Quote:
Originally Posted by kathykd2005
I believe it was a bit more compliated than a "4-inch gap" as you so gingerly put it. Both of these stories cite numerous problems with the bridge, most likely aggravated by the construction on the bridge:c
http://wcco.com/local/local_story_217151047.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation..._bridge03.html
In the second article, an expert states,
"I would be stunned if this didn't have something to do with the construction project," said David Schulz, director of the Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University. "I think it's a major factor."
Although there is evidence for both sides of this argument, your assertion that the viewpoint I offered is completely unfounded is ridiculous. Experts, including "engineers," as you stated, are still not sure what caused the collapse. I was simply stating my own suspicions...  |
OK - I should have been more specific, and I meant to point out a larger issue rather than acting like your suspicions were "unfounded" (everyone's are, at this point, honestly - nothing wrong with that). My bad - I really didn't mean for it to be that 'pointed' or specific to your views.
The construction itself was moderately superficial - however, there was a lot of equipment on the scene, much of it very heavy equipment, and the work went on around the clock. Could the excess weight have contributed? Surely - that's one current avenue of exploration.
Did the construction exacerbate an existing problem? This seems intuitively likely. However, we've all seen construction on bridges where part of the roadbed has been removed, altered or worked on - it's clear this doesn't usually cause the bridge to fail (which is what I meant before).
I really meant my point as more of a diatribe against news sources like CNN and FOX, which have ran wild with speculation rather than news reporting. FOX particularly ran with several "eye witness" interviews and speculation about the road construction, which should have been 'routine' (obviously), that seemed to blame the construction workers for making some catastrophic error . . . likely the problem was much more insidious than a simple worker error, though. It's just bizarre, to me.
I guess this might be something where I have deeper concerns - does the state (or the construction contractor) really check the interactions between roadway equipment, actual work and traffic with the existing structure? Do we go into a panic mode and alter every bridge with "structurally deficient" ratings (even though these are supposedly traversable)? Don't these two issues intersect in a potentially harmful way?
Again, sorry to sound like I wanted to single you out - but yeah, around here people are panicking every time a construction crew removes part of a roadbed. It just seems like it's a symptom of a larger problem, and I should have been more transparent with that thought.
Similarly, the shock-value headlines decrying the bridge's condition as "structurally deficient" really seem set to cause an uproar - and, granted, it sucks that such harsh terms are used, because it kind of invites these sort of reactions, but no one thought anything of this until a bunch of people died/got hurt. It's kind of sick, really.