:: rawblogXport ::

:: Sunday, August 15, 2004 ::

Building bridges - safer ones Rocky Mountain News, CO
The girder that collapsed had been temporarily braced to the northbound C-470 bridge over I-70.

Five steel struts bolted to the girder were attached to the existing bridge to hold it in place until the next new girder could be erected to make the assembly more secure.

But bad weather forced cancellation of the next two nights of planned work. Highway closings aren't permitted on Friday or Saturday nights, so the follow-up work was rescheduled for Sunday night, May 16. But the girder rolled over on its side on the morning of May 15, sagged across the highway and collided with the Posts' vehicle.

The precise cause of the collapse still is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which isn't expected to issue a report for another six to nine months.

But several witnesses have reported seeing the girder tilting toward the existing bridge as early as two days before the collapse.

One motorist with experience in bridge construction called 911 only 74 minutes before the collapse to report the problem. But the emergency operator misunderstood his meaning and sent a crew to check something else.

posted 8:18 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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