OpEdNews » Bridge Collapse: Possible Structural Issues

Support OEN
With Your
Tax-Deductible Donation

Tags for This Article:

Populum Tag Cloud Control Panel
	Fine tune your search to access content

Articles	Links
Diaries	Products
Events	All

All time
Last 6 mos
Last month
Last week
Last 24 hrs

From:
Month Day Year

To:
Month Day Year

Alphabet Popularity	Count ON Count OFF
This Level	Sub-levels

Tag(s): Bridge Collapse; Minnesota
Add to My Group

August 2, 2007 at 10:06:35

Bridge Collapse: Possible Structural Issues

by Georgianne Nienaber Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

SAVE FAVORITES

VIEW FAVORITES

View Ratings | Rate It

Minneapolis ABC Television outlet Channel 5 (KSTP) has reported that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDot) conducted a study in 2006 which rated the I-35 bridge as “low to moderate” and stated that there was fatigue cracking of the deck. In addition, “there was out of plane bending of an approach span girder.”

This report was backed up by a statement from the White House, which said today, Thursday, that an inspection two years ago found structural deficiencies in the highway bridge that buckled during evening rush hour in Minneapolis.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the Interstate 35W span rated 50 on a scale of 120 for structural stability.

"This doesn't mean there was a risk of failure, but if an inspection report identifies deficiencies, the state is responsible for taking corrective actions," he said. The bridge was 40 years old.

In a 2005 abstract, The Journal of Constructural Steel, says there is a complex interaction between bridge components (deck plate, ribs and floorbeams) and also by the interaction between the structure, the pavement and the vehicle’s wheels tires. “Stress concentration resulting from out-of-plane bending of deck components at typical welded joints can make these structures quite susceptible to traffic-induced fatigue cracks.”

There are two basic types of bending in bridge members: in-plane and out-of-plane. When in-plane bending occurs, the cross section of the support resists the load according to the design and undergoes nominal elastic deformation.

Out-of-plane bending implies that the cross section of the member is loaded in a plane other than that for which it was designed and undergoes significant elastic deformation or distortion, according to industry definitions.

In a press conference the evening of the collapse, Governor Tim Pawlenty stated that he saw reports from 2005 and 2006 that said the bridge was structurally intact.

Georgianne Nienaber is a writer, author, and investigative journalist. She lives in the world. Her articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, SCOOP New Zealand, Glide Magazine, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Friends of the Congo, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction exposé of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. Nienaber spent much of 2007 doing research in South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist, and recently spent six weeks in Southern Louisiana investigating hurricane reconstruction. She is currently developing a documentary on the Gulf of Mexico DEAD ZONE.

	Contact Author
	Contact Editor
	View Other Articles by Author

Bookmark this page: (what's this?)

(More...)

10 comments

Martin Zehr is an American political writer in the San Francisco area. He spent 8 years working as a volunteer water planner for the Middle Rio Grande region. http://www.waterassembly.org
His article on the Kirkuk Referendum has been printed by the Kurdish Regional Government, http://www.moera-krg.org/articles/detail.asp?smap=01030000&lngnr=12&anr=12121&rnr=140 Another article was reprinted in its entirety by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) http://www.puk.org/web/htm/news/nws/news0...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Martin ZehrMartin Zehr is an American political writer in the San Francisco area. He spent 8 years working as a volunteer water planner for the Middle Rio Grande region. http://www.waterassembly.org
His article on the Kirkuk Referendum has been printed by the Kurdish Regional Government, http://www.moera-krg.org/articles/detail.asp?smap=01030000&lngnr=12&anr=12121&rnr=140 Another article was reprinted in its entirety by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) http://www.puk.org/web/htm/news/nws/news0...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Infrastructure, Technical Expertise Brought the Bridge Down

America has surely lost its edge in public education leading to a failure of science in public works construction, the shuttle program and New Orleans. We have an entire generation that may be facing the worst scenarios solely because of our failing public education system.Time to throw it away, it is past the point of being fixed. In the West, watch out for subsidence, nuclear power plants on faults, groundwater depletion, air pollution as bad as Beijing and

by Martin Zehr (38 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 11:50:01 AM

Former Lawyer, current Business Consultant,history buff, Christian, father of 2 sons and a supporter of democratic government.
ArchieFormer Lawyer, current Business Consultant,history buff, Christian, father of 2 sons and a supporter of democratic government.

Collapse

What's wrong with this picture? The U.S. can spend $650 billion on an unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq but can't find enough money to rebuild and repair crumbling infrustructure in it's own cities thereby putting the lives of its own residents in jeopardy. Talk about hubris! Don't you realize that you as citizens are bearing the brunt of the mistakes made by the Whitehouse? Is it too far removed to think that this accident in Minneapolis is tied to the war in Iraq? I don't think so. Just imagine if that $650 billion had been spent within the U.S. on things like bridge repair. Get the point?

by Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1144 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 12:21:05 PM

Its Always Been Guns or Butter

Iraq and the Defense Department has always been the priority. Liberals wring their hands though instead of addressing the needs of the American people. They have NO program to transition to renewable energies, no program to invest in school construction, no program to address planning issues. No taxes, no infrastructure. Get it yet?

by Martin Zehr (38 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 12:34:09 PM

Virginia Simson is a spiritual journalista/activist who runs a visionary planetary tutorial blogspot, www.ladybroadoak.blogspot.com as well as a blog on the uranium industry and depleted uranium at www.lowlevelradiation.blogspot.com. She feels that we must educate the young as to the real issues of the day - economics, clean energy, a drug free lifestyle, friendship and concern for the environment. We must plan for seven generations in the future. She unconditionally supports impeachment and...

to see more of bio, click on member name
ladybroadoakVirginia Simson is a spiritual journalista/activist who runs a visionary planetary tutorial blogspot, www.ladybroadoak.blogspot.com as well as a blog on the uranium industry and depleted uranium at www.lowlevelradiation.blogspot.com. She feels that we must educate the young as to the real issues of the day - economics, clean energy, a drug free lifestyle, friendship and concern for the environment. We must plan for seven generations in the future. She unconditionally supports impeachment and...

to see more of bio, click on member name

ABSOLUTELY correct!!!

