Had it been a Chinese muzzie black trans, makes little difference.
Guaranteed, this design was checked seven ways to Sunday,
by a qualified engineering staff.
Probably twice or more, first by the design team second time by the builder’s team.
My guess is either an error in the drawings or something in the means and methods of the builder.
Recall the terrible walkway collapse at the Kansas Hyatt, about 1980.
Golden Gate BRIDGE STILL STANDS.
The final design still required a central pylon and cable stays. Construction of the main support/suspension pylon hadn’t even been started.
Was this skinny, long tensioner concrete span supposed to be supported by it’s ends for a year while the main pylon was erected, or did someone forget the assembly order instructions?
That was in 1981. Quite a few engineers lost their professional licenses due to the Hyatt collapse, as well as the engineering firm responsible for the design, which could only handle 60% of the load required according to the Kansas City Building Code. It has been used as a case study in professional ethics for engineers.
That's what I think. That span was not intended to support itself.
I am not yet convinced that the designers were at not at fault though. I've encountered several significant failures caused by both well known and obscure designers. A PE really doesn't mean that much to me and a university professor even less. In addition, I am always suspicious of design and equipment type by an engineer that has a financial interest in the equipment or technique. Often enough, I have found their recommendations to be biased to the harm of the owner. Full independence is best IMHO.
This was already a weird situation to me in that the street below was apparently open to traffic before testing had even been completed and worse still traffic was going under the bridge while testing was being performed. Weird.