Where did the third image come from, the post collapse image?
The beam in the foreground of that image shows fresh paint, visible in the image, covering the discoloration visible before and immediately after the collapse.
I find the fresh paint there...very interesting.
The foreground beam matches the upper end of the L9-U10 compression diagonal at the U10 east gusset that I believe triggered the bridge’s collapse
I don’t know what the thing in the other two images is.
It doesn’t look familiar, it doesn’t look like it belongs there, it doesn’t appear to be serving any structural purpose.
Best guess is that it’s an add on, or something that was altered after construction. The H beam above it shows a stiffener/gusset in an unusual location. It is possible that cracks developed there, and the “bent” appendage was a temporary fix, while the unusual stiffeners were part of a permanent fix.
That third image, however, is at the core of this bridge’s failure, at least parts of it are. That sloppy job of fresh spray paint is highly disturbing.
Well, the third image certainly looks like a reconstruction using the recovered parts. The first image is looking northeast from the east side of the bridge at the south end, and the second picture is looking northwest from the west side, directly across from the first location.
The reconstruction looks like it could include the visible members of the second picture, where I think I can see the patchy paint from the foreground of the reconstruction. It looks like that paint was applied over the “wiring” of the sensors, or whatever. I surmise that the light patch in the foreground of the reconstruction is where that “loop” was attached, and ripped off.
Look at the edges of the paired hexagonal gusset plates midway between the diagonal and the upper box beam. Those edges (both plates in both photos) are "kinked" about halfway between the diagonal and the upper beam.
And they were bent at as least as far in the past as ca 2003...