and help people. Right now.
Jeez- all these conspiracy theorists. Get a grip... get a life, all of you. You’re making FR a laughing stock to the rest of the world
The cynic in me, remembers all the people in Oklahoma City who saw a "middle-eastern" looking man running from the Alfred P. Murrah building too, but that angle was soon discarded. :o(
That article was from 2005.
Stop spreading it.
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