[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

The use of such large rods is unprecedented, Chung and Thomas wrote, so academic literature offers no way to assess their vulnerability to cracking. The rods “might be more susceptible to (hydrogen-embrittlement) cracking than any other anchor rods on the new Bay Bridge,” Chung said, including some of those being replaced.

Me thinks this is more of a design problem....why did this design require "unprecedented" large rods.....smells like brute force engineering was at play. The Gallopin' Gertie

[Carry_Okie]

Me thinks this is more of a design problem....why did this design require "unprecedented" large rods.....smells like brute force engineering was at play.

Any design in an environment like that requiring sealed tubes for major structural elements is begging for catastrophe. This isn't "brute force"; it's "creeping elegance" gone wild in the hands of flaming incompetents.