I thought that it was just one.. but the point is the bridge was designed to do that— not collapse in large sections or totally.
“I thought that it was just one.. but the point is the bridge was designed to do that— not collapse in large sections or totally.”
The problem with the section of the upper roadway falling down was the fact that it had one end that was fixed and the other end that allowed movement to take care of expansion and contraction. When the bridge moved under the influence of the earthquake, the end that allowed movement exceeded it’s limit and fell. It ended up like a steep ramp and several cars drove off and those that did all died. The problem with the suspension portion of the new span is that they let the Chinese build some of it, and CalTrans didn’t adequately inspect some of the work as it was performed. Now there are some large strain rods that have failed plating so they can now corrode, and they are not where they can be replaced. Other than that, the bridge is beautiful. Drove across it yesterday.