Posted on 08/01/2007 4:28:27 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....
Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......
Just now breaking.......
Holy cow! Check this out:
http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1343624.html
“At the site, Hoeppner talked to construction workers who survived the fall. They had been doing repair work but expressed concern to him that the bridge had been wobbling several days before it collapsed. Every layer of concrete the workers removed, the bridge would wobble even more, they told Hoeppner.”
See my post above.
Try this for a simple explanation. Most members exist to transfer force from a support to a load; this force will generally be parallel to the member in question. If the support applies force toward the load, the member will be under compression; if the support applies force away from the load, it will be under tension.
Starting at the place where the truss is supported by the pier, it should be clear that the pier exists to supply upward force. Therefore, any structural members that go up away from the pier will most likely be under compression (at least when the bridge is performing as designed). I'll see if I can draw you a picture.
Article regarding the victims....
I’m surprised they included this statement:
“Trinidad-Mena died while returning across the bridge from a personal errand. He and his wife, Abundia Martinez, had a 2-month-old daughter,Trinidad-Mena and Martinez have been living illegally in Minneapolis after he traveled from Mexico about 10 years ago, she told The Associated Press.”
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/03/bridge.victims/index.html
A chair with three good legs and one loose.
And a rowdy kid bouncing on it.
His mom barely missed being on the bridge but her work pkg space was stolen so she had to park further from work downtown. It took her an additional five minutes to get to her car after work. She's lucky to be alive.
Watching the video of the collapse, the cars that didn't make it were swept up with water and then slammed down back onto the concrete. The water wasn't that deep either. It was horrific. I had no idea the Misssissippi was so brown.
see my last post.
The best bridge inspectors are in Florida. They have to deal with more elements.
At a press conference an official said the 35 was “partially inspected” and then they stopped to do the work on the top. They never got the chance to complete their inspection. Maybe that’s not such a hot idea to do a partial.
The sides folded and the south end shifted. The south end shifting would account for the twisted steel. Did you notice on the precipices that the cement roadway has some kind of heavy fabric or material handing down? What is the purpose of that fabric within the layers of cement. Anybody know?
Shep needs to cut back on the brewskies. He’s getting a beer gut. I’m just sayin’.
You know, the FBI is there too. As of today, nobody’s discussed plastic explosives. I’m not convinced it was just a structural accident.
D.C. is on high alert this weekend. The prez isn’t there but he ordered congress to stay at work.
Hey FV, WOW you must be proud. I think I saw an interview of your cousins son, if it is the same person, but I think it is. Kind of young guy? Yeah, I think is him.
There was a cement truck on the bridge too. I don’t know if it had cement in it at the time but that would have been very heavy.
You’re right. rust never sleeps and if something rusts from the inside out, it can’t be seen.
This is like diving into a shallow pool. The crushed cars and in twisted metal are heartwrenching also. My cousin just missed going on from downtown.
Kudos to your cousin’s son!
It really is intersting that they only did a partial inspection before starting the construction. Not smart. I bet they were concerned about a deadline for finishing the construction before winter.
I wonder if any of those construction workers notified MNDOT about the wobbling they felt days before the collapse?
Do you know there was a cement short during the construction boom last year? I'd want info on the cement.
So far, crickets chirping on the grade of cement and no reporters have asked about it that I've seen.
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