Bridge collapse near Anegundi, India

There has been another tragic incident during the construction of a bridge. This time in India. Apparently a cable stayed bride over the Tungabhadra river failed during construction. There are several reports from different media organizations but at this stage the number of dead and injured workers and the cause of the incident have not been established.


From the photographs it looks as if it was a single tower asymetric, concrete deck cable stayed bridge and they were progressing on the erection of the main span


Photos were retrived from this website



Other report


There is never an acceptable excuse for something like this to happen!

Two killed in Kunming bridge collapse

Two people were killed and four others injured when a 200-meter section of a bridge that was undergoing demolition collapsed in Kunming, Yunnan province Tuesday evening.

An excavator and several workers were on the Xiaozhuang Bridge when the accident occurred at about 7:30 p.m., destroying a car parked under the bridge, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The injured victims are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.

The bridge was located on an artery road linking the provincial capital and its northwestern parts.

From the China Daily webpage.

Obvioulsy the most critical moments for bridges are during construction, re-habilitation and demolition, when the structural system is either not complete or compromised.

Bridge collapse in Kashmir

Another tragic accident during bridge construction. It is feared that 23 workers died and many others were injured when a bridge collapsed in the Indian controlled Kashmir. The bridge is located near the border town of Uri, 92 km from Srinagar and the accident took place last Sunday November 16

There is very little information available and photos of the site have become public only a week after the accident was first reported.

This is probably another of those accidents that will never be fully understood. It is unforgivable and unjustifiable whenever something like this happens. There is no excuse or reason for people to die during the construction of a bridge.

No doubt people will question work practices and engineering on developing countries. Irrelevant if you ask me. There are more than enough accidents in developed countries, and nobody sets to build a bridge with the intention of killing anybody.

Whoever works on bridge construction knows that the possibility of a tragedy is always there. This is a dangerous industry and usually bridge stability is at its worse during construction. Half a bridge is usually less stable and more prone to failure than a complete bridge.

So, and considering that in the last few years more and more accidents and more tragic accidents seem to have occurred during bridge construction (or at least they have been more publicized), what can we do?

Maybe is time for somebody to come up with hard recommendations and standards to be followed during construction. There are guidelines and national practices, and obviously a responsibility from the construction company, but maybe what we need is a coordinated effort to put in place some short of guidelines to what we can refer. A kind of checklist to ensure that all issues have been considered and tragedies like this do not happen again

NTSB preliminary report on the I-35W bridge collapse

The NTSB has released the preliminary report on the I-35 bridge collapse. The report is available on line at the NTSB website.
The report point out to a design or drafting error on the gusset plate design. The gusset was only half an inch thick instead of the one inch required. I think everybody should read it and reflect on the lessons we can learn.

Robinson Bridge - Collapse during construction

More than a dozen people have been injured after a bridge under construction collapsed Monday afternoon.

Officials say 14 construction workers received minor injuries, including broken bones as they were pouring concrete. Authorities say the bridge's support structure, which may have been up to 30 feet high, collapsed. Some of the workers rode the debris down to the ground, officials say. All workers have been accounted for. None of the injuries are life threatening.

Authorities are worried that there could be additional collapses due to the impact from the first collapse. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating as well as the Idaho Transportation Department. "We are relieved that no one was seriously hurt by this accident," said Pamela Lowe, Idaho Transportation Department director. "We will begin immediately to work with the contractor to learn what happened."



Work started in late September to replace the I-84 overpasses at Robinson Boulevard and Black Cat Road as part of the I-84 widening project from Meridian to Nampa. Work on both bridges has been suspended pending an investigation. Graham Construction and Management of Spokane is the contractor on this $8.5 million project to rebuild the bridges.

From www.2news.tv

I-35W bridge was doomed from the start

I have been following the I-35 bridge collapse for a while. Now it seems that the Federal Safety Investigators are close to publishing the final report, and the smoking gun is the design of the gusset plates, 40 years ago.


This bothers me. I have a hard time to accept that a design flaw was so critical that made the bridge collapse but not critical enough that allowed the bridge to function properly for 40 years. It also bothers me because it shows how long into the future liability, blame or responsibility follows design engineers. Imagine that you design a gusset plate when you are 30 years old, and in your seventies, somebody knocks at your door and tells you that you made a mistake, a bridge collapsed and you are responsible for the death of a bunch of people.

Obviously I am not saying that the investigation is flawed or wrong. I am sure they did their due diligence and they are sure that the gusset plates are the cause of the collapse. But the whole affair is making me think, and I do not like the conclusions I am reaching.

Maybe in 40 years somebody will knock at the investigator's door and will tell him that he reached the wrong conclusions and that the gusset plates were not the issue after all

http://www.startribune.com/local/33308279.html