“Seconds separated those who lived and died” (Licon, et al.). This is one of the many headlines following the collapse of the Florida International University Bridge that left six dead and another ten injured. A truly tragic event, comparable to that of the Challenger explosion and the Hyatt Regency Hotel walkway collapse. It has only been a few days since the bridge collapsed, but there is already accusations and blame being shoved around. The official investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board has just begun, but it is easy to see the underlying cause. Poor construction caused the bridge to collapse due to improper procedure and structural flaws. The collapse happened on Thursday, March 15th. That being said, it appears that …show more content…
When it comes to building a bridge, there are two main phases. First comes the engineering, designing, and planning of the bridge. Then comes the physical building of the bridge, a truly difficult task in the middle of a city over a highway. That being said, the flaw had to be made during construction. The bridge was designed to withstand a class five hurricane, earthquakes, and to last for over 100 years (Ahmed). A complex and advanced design like this would not have such a fatal flaw, one that does not allow it to finish construction. This bridge was the first to include self cleaning concrete and to push the boundaries of the ABC technique, a feat that was reviewed by many different engineers from multiple companies. However, the bridge parts were made over an hour away, moved to the site, and constructed in just a few hours. This means that the companies were rushing on the construction, adding to the point of poor construction being the reason for the bridge …show more content…
This has valuable and accurate points, the emphasis on speed being a major reason the bridge collapsed. However, ABC as a whole has been extremely successful in the past. This includes over 800 successful bridges with no issues, decreased down time by well over 50 percent, and the cost and injury numbers much lower than traditional bridge building (Laris and Svrluga). This system of prefabrication and quick construction is extremely safe and valuable, assuming the rules and precaution are present and followed. It is when these corners are cut that the issues arise, as rushing the building process does leave it open to major issues, but the system itself is
Without a concrete reason for the bridge's failure, every suggested reason was researched until proven incorrect” (Silver). There were many reasons that were suggested, but could not be proven correct due to the collapse. Wikipedia states that “A small crack was formed through fretting wear at the bearing, and grew through internal corrosion, a problem known as stress corrosion cracking.” The failure of the bridge was caused by a defect in one of the eye-bars on the north side causing the other side to collapse as well. “Stress corrosion cracking is the formation of brittle cracks in a normally sound material through the simultaneous action of a tensile stress and a corrosive environment.
The reasons for the collapse are to be found in the acts and omissions of those entrusted with building a bridge of a new and highly sophisticated design.
On Friday, July 17, 1981, the Hyatt Regency Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri hosted a dance party, which was held in the hotel’s atrium lobby. One of the atrium lobby’s defining features was the presence of elevated walkways that were suspended from the ceiling. About 1,600 people attended the event, mostly occupying the lobby floor; however many guests were either standing or dancing on the suspended walkways as well. Tragically, at approximately 7:05 P.M. a loud crack was heard as two of the walkways collapsed onto the lobby floor below killing 114 people and injuring 216 more. Investigations following this event revealed that the walkways were not designed in a way that was structurally sound, rendering them prone to catastrophic failure. In order to make efforts to avoid such tragedies in the future, it is necessary to evaluate the engineers whose work led to the collapse of the walkways. A consideration of their ethical behavior through the framework of virtue ethics may provide insight into what virtues engineers, and aspiring engineering students, must possess so that their work is done properly with the safety of the general public in mind. To this end, it is useful to first provide some background information on the structure of the suspended walkways and to pinpoint the specific cause of their collapse.
The Golden Gate bridge, standing as an icon of roadway innovations, took multiple engineers years to design and complete. They could not just simply build an ordinary bridge. They had to take into consideration the physics behind it, as well as, what kind of effect the environment would have upon the bridge. The bridge sits along one of the most active fault lines in the world, so engineers had to make sure their bridge could withstand a little movement. Today the Golden Gate bridge still stands tried and true, as does many other innovations that 20th century engineers came up with.
The area of where the bridge was to cross the Ohio River was said to be one of the hardest places to build but came with some advantages. The section of the river had a solid rock base for the supporting pier to be built on. Since the engineers knew they could build a pier that would not settle they decided on a continuous bridge design. This design type distributes the weight so the steel trusses could be smaller and riveted together. This alone saved an estimates twenty percent of steel that was originally thought to be need to make the bridge cutting down the cost. The two continuous trusses span a collective 1,550 feet across the water. With addition of the north and south approach viaducts, for trains to go under the bridge, the superstructure’s total length is 3,463 feet. The bridge was made to hold two sets of tracks making the width 38 feet and 9 inches. The design called for 27,000 cubic yards of concrete and 13,200 tons of steel with some members being four foot square beams that span a distance of seventy feet. The design was the first step in a long process that would take several years to
On the day of the collapse, the bridge was undergoing a resurfacing project that closed 4 of the eight lanes. The closed lanes were used as a staging area for sand, gravel, construction materials, and other equipment necessary to complete the work.