This issues goes back to the porkbarreling to keep unpopular politicians who continued the Vietnam war. Fingers can be pointed, but I highly doubt correct responsibility will be assigned. Having been an original objector to the project, I know many things about what transpired to make this bridge a tragedy since Day One.

I hope some folks take the time to read my somewhat meandering OpEd item; maybe something can get learned from the 40 year history of porkbarreling, military "strategy", big bu$iness interests and strident refusal to listen to the public.

We simply MUST stop the Securityand Prosperity Protocol agreements, as this will become the legacy of this generation, too only this time, the result will be FAR worse.

I NEVER drove that bridge; it was too risky for me, but I had a choice. Putting my children in that car and driving across it, knowing what i knew, would have been a CRIME, as they would have had NO CHOICE at all; the powers that be never gave it to them.

You are definitelyl "onto something". I appreciated your comment.

Virginia

by ladybroadoak (38 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 391 comments) on Friday, August 3, 2007 at 9:12:41 AM

George Bush: the best reason not to believe in intelligent design.
kanawahGeorge Bush: the best reason not to believe in intelligent design.

This is a republican problem

This is a problem that has been driven by the refusal of the republicans to fund the infrastructure eminence.

It goes all the way back to Reagan, then Bush 1, the republican controlled congress during the Clinton administration, and now the Bush2 administration. During the first part of the Clinton administration while the Democrats controlled congress, there was substantial progress made, but as soon as the republicans took over, they cut the maintained back to almost nothing.

If there are not massive amounts of money put into maintained, things like this bridge collapse will become commonplace.

by kanawah (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 70 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 3:03:12 PM

Dems Do the Dance

You are blind if you think Clinton did anything to restore the infrastructure. The only person addressing it is Bloomberg with his congestion tax.

by Martin Zehr (38 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 4:46:23 PM

Incorrect ...

There is a finger to be pointed and that is at Hubert Humphrey, the system of porkbarreling, LBJ's federal highway funding protocol, greedy development planners and WAY too much unplanned urban development ... that was not jst a republican thang. There is a forty year history to this some of which may be gleened simply be writing the wiki entries. The I-35 bridge was built in a big fat hurry, the plans altered for the sake of business and the load for which it was intended way surpassed. and there was an action to restore the old Cedar Avenue bridge (as opposed to the Cedar Riverside I-35 bridge) as recently as this July ... as loads on that bridge has caused disintegration.

Miinnesota made grave mistakes when it used outsiders to build bridges without the input of engineers and concerned citizens, but the error on the I-35 bridge definitely makes this a federal issue not confined to any one particular party.

by ladybroadoak (38 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 391 comments) on Friday, August 3, 2007 at 9:19:24 AM

The author lives in a small village in central Europe and has been active in the local workers movement for nearly 3 decades.

Globalism knows no borders, why should we ?
Tony ForestThe author lives in a small village in central Europe and has been active in the local workers movement for nearly 3 decades.

Globalism knows no borders, why should we ?

bridge

......"the differences between Obama and his rivals may be smaller than they sound. Most of the others in the Democratic field both favor tougher diplomatic pressure on Musharraf to prevent terrorists from using Pakistan as a safe haven and staging ground. Most also believe, as Obama said, that if there is actionable intelligence showing the location of Osama bin Laden or another prominent terrorist leader, the United States would take action to kill or capture them."

bridge

by Tony Forest (6 articles, 15 quicklinks, 155 diaries, 1359 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 3:20:16 PM

10 year Navy veteran,former Federal employee with various agencies,
Gallaher10 year Navy veteran,former Federal employee with various agencies,

America is getting what it deserves

I was fired from the United States Department of Transportation for blowing the whistle on fraudulent maintenance practices in the Federal Aviation Administration. I can only assume the same practice is true for the highways department.

Your government fired me and then put me in prison for failure to pay child support, because I could not find a job commensurate with my education (maintaining government surveillance radars) and would not accept their settlement.

America is getting exactly what it deserves.

HA,HA You get no sympathy from me.

by Gallaher (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 608 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 7:28:46 PM

52 yr old male from Ohio. Married with two children
Keith Miller52 yr old male from Ohio. Married with two children

my opinion

Good article, first off. I heard reporters say they were "widening" the roadway on the bridge which would also add weight . Couldnt adding this extra weight to an already stressed structure cause a collapse?

Also the twisting would take all the stregnth out of an I beam or a square tube. Imagine a letter I , take that I and make it lean a bit to one side or the other, matters not. That takes all the structural stregnth out of that I IF the horizontal top and bottom stay horizontal .

by Keith Miller (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 8:46:22 PM