[ConservaTexan]

I didn’t know Bush was designing bridges 40 years ago.

[Perdogg]

Maybe Halliburton will get the job.

[Doctor Raoul]

Design flaw. We should all write a Letter To The Editor and stick it up the bum of the Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferers.

[DoughtyOne]

What is strance about this is that traffic had been reduced in both directions if reports I heard are true. One would think the load was probably 1/2 what it normally was. Why would it fail now if these plates were the issue?

[hosepipe]

[.. Possible design flaw found in collapsed U.S. bridge ..]

NOW thats funny..

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Thanks for posting this.

I’ve added the Keyword “35w”.

Please add this to keywords on any threads about this tragedy so everyone can more easily track new developments.

Thanks.....

[umgud]

Of course there’s a design flaw. While we don’t know what initiated the collapse, we do know that because of the design, the whole bridge came down. A proper design wouldn’t have the whole thing coming down when just one section has failed.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Even though this bridge was designed and built 40 years ago, if Hillary was president, this never would of happened...............

[TXnMA]

The two photos in this post from the live thread at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1874950/posts?page=1659#1659 show what might be construed as a "failed gusset plate".

In the top photo, it is at the right side, on the big horizontal beam. In the bottom photo, it is on the left.

Notice the holes where rivets have pulled out -- and how the plate is buckled.

These photos show the area around the mainspan piers on the south shore where the structure failed laterally, (It toppled to the east) whereas all of the other failed slabs dropped (approximately) straight down.

Many believe this area to be that where the initial failure started...

[Ronzo]

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said they had found a potential design problem with gusset plates, or steel plates that tie together angled steel beams of the bridge's frame.

Investigators are trying to verify loads and stresses on these plates at specific locations as well as the materials used to construct them.

Officials stressed the finding is preliminary and would not say exactly where the plates were located or whether failure would have caused the collapse.

Here is a picture I found on Flickr showing the collapse from ground level...in the left hand side of the frame you can see one of the "gusset plates." Notice how it crumpled just a bit. I don't think this particular plate caused the collapse. Most that I've seen in pictures seemed to have held up just fine...but the ones that failed are probably burried under all that concrete roadway.

[hercuroc]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hercuroc/gore.jpg

I’m waiting for the inevitable global warming cause for this accident.
ice caps melting causing higher tides at full moon pushing on bridge supports...yadda,yadda

[SunkenCiv]

Didn’t Al Gore invent bridges?

[FlingWingFlyer]

The real miracle here is how this "flawed" bridge managed to elude the sharp eyes of the Clinton administration for 8 years without Clinton and his band of sharp-eyed bridge checkers dicovering its flaws. Wow!

Extreme sarcasm/off

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Were our bridge designs outsourced to Mexico 40 years ago?

[Lancey Howard]

Construction bids were due on Wednesday and officials hoped to choose a contractor within weeks to build a new bridge by the end of 2008, with the help of $250 million (123 million pounds) promised by the federal government. One proposal called for two spans of five traffic lanes each, with room for light rail or buses.

Wait until the EPA gets involved. If you think that's a joke, ask homeowners in Ocean City, NJ about their bridge rebuilding project.

[ninonitti]

“If it’s not Scot.....it’s crap”

[Jonah Hex]

One other aspect to consider. A bridge is usually designed to evenly distribute a load both longitudinally and laterally along the bridge structure.

Considering two lanes were closed down for maintenance resulting in channeling rush hour traffic into a limited space, is it possible an unevenly distributed spanwise (i.e. laterally) heavy load could have contributed to the structural failure?