Bridge collapse in Genoa

Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Here's an example of one Before/After pair. Before:


After
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
That tends to make it much less abstract, doesn't it?

Someone caught some of the collapse on video. It was raining heavily. See this https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/08/14/italy-genoa-bridge-collapse-nic-robertson-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/around-the-world/
Have been on enough bridges to worry :) Never wanted to commute over one, made sure of that when I lived in the SF bay area....especially after Prieta Loma quake. When I was a kid I saw film of Gallopin' Gertie....
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Obviously the design was flawed somewhere. Why would heavy rain cause that collapse? Not like there was rushing water in a river with tons of debris floating down at speed collapsing the tower. Even then.
Corruption is always a possibility in Italy. Think I saw that there was also some construction/modification going on...
 
M

Midwesthonky

Audioholic General
Corruption is always a possibility in Italy. Think I saw that there was also some construction/modification going on...
It will be something I want to watch for. Tragically, I'm an engineer and always interested in knowing what went wrong and why. Not that I haven't had a design flaw shown on ESPN or anything... But my screw ups didn't kill people.

One problem with structures built with new and designs that really reach for new boundaries is they tend to have something overlooked. Look at the bridge failure in Minneapolis. Look at the World Trade Center, look at many infrastructure failures. They all usually have one or more design flaws that trigger or compound an event the structure should survive into one that it cannot.

I feel for the people and families impacted. That is a horrible way to go...falling that distance.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
It will be something I want to watch for. Tragically, I'm an engineer and always interested in knowing what went wrong and why. Not that I haven't had a design flaw shown on ESPN or anything... But my screw ups didn't kill people.

One problem with structures built with new and designs that really reach for new boundaries is they tend to have something overlooked. Look at the bridge failure in Minneapolis. Look at the World Trade Center, look at many infrastructure failures. They all usually have one or more design flaws that trigger or compound an event the structure should survive into one that it cannot.

I feel for the people and families impacted. That is a horrible way to go...falling that distance.
This was what caught my eye on ABC's report "Construction involving a crane was occurring on the bridge at the time of the collapse, but it was too early to pinpoint what caused the span to fail, Italian authorities said."

I also saw an article that an engineering professor had warned about potential problems with the bridge a few years ago https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/at-least-22-killed-in-italian-bridge-collapse/news-story/b0449c620841cfcfa8fcb80129852195
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
This is what happens when core infrastructure is neglected. For $1000, What is the name of a major country notorious in neglect of its core infrastructure.
Can I play?

There's something weird about the 'before' photo- look under the roadway at each support- it almost looks like something is dropping from the underside. Was that photo as it was falling?
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
The thing that astounds me is how substantial the support structure appears - that is a lot of large beams with a reasonably broad stance.
I would not expect the falling sections of road to topple the substructure so readily as it did (as seen in the video).
In the after photo, it looks like the support structure was awfully close to being leveled!
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
It will be something I want to watch for.
Me too. I'm not an engineer, but I've always had a fascination for bridges. I tend to like bridges that don't collapse. But those that have collapsed are remembered better – with morbid fascination.

Possible reasons for the bridge failure that I've read so far (at various news sites, including BBC, CBS, CNN, Washington Post):
  • Steel reinforced concrete is known to deteriorate after about 50 years. The steel buried inside the concrete rusts enough to weaken the structure. It can be addressed with major reconstruction efforts. This bridge was built in 1967. At the time of the collapse, the bridge was undergoing some major reinforcement this summer.

  • This bridge was said to be built using new (for the time) steel/concrete techniques that have not been used since. I'm not sure why, but I assume the technique was less expensive, but led to weaker than intended structures.

  • One Italian bridge engineer was quoted as saying this bridge was designed to carry much lighter loads than it has been routinely exposed to for decades. It was a failure waiting to happen.

  • Not nearly enough maintenance (as mentioned above by others).

  • The torrential rain storm. Heavy rain and high winds? Would this alone be enough to cause failure? Probably not, but it cannot be ignored.
Stay tuned. As usual, there are news stories of Italian leaders who are calling for criminal investigations. Why look for someone to blame (the bridge designer died in 1989) when the bridge clearly needed major repair or replacement. I do not understand the Italian legal system.
 
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Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Can I play?

There's something weird about the 'before' photo- look under the roadway at each support- it almost looks like something is dropping from the underside. Was that photo as it was falling?
You can play only if you are an unqualified Monday-morning bridge engineer.

As far as I know, that before photo was taken before any collapse occurred. The photo is on a sunny day. The collapse occurred suddenly during a heavy thunder storm (see the video I cited above). It is possible that structural repairs were underway when the before photo was taken.
 

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