Case Study: The Minnesota Bridge/ I-35W Collapse of 2007
Intro
The Minnesota Bridge/ I-35W rumbled with high traffic during the rush hour when it dropped 60 feet down (or more) into Mississippi River in 2007, August 1st (Sander & Saulny, 2007). More than 50 vehicles went into the river with the passengers inside. According to Jim Clack from the Fire Department of Minneapolis, more than seven people got killed while an excess of sixty suffered injuries. The State patrol department was quoted as reporting 20 missing people (Sander & Saulny, 2007). Most people were rescued within one hour of the said collapse according to Jim Clack (Sander & Saulny, 2007). The 8 lane bridge served as the 35W interstate bridge serving the north-south route that passed through Minneapolis. The bridge was undergoing repairs when it collapsed. Witness testimony indicated that a jackhammer was at use on this bridge moments before it collapsed at around 6 PM (Sander & Saulny, 2007).
The bridge was constructed in 1967 and it collapsed in three areas (Sander & Saulny, 2007). The collapsed section of the bridge was approximately a thousand feet long and was under the steel truss structure support. The concrete deck, lights, and guard rails of the bridge were being repaired (Sander & Saulny, 2007). According to investigators, the bridge came down due to flaws in the design of the bridge (Waldjan, 2008). A thin metal plate that was too thin to serve the junction of a number of girders had been used. This bridge was a 1960s design and the bridge had lasted for forty years (Waldjan, 2008). The bridge, as many others would, had gained some weight during the period owing to the fact that workers has installed some concrete structures for the purpose of separating the westbound lanes from the eastbound lanes (Waldjan, 2008). This among other changes has strained the bridge on its weak areas. At the moment the bridge collapsed, crews had come along with heavy materials and equipment on the bridge deck for the repairs work (Waldjan, 2008).
What are at least 3 forms of technology that made or could have made a significant difference in saving lives, lessening suffering, and/or protecting property?
The 2007, August 1st collapse of the Minnesota Bridge/ I-35W killed 13 people and injured a total of 121 people (EMS World, 2008). The EMS (Emergency medical Services) response was led by the Medical center from Hennepin County (EMS World, 2008). The cooperation among the metro and first responders...
The epoxy supplier knew full well that his brand wasn't good for the long haul and assumed the construction bosses knew that too -- but they did not know that. So, the bottom line is that the I-35W bridge "apparently lacked the kind of redundancy planning that is the norm today," Teschler asserts. And since the I-35W bridge was designed in the 1960s it went online prior to the ASCE
The design firm is ultimately responsible, and should bear the brunt of the blame in this situation, and all of their designs should be reconsidered and recalculated at this point. If they had recalculated their results, double tested, or even asked for another opinion, the tragedy might not have occurred, and at the heart of this is the ethical question, was the miscalculation intentional, or was it just a
Failure analysis report: The I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse Given the existence of safety codes within the United States as compared with the developing world, it might be assumed that a structural failure would be a relatively rare event. However, a remarkable failure occurred within the nation's heartland, in the form of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in 2007. As noted in an editorial in the LA Times: "the collapse
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