The gusset plates essentially hold the bridge together. The 35W bridge's was only HALF as thick as they should have been. This caused 13 people to die, and 145 people were injured.
The thing is, this isn't the first time that builders and architects have cut corners- In 1996, a bridge in Ohio collapsed, because the gusset plates weren't adequate to support the design load. Thankfully, no one was killed in that incident, but it should have been a wake up call to builders and architects, as well as transportation departments, that you can't cut SAFETY to save money.
Another case in point- the Twin Towers. Involved was not only negligent construction of the building, they also violated fire standards dating as far back as 60 years! The planes scraped away the fireproof coating on the steel beams, allowing the intense fire to soften the steel. Also, other than the core of the two towers were built like regular high-rises, with clusters of heavy steel columns and beams linked into a cage-like matrix. Beyond that, the 110 floors in each tower had NO vertical support columns.
Was the money saved by using the cheaper fireproofing substitutes, and no vertical support columns, worth the 2,974 deaths, and the 6,291 injuries, not to mention the rescue workers now dying from inhaling the airborne particles.
How many more people are going to have to die, before builders and architects put safety over money? Or will we continue to have these disasters, with the Government writing them off as "isolated incidents."
A great quote from one of my favorite movies of all time, The Towering Inferno seems to sum this up.
Chief O'Halloran (Steve McQueen) : You know we were pretty lucky tonight, body counts less then 200. You know, one of these days, you're gonna kill ten-thousand in one of these firetraps, and I'm gonna keep eating smoke and carrying out bodies until someone asks us... how to build them.
So for once, lets ask the firefighters, the police officers, and the rescue workers- everyday people who risk their lives for the rest of us.
Dedicated to the victims of the 35W bridge collapse, 9/11 victims, and all who risked their lives to save them.
~Mer
Could not find a suitable section so I written here, how to become a moderator for your forum, that need for this?
ReplyDeleteThere's really not a need right now, but thank you for asking. :) I appreciate that a reader would want to get involved like this.
ReplyDeletehi guys
ReplyDeleteHey guys unfortunately this kind of insidentes only common in all countries of the world really if companies responsible for safety on the roads were more aware of regular reviews to make this kind of structures that would not happen.
ReplyDelete