REcent Bridge Collapse ( Archived) (1)

Aug 8, 2007 1:38 PM CST REcent Bridge Collapse
Cath4
Cath4Cath4Clarksville, Tennessee USA8 Threads 83 Posts
Okay, I am new on the International Forums so be patient.

I have been trying to go over that bridge collapse.

The bridge was built forty years ago.

I can’t find the original plans for it!

Was it always an eight-lane?

Look, barges could have hit pylons here. There could have been metal fatigue. If only I could find the original structure when it was built! It may not have been always eight lanes.

Bridges are built to present needs originally. This one was built in 1977. It was designed for a specific carrying load of that time. It was designed for different traffic patterns. As the populace grew, it was used more and more and improvements were made for more traffic. There were add ons to an original structure to accommodate all of this new stuff.

I think that the bridge was expanded beyond its’ means for traffic. I think that the load bearing beams were somehow affected in some way. I think that the load bearing metal structure gave way because it could no longer handle the weight.

I repeat this bridge was designed for the traffic patterns and use of 1977.
Metal fatigue?
A possible factor.
I don’t know there.
A metal bridge can hold a lot and I just don’t know.
I think that the load bearing was expanded beyond what it could take. I think the metal structure was load bearing. You take a load bearing beam out of a house and the place collapses around you. This is the beam that carries weight of everything. Without this beam anything will collapse.

The load bearing beams gave way?

I posted this in the Tennessee Forum.

A person there suggested that I post this query in International Forum.

I have since gone on with more research. There was metal fatigue but people say that the bridge was swaying. There could have been an earth tremour of some kind.

We are east of the San Andreas Fault but there is a fault line in the East as well. Plates could have shifted underground.

However, I think that a lot of human error was involved. Several coats of paint can hide small cracks in metal. Also, metal can look just fine on the outside. There can be internal cracks that can't be seen.

The I-35 swayed. It didn't go straight down. It swayed. I think that there may have been rumblings under the river and that they got translated upwards.
That area is not known for eathguakes but it does have a history of some. I think the last was in 2004.
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