@gr I had no idea that was the story of “Bridge of San Luis Rey”.It wasn’t on the reading horizon when I was in high school (mid-50’s - curiously I now live in the NH town Wilder supposedly modeled Our Town on). I’ll have to give it a read. Thanks.
1 Like
The sad part is, after 6 deaths here, there will be a massive investigation, new or reinforced regulations, probably people from the company will go to jail, etc.
…But, if 17 kids at school or 49 adults in a nightclub get slaughtered, there’s simply nothing that Florida or the Federal Government could have done to stop it…
7 Likes
So it appears that the final structure, in service, was meant to be supported by cables, per this graphic from WaPo. Suggests that the strength of the “temporary” state of the bridge might be low enough that “compromising factors” could lead to failure (No shit, Sherlock, he wryly commented.). Perhaps they should have left one of those monster, wheeled jack affairs in place mid-span until the cables were installed.
1 Like
Now we all hate what the president is doing to our country, our allies and our reputation. However, Dotard really didn’t have anything to do with this. A bridge collapse is usually some combination of engineering, construction, inspection, or outside force. Trump gives us hundreds of reasons to hate him daily, but we shouldn’t mention him in the midst of a tragedy he didn’t cause. Guns? Environment? War? Yep
1 Like
It’s almost certain that they had some kind of temporary supports in place that they thought were good enough. But it’s also possible that the quality of that support wasn’t as thoroughly vetted as it should have been. I can easily imagine workers not being particularly diligent at installing something they knew was just going to be torn out in a couple weeks, and supervisors/inspectors similarly.
2 Likes
I would suspect the buzz of hurry-up “principles of ABC” (whatever that is) drowned out the little nagging voice saying “wait a sec…” An insufficiently reviewed field modification done at the last minute to get the job done. The negligence of one person who failed to review a field modification that seemed innocuous at the time led directly to the collapse of the Marriott bridges in Kansas City.
3 Likes
All this loose talk of Trump-this and Skeletor-that and follow-the-money is Prime (and non-Prime) Bullshit. The likelihood of this disaster being due to political, business or construction corruption is minuscule. Someone made an engineering mistake, or an unapparent material defect existed in a critical part. Negligence may or may not be involved in either case. It may be systemic management myopia related to proving the wonderfulness of “principles of ABC” bullshit. Forensic discovery will take time but reveal all.
2 Likes
It’s not apparent from the photos of the collapse that were any significant temporary supports. The more I stare at the overall scene photos, the more it seems that the initial failure probably occurred at the middle of the span - where it “should”, other things being equal.
2 Likes
Yep!
1 Like
A small unintentional error can have devastating consequences to an otherwise well-designed and well-built project furnished with materials of highest quality available. For want of a nail…
1 Like
National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt III said a team of specialists would begin its investigation Friday morning.
Hasn’t Trump already had his “best people” dismantle that unnecessary function of an intrusive government? Wasn’t it drowned in the teacup yet? Everyone knows those kinds of teams are just busybodies trying to interfere with the Gods of Business.
1 Like
Not fer nuttin’ wuz I in collige prep English back in the day. Mrs. Rhodes is smiling down on us.
1 Like
cub Heidi ho; “…A small unintentional error…”
Or a don’t give a shit error. An in-law inspects construction work for those big towers that carry the power lines. He checks everything from the construction of the concrete base to putting up the tower. He was telling how he caught some crew using stove bolts from a hardware store instead of the high-shear bolts called for in the spec.
Guess what would have happened in some high winds.
4 Likes
Ha! Youse an’ me bot’. And to keep the Wilder theme on life support, in that self-same “Advanced English” course, we read The Skin of Our Teeth" inter alia. The teacher was a Harvard-educated (an anomaly in public schools then, I think) character, who commuted about forty miles in his '56 Corvette, and collected speeding tickets like toll receipts. The man could do no wrong in our adolescent eyes.
Hoo boy!
“So that’s what those funny marks on the bolt heads are for. Hunh. Jeez, we didn’t know none a that.”
1 Like
Good question. After all it was his sheer awesomeness that kept all those air travelers safe during his first year.
Yow! I’ve generally been fortunate in dealing with responsible field superintendents. I can’t say as much for certain of my fellow architects who whine to the powers that be when I refuse to accept their “final” design documents strewn with errors and omissions.
Currently attention is being directed toward the stress test and subsequent readjustment of cables which was underway when the bridge collapsed.
1 Like
Oh I could go on about over educated public school teachers. Ours were. They took jobs as teachers during the Great Depression because it was work and good work at the time. We had them before they retired. They knew their subjects.
Not sissies either. Both men and women served with distinction in WW2. Most of them officers.
Ya want role models. I had 'em.
2 Likes
The F? With traffic running underneath? Can’t wait to see the memos for that signoff.
4 Likes
Yes, on the face of it, that seems rather ill-advised. Devil’s in the details, for sure.
2 Likes