PennDOT to remove 'plug welds' from 13 bridges to avoid potentially dangerous condition

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | January 7, 2018 | Ed Blazina

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Road Warrior: PennDOT retrofitting bridges with same flaw that shut down Delaware River Bridge (1/11)

[BenLurkin]

Duct tape. Fix it right up.

[babygene]

At $1000000, that’ more than $1500 per bolt.

[stars & stripes forever]

Someone must have flunked welding school.

[mad_as_he$$]

No kidding. I learned this as a young welder in the machine shop in 1968...taught to me by an uncle that was a US Navy welder in WW2. He said it was forbidden then.

[Fresh Wind]

Not a welding issue but a drilling issue.

To paraphrase the old saying, “measure twice, drill once.”

[lacrew]

More like flunked morality school.

[stars & stripes forever]

My dad was a welder. Back in the day welders had to take a test for each job they did - even the experts. How many defective welds are in strategic spots in bridges, skyscrapers, etc.?

[Sequoyah101]

The bolts won’t attach to anything, but putting a bolt through the hole and a nut on the other end will increase the strength of the pieces, experts said.

I’m a civil engineer and a bolt through a hole attached to nothing else adding strength is news to me. Something is missing in this story.

[Pearls Before Swine]

>>Something is missing in this story.

Washers? Oversized nuts?

[NY.SS-Bar9]

And how much would you charge to hang suspended under a bridge, hoist up drilling equipment, drill through 1/2”+ steel, insert a bolt and have another guy hoisted on the other side to hold the nut?

Oh - don’t forget the guys on the ground keeping you safe, and all the special equipment you need. Everyone on the project will probably need a 60-hour OSHA card too.

There are probably anti-corrosion and environmental issues as well.

$1500.00 sounds about right.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Union labor, no doubt.

[bankwalker]

I don’t understand how putting a bolt through the hole strengthens the piece of steel that the hole is in.

If the heat from the weld plug has already weakened the steel it seems that the damage is already done.

[Nifster]

No some one flunked where to put the holes

[Leo Carpathian]

Leave it alone. Inspect. If cracks apear then fix it.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’m guessing they might have meant that the bolt and nut restore the strength lost when the hole was drilled.

[jackibutterfly]

"...to fill improperly drilled holes..."

WHO made the "improperly drilled holes"??? They need to be made to pay for the fixes and prosecuted!

[Leaning Right]

> Duct tape. Fix it right up. <

[Sequoyah101]

Does little good.