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from the but-lets-talk-about-their-aquaducts dept.
A long section of the towering Ponte Morandi Bridge completely collapsed in Genoa, Italy, on Tuesday, sending cars and trucks on the A10 highway crashing down below. Dozens of people died in the bridge failure, officials say.
As news emerged from the chaotic scene, the death toll fluctuated several times Tuesday. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said there were 22 dead, according to public broadcaster Rai News. But Italy's ANSA news agency has reported at least 37 people died, citing the fire brigade.
Workers have found bodies and vehicles in the massive amount of wreckage left by the collapse — and at least 11 people have been pulled from the rubble alive, Italian media report.
[...] The disaster struck shortly before noon, when one of the bridge's central pillars collapsed during a violent rainstorm. A witness told ANSA that lightning had struck the bridge before the collapse.
[...] The bridge was built in the late 1960s, at a length of more than 3,600 feet. It had recently been the subject of renovation and repair efforts. Italian roadway company Autostrade says the most recent work included consolidating the viaduct's base — a project that included installing a bridge crane.
Besides the obvious news value of this event, I'd be curious of any civil engineers or structural engineers could comment on the engineering behind such things. What causes these types of crumblings to happen, and exactly how reliable is infrastructure around the world?
(Score: 5, Informative) by aiwarrior on Thursday August 16 2018, @09:34AM (3 children)
It seems this civil engineer is famous for bridges which are defective. In a portuguese newspaper article[1](which i proudly subscribe) they made an article about the story of the bridges that this Morandi fellow did in the 60s all over the world. They were quite popular and he even patented the method. In the article they mention 3 countries that closed off his bridges.
In the article they point to an Italian Civil Engineering journal [2], which republished a 2016 article where an engineer called out to the serious design defects of the bridges of Morandi.
The articles are in portuguese and italian, but a google translate should give you the gist of the problem. Basically the dude used concrete for tension stresses instead of steel. It is more or less a common rule that concrete is outstanding for compression stresses but tension is taken care by steel.
[1] https://www.publico.pt/2018/08/15/mundo/noticia/o-metodo-do-engenheiro-morandi-criou-pontes-com-problemas-1841145 [publico.pt]
[2] http://www.ingegneri.info/news/infrastrutture-e-trasporti/ponte-morandi-genova-analisi-infrastrutturale/ [ingegneri.info]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @10:26AM (1 child)
once again I am surprised that a terry pratchett story is made into fact by humanity.
he had this character called "bloody stupid johnson", who probably tried to build bridges as well (I can't remember everything), and this morandi person seems to be channeling him.
if everything he wrote is turning real, maybe he should have written happier stories...
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday August 16 2018, @10:28PM
I wonder how old the stories are. And, did they come first. Because the bridge was finished in 1967.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:28PM
A Slide Rule is an elegant weapon from a more civilized age.
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