Anyone else see the Colorado bridge segment on "Countdown?" (MSNBC)

Olberman has a sub tonight, but it was a very tragic story. A steel structural beam, recently set (it seems) collapsed on the SUV of a young couple (pregnant wife, husband, and two year old) killing them. The Colorado authorities were notified by a 911 call from a bridge expert about an hour before the accident. They responded by looking at a sign, not the bridge.

Now, as an ex-bridge engineer who built numerous bridges (of all designs) in the mid-70s, I cannot imagine the incompetence in setting that steel span. Or the incompetence involved in putting too much concrete on that steel, especially in a way that would create torsion. Or the incompetence involved in the bridge design.

Let the law suits begin.

it had recently been set, and no concrete was on it as yet. It just seemed, inexplicably, to bend in the middle until the ends came out of the pilings it was set in and it crashed down. The Samaritan called to report the bending (it was a bridge engineer who called and he thought the girder looked odd.)

I'm putting this one in the X files.

You set the steel on the bridge caps (to put it simply), and bolt it down. It should not go anywhere in a 100 years. Was there a big temperature change?

We always stopped traffic while we set steel, but once it was secured it was our last thought, even while pouring tons and tons of concrete on the upper structure.

but nothing that engineers around here wouldn't plan for.

It's mystifying. Reminds me of the WTC--what on earth caused those beams to buckle?

It was Saturday--ordinarily that road would have been packed, but ski season was effectively over May 2 this year. So there wasn't much traffic that morning.

Sad story--but that highway has a million of them.

<shiver> :scared:

They were beginning to work on. They were supposed to have three beams temporarily set on the side of the bridge, but it started to snow, so they stopped at one. They had the usual braces in place, but somehow the beam torqued and pulled them out.

The real tragic part is the 911 call. The caller CLEARLY said I-Beam, but the dispatcher somehow heard "sign". So she sent the crews out to look for a sign. She's been suspended.

I've gone under that bridge a million times. Scary.

There is one bridge company that is - in effect - out of business.