Possible cause for the Bridge Collapse?

[Rosie]

WCCO is reporting that while the NTSB is not yet giving a cause for the 35W Bridge Collapse, the bridge's gusset plates are getting some serious looks.

Sources: Collapse Evidence Points To Gusset Plates

 

[melock]

Why does it take a collapse for the gussett plates to be looked at? Shouldn't that be on a list of things to routinely check to make sure they're in good shape? Amazing.

 

[JackyJackBN]

Pigeons. Rats with wings, Satan's minions.

It's pigeon poop that pared down the Appalachians.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

No Islamic terrorists or illegal immigrants? Isn't everything their fault these days?

 

[expendable]

No Islamic terrorists or illegal immigrants? Isn't everything their fault these days?

Either them or President Bush.

 

[Rosie]

K, kids, keep the political bull**** OFF THIS THREAD!

I know this is old news to most of you, but we here in MN are still living with the aftermath of this disaster.

You want to get political? Find another thread to do it.

[/going to find more coffee]

 

[JBHawkEye]

Just curious, Rosie: How much work have they done on the new bridge? I know everyone was pushing to get this done as quickly as possible, I'm just curious how far they've gotten.

 

[Rosie]

Work has started, the target finish date is December 2008. I'm pretty sure they're still on the ground work stage. I grew up in the construction industry and personally, I think it will be a miracle of biblical proportions if it's completed by then. Rather than having completed plans, the bridge is being designed as it's built.

According to today's report, undersized gussets were a 'critical factor' in the collapse.

NTSB Identifies I-35W Bridge Design Flaw

I-35W bridge's problems date to its design

Sixteen gussets were fractured.

In a related story, the Hastings bridge (for those of you unfamiliar with the Twin Cities, Hastings is south of the Twin Cities, but with urban sprawl, could be considered an outer suburb at this point) is being called unsafe and some are calling for its replacement.

State releases summary of Hastings bridge inspection report; DFLers call for replacement

Last time I drove across the Hastings bridge was about seven years ago and it was scary then.

From the story:
The 11-day inspection by the Pennsylvania-based Michael Baker Corporation questioned whether the bridge can really sustain the 40 tons it's posted for. The inspection took place August 20 to August 31, but its summary was not made public until this week.

Things are just going to get worse for MnDOT before this is over.

 

[slappy4428]

Plus the recommended gusset size was 1-inch thick and they were a half-inch

 

[Armchair_QB]

Work has started, the target finish date is December 2008. I'm pretty sure they're still on the ground work stage. I grew up in the construction industry and personally, I think it will be a miracle of biblical proportions if it's completed by then. Rather than having completed plans, the bridge is being designed as it's built.

According to today's report, undersized gussets were a 'critical factor' in the collapse.

NTSB Identifies I-35W Bridge Design Flaw

I-35W bridge's problems date to its design

Sixteen gussets were fractured.

In a related story, the Hastings bridge (for those of you unfamiliar with the Twin Cities, Hastings is south of the Twin Cities, but with urban sprawl, could be considered an outer suburb at this point) is being called unsafe and some are calling for its replacement.

State releases summary of Hastings bridge inspection report; DFLers call for replacement

Last time I drove across the Hastings bridge was about seven years ago and it was scary then.

From the story:
The 11-day inspection by the Pennsylvania-based Michael Baker Corporation questioned whether the bridge can really sustain the 40 tons it's posted for. The inspection took place August 20 to August 31, but its summary was not made public until this week.

Things are just going to get worse for MnDOT before this is over.

What did they say about the Mendota Heights bridge out by the airport? That's a long-ass span.

 

[slappy4428]

Work has started, the target finish date is December 2008. I'm pretty sure they're still on the ground work stage. I grew up in the construction industry and personally, I think it will be a miracle of biblical proportions if it's completed by then. Rather than having completed plans, the bridge is being designed as it's built.

According to today's report, undersized gussets were a 'critical factor' in the collapse.

NTSB Identifies I-35W Bridge Design Flaw

I-35W bridge's problems date to its design

Sixteen gussets were fractured.

In a related story, the Hastings bridge (for those of you unfamiliar with the Twin Cities, Hastings is south of the Twin Cities, but with urban sprawl, could be considered an outer suburb at this point) is being called unsafe and some are calling for its replacement.

State releases summary of Hastings bridge inspection report; DFLers call for replacement

Last time I drove across the Hastings bridge was about seven years ago and it was scary then.

From the story:
The 11-day inspection by the Pennsylvania-based Michael Baker Corporation questioned whether the bridge can really sustain the 40 tons it's posted for. The inspection took place August 20 to August 31, but its summary was not made public until this week.

Things are just going to get worse for MnDOT before this is over.

What did they say about the Mendota Heights bridge out by the airport? That's a long-ass span.

Even scarier when you're all alone at night and see a deer in the middle of it (1990)

 

[Rosie]

Seems to me the Mendota Bridge just underwent a major overhaul a few years back. But don't quote me on that, I'd have to check into that.

The Lafayette Bridge however, is also in dire need of repair. When I worked in West St. Paul I drove that and I was convinced it was going to collapse any second. And that was almost 20 years ago.

 

[markvid]

Plus the recommended gusset size was 1-inch thick and they were a half-inch

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bridge is nothing you want to cut corners on.

 

[Rough Mix]

I'm down in the area daily and it is a massive project.

Seeing a deer on the Mendota bridge would not be fun...

 

[Rosie]

This is even scarier than a deer on the Mendota Bridge.

I-35W bridge wasn't alone in the way it failed

The story references a bridge failure in Ohio in 1996.

The similarities between the I-35W collapse and the Ohio bridge problem are uncanny. Not only were both 1960s-era steel truss bridges that carried a major freeway, both had contractors on the bridge doing work at the time of the failure. And both were rated structurally deficient.

The Ohio bridge's gusset plates were seven-sixteenths of an inch thick - almost the same size as the I-35W bridge's half-inch plates.

And the NTSB is saying the 35W Bridge Collapse was one of a kind?

 

[slappy4428]

I'm down in the area daily and it is a massive project.

Seeing a deer on the Mendota bridge would not be fun...

At 3 a.m., at the tail end of an 11-hour drive... it was even scarier.

 

[Rosie]

Was it deer season?

 

[The Commish]

Here is an article on working on the bridge in winter. (Today we'll be lucky if it tops 0):
http://www.startribune.com/local/13910981.html

And apparently, it's cow season on 494:
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_8015290?source=rv

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

Plus the recommended gusset size was 1-inch thick and they were a half-inch

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bridge is nothing you want to cut corners on.

But bridges are built so you can cut corners to get from Point A to Point B easier.

 

[markvid]

http://www.startribune.com/local/13910981.html

I'm sorry, but what a ****ty headline. People died, for crying out loud.