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major Colombia bridge collapses during construction 7

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TomBarsh

TomBarsh

Structural
Jun 20, 2002
1,003
That's the country of Colombia.

A major bridge, 440 metres span, collapsed during construction. Seems to be a cable-stayed bridge with concrete towers and deck. Seems like one tower and span collapsed during construction, killing at least 10 workers.


A bit more detail and photos showing the scale of the bridge
 
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Those towers look "hell for stout" but the deck seems really thin. Not that this likely contributed to the collapse.

ETA: the thin deck caught my attention because the bridge was located in a narrow valley, a frequent source of higher winds, and bridges located therein are susceptible to vortex shedding loads. The deck of a cable stayed bridge is likely okay, although the issue has affected the stay cables on some such bridges.
 
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It looks like it came nearly straight down, which suggests to me that the bottom of one of the inverted V struts blew out. If it was a deck failure I'd expect the failure to be on one side and the unbalanced tension to pull the tower the other way.

I see that the roadway is off to one side with the top of the tower pointed the same way; this is also what I would expect if the strut on the other side failed first.
 
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Note to those who haven't opened links yet: pictures show dead people/person.
 
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URL]


TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Given that it failed when both half-spans were nearly complete, and cantilevered waaaay out, I'd wonder about a wind-induced lateral torsional resonance around the center of the tower. They do look stout, but not so much in torsion around their central vertical axis.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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Yes, but the SF Bay Bridge is considerably wider with two decks (ergo: heavier) and is founded in the SF bay mud. (They're down in the old bay mud at least, but that still makes for a much more expensive foundation).

I don't know enough without research to comment authoritatively on lateral loads or labor/regulatory costs, but those must weigh in on the bay bridge's side too.


----
The name is a long story -- just call me Lo.
 
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I suspect that the location where the bridge was being constructed probably added significantly the cost of the project. After all, from the pictures, it looks like a rather mountainous region of a jungle, and unlike the San Fransisco Bay Bridge, there is no convenient body of water that could be used to easily transport building materials and construction cranes and such.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
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The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without
 
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The Bay Bridge is also a self anchored suspension tower, not a traditional cable stayed bridge. This added significant construction costs for false work to support the bridge before it was completed.
 
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Yes, which is why it's similar to the Colombian bridge, although the suspension is much more similar to a conventional suspension. Note also, that this section is a single deck, not double.
qq_abbridges_large.jpg


TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Right, sorry, poor wording. Single deck, but two units wide (and do I mean wide.... something like 10 or 12 lanes total, plus shoulders and supporting the bike lane)

----
The name is a long story -- just call me Lo.
 
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The upstream (land-side) cables in the video all slacken nearly immediately. At the same time, the two V-beams relax (spread out) from each other as the top of the vertical column pulls down. Seems like the problem would be the vertical capacity of the split-Vee tower.

True, winds could have been present, but I see no twisting or jerking or flexing of the cables, bridge deck, or tower prior to the lacking of the cables.
 
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Too much slump in the concrete mix is a chronic issue in Central America. Lots of water makes the concrete easy to place. If you want a stiff mix, the locals know that you are doing it wrong. As soon as you turn your back they will "Do it right" and add water.
A wind gust may have been the trigger, but it looks as if everything went almost straight down.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
 
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Looks to me that the back span on the failed section was a lot shorter than the one still standing...

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)


 
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