disaster 2.5 - bridge disasters

the quebec bridge - when

1907 and 1916

the falls view bridge - when

1938

the tacoma-narrows bridge - when

1940

I-35w bridge - when

2007

the silver bridge - why

39 years earlier, there was a failure in a eyebar chain pin and then under the traffic's speed and load, the chain failed and it snapped

the tay bridge - when

Dec 1879

the quebec bridge - why (1916)

a boat hit the support of the bridge, which weakened the support

I-35w bridge - where

across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN

the silver bridge - where

across the ohio river between point pleasant, west virginia and kanauga, ohio

the quebec bridge - why (1907)

consulting engineer was put in charge, saw issues with the under-funded and corners cut in testing, and tried to stop it = people continued building without permission

the silver bridge - when

december 15, 1967

I-35w bridge - why

maintenance wasn't kept up due to not wanting to spend money

the tay bridge - where

over the river tay near the Dundee, Scotland

the quebec bridge - where

quebec, canada over the st. lawrence river

the falls view bridge - why

the bridge was not maintained and was not built to deal with the icy environment

the tay bridge - why

the connecting pin could not stand strength of the gales and the speed of the train

the falls view bridge - where

the niagara falls gorge

the tacoma-narrows bridge - why

the solid plate girders were used instead of something with holes in it to allow the wind to flow through = swayed really badly roadway was too light = wind swayed wind tore it apart

lessons learned

- bridges do not build themselves - bridges do not take care of themselves - building a "cheap" bridge is most often not cheap - large engineering projects are really bad playgrounds for egos and half-hearted commitments to work

the tacoma-narrows bridge - where

Tacoma, WA