Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday August 16 2018, @08:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-lets-talk-about-their-aquaducts dept.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/14/638462800/suspension-bridge-on-busy-highway-partially-collapses-in-genoa:

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?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:37PM

    by RS3 (6367) on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:37PM (#722310)

    I haven't heard about destructive testing of full bridges.

    Um, I'm trying to think of how you would / could do destructive testing on something as big as a bridge. I guess you could just load it up with boulders, then start adding them until it fails, but wow what an expensive test and mess.

    You can test small pieces and calculate the additive loads and stresses in the bigger structure.

    USA PBS TV science show Nova did a fascinating (to me) series called "Building Big". They chronicled the construction of many building around the world, including London's Leadenhall Building's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/122_Leadenhall_Street [wikipedia.org]. I forget which building, but in one of the episodes I remember them testing concrete batches before okaying the next batch's installation.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2