Bridge collapse in Genoa

brianlux

Terrible!

https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/genoa-bridge-collapse/index.html

PJ_Soul

Yes, a terrible tragedy. I am eager to hear from the engineers on this one. Wtf made this bridge collapse like that?!?!

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

Yes, a terrible tragedy. I am eager to hear from the engineers on this one. Wtf made this bridge collapse like that?!?!

I'm wondering the same thing.  It might be a while before we find out.

cincybearcat

PJ_Soul said:

Yes, a terrible tragedy. I am eager to hear from the engineers on this one. Wtf made this bridge collapse like that?!?!

Budget cuts and low bid contractors

This is a terrible tragedy. 

Thirty Bills Unpaid

cincybearcat said:

PJ_Soul said:

Yes, a terrible tragedy. I am eager to hear from the engineers on this one. Wtf made this bridge collapse like that?!?!

Budget cuts and low bid contractors

This is a terrible tragedy. 

We can place a low bid if we cut back a bit on the amount of steel in the cement!

brianlux

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

cincybearcat said:

PJ_Soul said:

Yes, a terrible tragedy. I am eager to hear from the engineers on this one. Wtf made this bridge collapse like that?!?!

Budget cuts and low bid contractors

This is a terrible tragedy. 

We can place a low bid if we cut back a bit on the amount of steel in the cement!

LOL!

What's kind of worrisome is that I'm told bridges are not necessarily better built now than in the past.  In his book, The World Without Us, Alan Weisman goes into a fair amount of detail about how massively well built is the Brooklyn Bridge which was completed clear back in 1883.  It's described by some as "over-built" to the point of being able to withstand many times any amount of weight it ever bears at any one time.  My wife reminded me of this little fact the first time we crossed the new span of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge.  I had been feeling so confident because the old bridge had a partial collapse in the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989.  Suddenly, I did not feel so comfortable any more!

PJ_Soul

cincybearcat said:

PJ_Soul said:

Yes, a terrible tragedy. I am eager to hear from the engineers on this one. Wtf made this bridge collapse like that?!?!

Budget cuts and low bid contractors

This is a terrible tragedy. 

I'm sure... it's surprising to see it happen outside of a third world country is all. I guess the same happened with that bridge that collapsed in the US a few years ago too, and that pedestrian bridge in Miami too, although I think one wasn't finished yet.
A friend of mine who works with engineers claims that the vast majority of engineers are total flakes who barely know wtf they're talking about when it comes to real life building. They have theories that look good on paper, but workers are constantly having to tell them that what they're saying is a recipe for disaster for one reason or another. The trades people sometimes have to work really really hard to convince them that what they are insisting on won't fucking work. Sometimes the engineers are so stubborn about it, they insist on their own plans despite strong opposition from the builders, and then only realize the trades people were right after the work is finished... and then it has to be redone. Or not.