Delaware River Bridge to remain closed while damage is assessed, report says

nj.com ^

[BenLurkin]

A ruptured bridge truss, the bracing structure of beams below the surface, under the westbound lanes of the bridge left the heavily traveled bridge closed to traffic on Friday.

The fracture was discovered during a routine check of a painting project and the bridge, which handles roughly 42,000 vehicles a day, was shut down.

...

One official added that the fracture could have been caused by changing weather conditions, Philly.com reported.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Same general area, but this is NOT Delaware, the state. Only the river. Between PA and NJ, many miles up from DE.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Probably just the way the thing broke. Some pulled more elastically and some broke plastically.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Surface rust. Probably not the cause of the problem.

[ifinnegan]

Yeah.

I looked it up later.

[FreedomPoster]

Oooof! As the graduate of an engineering program that included classes in Statics, Solid Mechanics, Materials Science, etc, I can tell you in no uncertain terms, That Is Not Good.

Technically speaking.

[dr_lew]

I sleuthed the location from this news image:

The underslung covering is for the paint work that led to the discovery of the damage. I think this is at Palmer Ave. & Crown Road under the approach on the PA side of the actual pan.

From other closeups it appears that there are two parted longitudinal roadbed supports. The truss shown in the posted FR article is just beneath the roadbed, and above the cross girders that provide the structural support.

So, sure it's bad, but the actual bridge structure itself is not compromised. A fatal failure from this damage would take the form of a collapse of a roaddbed slab, I think, and this is probably not imminent.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I’m a ME with same classes and truth be told, we don’t know the whole structure. Likely there is redundancy here, and the break looks recent and not from corrosion. Definitely wants to be fixed, but not necessarily the worst there could be. Might even be reparable directly or by some bypass.

[Ozark Tom]

Ultrasound checks can find a hidden crack.

[Albion Wilde]

Ping!

[dr_lew]

From other closeups it appears that there are two parted longitudinal roadbed supports. The truss shown in the posted FR article is just beneath the roadbed, and above the cross girders that provide the structural support.

So, sure it's bad, but the actual bridge structure itself is not compromised. A fatal failure from this damage would take the form of a collapse of a roaddbed slab, I think, and this is probably not imminent.

Well, I was "all wet" on this, not surprisingly, I guess.

The fracture is in an I-beam which IS part of the superstructure, along the top edge of the "box" which the girders form. There appear to be two fractures in some of the pictures, but these are fractures in the top and bottom flanges of the I in an I-beam which is "lying flat" along the top edge, as mentioned.

Just for the record ...