Canada Has Been Cut In Half!

[MossRoad]

Ontario's Nipigon River bridge fails, severing Trans-Canada Highway - Thunder Bay - CBC News

 

[California]

Looks like it's partially open, for alternating one way traffic.

One theory I haven't seen yet: After a new bridge near Seattle failed spectacularly around 1940, analysis led to the conclusion that wind caused that bridge to flutter in the same manner that airplane wings are designed to avoid. In that bridge, the flutter built up into harmonic waves and the bridge destroyed itself over several minutes. Video.

In the article you linked, a witness said this bridge pulled away from its abutment during/after a big gust of wind. I wonder if what she saw was an aerodynamic-lift effect, tugging the deck away from its abutment.

Comments in that CBC article suggested the suspension bridge's cables shortened in the cold but surely the designers planned for that ... hopefully?

 

[Thomas]

Going to be lot life changes now.

 

[RobS]

Looks like the bridge deck lifted from the winds and shifted laterally so it no longer lines up with the expansion joints. Sounds like an expensive problem to have!

 

[oosik]

Kind of a tough time of year to make repairs in a rather remote location. It will be interesting to see what the final report says about the cause of the failure.

 

[sixdogs]

Wow, that's a problem. It's a long way around for a detour.

Canada has some brilliant true grit type people that have a streak of redneck in them. However gargantuan that problem is--and it is--I bet it's fixed faster than you would expect. They'll work 24/7 with a small army and I'll bet unveil some unconventional methods that gets it done.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Long way around but come through Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

 

[Looking4new]

According to the news reports I've seen, the bolts that hold the deck to the pilings broke. 1300 trucks a day go through Nipigon and use that bridge. About 25% of the trucks cannot go through the 'states. they are too long, have too many axles and are too heavy. My truck and trains I can take into Michigan, but that is all and I don't have the spreads to legal what I haul in MI. I can legally payload 90,000lbs up here. That is 10,000lbs more than the US allows gross on the interstate system.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have a couple of Plastic Rhino Ramps that would fix that. On sale at TSC, maybe fifty bucks. A cheap fix to put the country back together again!

 

[Looking4new]

More on the Nipigon bridge.
60cm = 24"
Nipigon River Bridge failure a Trans-Canada Highway 'wakeup call': NDP MP | CTV News

 

[jerrybob]

Interesting video of the Tacoma Bridge failure......thanks for sharing California!

 

[wawajake]

A news article today noted that bridge design engineers were a firm from Spain, and the expansion joints were made in China.........explains a lot !

 

[mark02tj]

A news article today noted that bridge design engineers were a firm from Spain, and the expansion joints were made in China.........explains a lot !

Not a lot of wind and cold in Spain so maybe those guys didn't have the experience to design a bridge for those conditions? :confused3:

How old is that bridge? both of the linked articles refer to it as "recently opened".

 

[Looking4new]

How old is that bridge? both of the linked articles refer to it as "recently opened".

The bridge opened in November 2015

 

[sseelhoff]

The bridge opened in November 2015

Should still be under warranty then. At least they can send it back.

 

[farmer2009]

Might be time to consider a second crossing somewhere a little closer than Michigan.

 

[Looking4new]

Might be time to consider a second crossing somewhere a little closer than Michigan.

There is a second crossing IF they haven't started to take it down. The old bridge was built in 1937 I think.
The powers that be are also looking at the feasibility of widening and upgrading a logging road.

 

[Mace Canute]

So...who's got a pet theory on why it failed? My WAG is they miscalculated the amount of tension needed on the cable stays due to temperature changes.

 

[Looking4new]

So...who's got a pet theory on why it failed? My WAG is they miscalculated the amount of tension needed on the cable stays due to temperature changes.

And substandard bolts.

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, its only an 18 hr., 1040 mile drive to get to the other side of the river.