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It was built using a method known as “accelerated bridge construction” — an innovative way to build bridges more speedily than with traditional building methods.
The traditional methods work... what's wrong with them?
“That’s the driver and why ABC is so popular, because it allows you to keep the road open,” he said. “It’s more expensive to do, but it gains the advantage of keeping traffic moving and that’s what makes the phone ring at the mayor’s office.”
OH... you may want to rethink that... seriously...
Early indications are that "accelerated bridge construction" is not to blame. It has been suggested that one of the diagonal braces was built with tension cables but the plans showed it was not supposed to have them.
If you look very carefully at the photo, on the far right is a horizontal rod with a blue handle. That's a jack used to tighten cables. If it's true that the brace to the left of the jack wasn't supposed to have tension cables, then putting tension where tension isn't supposed to go could have triggered the collapse.
You obviously did not comprehend the post I responded too.....
Oh, I did understand it. Did you?
Accidents will certainly always happen, even with regulations. It's impossible to prevent them all. Humans are not perfect.
The post said that removing regulations can increase the frequency of accidents. And that's not a foreign concept. Nor an incorrect one, I would argue.
Companies will cut corners when they can. History has shown us this time and time again.
post 14 - they used heavy concrete for much of the material instead of steel.
Yeah - they cut corners using some advanced bridge construction instead of traditional means.
I suspect the writer of the article was utterly ignorant of engineering and construction techniques, or the particular engineering "expert" interviewed had an ax to grind. MOST bridges are primarily concrete, reinforced with and pre-stressed with steel. And we're not talking simple pedestrian walkways but highway (vehicle) bridges. The typical construction starts with steel cables heavily tensioned between anchors with hydraulic cylinders. The concrete is cast around the cables. Once cured the tension on the cables is removed-the tension held by them is now carried by the concrete structure, making it much stronger than an unreinforced, unstressed member.
What went wrong here? Who knows yet-the actual engineering analysis needs to be done. Not speculation by reporters or "experts" unfamiliar with the details of this particular project.
The bridge is the work of a private company...MCM to be specific.
The bridge was of a new sort. ABC - Accelerated Bridge Construction - Basically the span was built along side the major road to be bridged and then lifted into place by a moving machine. They bridged the road in six hours causing minimal interference with a major arterial..
I would think the technique is useful enough that it will likely be widely adopted after they figure what it was that went wrong. At this point it sounds like they were doing some set up or testing on the bridge which may have had some role in the collapse.
Collapsing bridges are apolitical.
Gotta agree. We have lots of pedestrian bridges in my town and I love them. Or at least I did.
Accidents will certainly always happen, even with regulations. It's impossible to prevent them all. Humans are not perfect.
The post said that removing regulations can increase the frequency of accidents. And that's not a foreign concept. Nor an incorrect one, I would argue.
Companies will cut corners when they can. History has shown us this time and time again.
No, it's very clear you did not understand or even read that post I was responding too. The post I responded to said "this president" caused the problem, yet the bridge was started 5 years ago. So, please tell us how you understand what I was responding too.
post 14 - they used heavy concrete for much of the material instead of steel.
Yeah - they cut corners using some advanced bridge construction instead of traditional means.
I worked for a pressure vessel manufacturer for a couple of years back in the 80s. We had a resident on-site ASME
code inspector. Anything that was for lethal service or used anywhere near the public was inspected from brim to bunghole with complete traceability on all materials, 100% x-ray packages and a hydro pressure test far above normal operating pressure before it was allowed out the door.
If they were in the process of doing a stress test, traffic should have stopped or rerouted and never allowed to pass under while the test was in progress. I don't know who made the call to run the test with cars under it, but they are going to need an attorney very shortly.
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