Joseph B. Strauss, a famous designer of movable spans became interested in building a bridge at the Golden Gate so he submitted a proposal. His design was a hybrid structure that included a suspension span of 2,640 feet long along with a cantilevered truss span of 685 ft. on each end. However, his design was rejected by the public because they thought such a bridge would ruin the beauty of the area. Therefore, Strauss had to work with Othmar Ammann, Charles Derleth Jr., and Leon Moisseiff, consulting engineers, who together created a new design. They created a suspension bridge with a length of 4,000 ft. Their new design was approved by the U.S. War Department in 1930 and construction proceeded.
The article “Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse” brought attention a famous case of failed structural design and engineering, analyzed the history of the building’s design and construction, and considered what is to blame for the accident that occurred.
The commission issued 15 conclusions that lead to the failure of the bridge. The commission found that Theodore Cooper and Peter Szlapka were directly responsible for the collapse. Peter Szlapka was the design engineer for the Phoenix Bridge Company and designed the chords that failed. Theodore Cooper was found responsible as well because he officially examined and approved the design. The Quebec Bridge and Railroad Company was also found responsible for failure to appoint an experienced engineer as chief engineer. The main reason for the collapse was poor design. Eventually the bridge became so heavy that it couldn’t even support itself. The bending and distortion of the steel was caused by the dead load of the bridge. The collapse can also be due to stubbornness and refusal to admit a mistake was made early on and didn’t want to redo all the plans. The Phoenix Bridge Company refused to believe their steel was bending and claimed that the distortions must have already been there before the steel was used to make the bridge. Also important factors such as increasing the span of the bridge were not taken into account and no new calculations were ever computed to change the
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is perhaps the most notorious failure in the world of engineering. It collapsed on November 7, 1940 just months after its opening on July 1, 1940. It was designed by Leon Moisseiff and at its time it was the third largest suspension bridge in the world with a center span of over half a mile long. The bridge was very narrow and sleek giving it a look of grace, but this design made it very flexible in the wind. Nicknamed the "Galloping Gertie," because of its undulating behavior, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge drew the attention of motorists seeking a cheap thrill. Drivers felt that they were driving on a roller coaster, as they would disappear from sight in the trough of the wave. On the last day of the bridge's existence it gave fair warning that its destruction was eminent. Not only did it oscillate up and down, but twisted side to side in a cork screw motion. After hours of this violent motion with wind speeds reaching forty and fifty miles per hour, the bridge collapsed. With such a catastrophic failure, many people ask why such an apparently well thought out plan could have failed so badly?(This rhetorical question clearly sets up a position of inquiry-which iniates all research.) The reason for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is still controversial, but three theories reveal the basis of an engineering explanation. (Jason then directly asserts what he found to be a possible answer to his question.)
In her essay,”Importance of the Golden Gate Bridge,” Stephanie Stiavetti suggest that “It maintained this point of pride for nearly 25 years until the Verrazano- Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, this historic San Francisco landmark holds its place as the second largest suspension bridge in the country, behind Verrazano Narrows.” Back then, experts thought that it would be impossible to build a bridge across the tides and currents in that area because strong currents and tides would make construction extremely difficult and dangerous. The water is over 500 feet deep in the center of the channel, and along with the area's strong winds and thick fog, the idea of building a bridge there seemed nearly impossible. Despite all of the problems of building a bridge across the Golden Gate, Joseph Strauss was named as lead engineer for the project. Construction began January 5, 1933, and in the end cost more than $35 million to
The collapse of the Tay bridge has interested engineers, scientists and members of the public for decades. There have been many enquiries into the collapse and theories proposed as to why it happened. For hours after the disaster, people were left confused and perplexed about the facts concerning what they had observed. It was unclear whether the train, and the passengers, had survived the storm and furthermore there was the shock of how such a robust and recently built bridge had actually collapsed.. Earlier in the day, at 1.15pm, the Dundee, a ferry boat, was taken across the waters. The captain noted that the weather was mild and that the waters were calm.
built, and after half the livestock and people had left the dry area, the bridge collapsed,
For this bridge its fall was inflicted by an unknown patron. One who’s identity or existence we never see verified. The record of the fall is short in the story described as only being for a moment. Then the bridge was finally introduced to “the sharp rocks which had always gazed up at me so peacefully from the rushing water”. Rocks gazing peacefully? This is almost as absurd as a bridge turning around. An action that the bridge itself cannot seem to believe it is doing. This attempt by the bridge was his final effort before his fall. I cannot even picture how a bridge would turn around and attempt to look on his back. The question that comes to my mind is how can a bridge see what’s on his back? If this book is trying to make us believe that this bridge is a human, or has human like qualities. Then how flexible a person is this bridge? Because I know very few people who can see whats on their back. Especially without turning so much that anything on their back would fall off. So is this bridge so inflexible that it breaks itself by turning around or is it trying to buck off its attacker unintentionally? This answer is never answered due to the story ending shortly thereafter this scene. With the short fall of the bridge onto the sharp rocks it had stared at for the entirety of its life. The events before and during the fall of the bridge was the main issue I had with my thesis that the bridge was