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To: editor-surveyor
But wasn't the bridge widened? That might have resulted in a deep reduction in safety factor (to 0.9?).

If it was widened without increased strength, then that is possible. But the engineers would never let it get to a low value (lower than 2.0). I still think it is much more likely that corrosion, fatigue, and/or construction work probably killed this bridge. The photos are bad right now but I'm curious how the collapse progressed and where it started. That is the most important question that needs to be answered before we can determine the cause. The high temperature (in the 90s) is only helpful in this discussion so far as it makes brittle failure very unlikely (though it would be unlikely in any case since the engineers designed the bridge to survive Minnesota winters).

1,467 posted on 08/01/2007 8:23:07 PM PDT by burzum (None shall see me, though my battlecry may give me away -Minsc)
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To: burzum

From the pictures on TV it looked like it might have been an upper chord joint, right over the east support bent that failed. The main span appeared to have dropped intact, and broken on impact.


1,478 posted on 08/01/2007 8:28:01 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Turning the general election into a second Democrat primary is not a winning strategy.)
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