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Design Flaw Likely Cause of Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
A design flaw in the gusset plates joining steel beams may have been the culprit in the I-35 bridge collapse outside of Minneapolis that killed 13 people last August. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, investigators found failed plates that were sized a half an inch too thin in the original design. The “design error” means the bridge was unsound from day one and would have never been discovered by inspectors who check for corrosion and cracks. The NTSB investigation is far from over and a complete understanding of all factors in the collapse is still a long way away. Tragedies such as these could be avoided in the future by implementing wireless sensor technology to monitor bridges continuously for dangerous loads and stresses. Reece Rushing discussed some of these technologies in a recent Science Progress article.
Image credit: AP/John Weeks III
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