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Major Disaster Adverted


Sedalia Dave

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I sincerely hope and pray that the inspector does significant prison time for failing to adequately do their job.

 

Hernando de Soto Bridge ( I-40 bridge across Mississippi River ) inspector fired for not flagging crack in span.

 

The crack, which has been there since at least May of 2019, was discovered last week. Prompting the closure of not only I-40 but all River traffic as well. This week river traffic has been allowed to resume after it was determined that the 900 foot span was not in danger of collapsing under its own weight. 

Currently there is no time frame as to how long the bridge will remain closed.

Below is a current picture of the box beam that is now in 2 pieces.

 

In this undated image released by the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows a crack is in a steel beam on the Interstate 40 bridge, near Memphis, Tenn. 

 

once the crack was identified all past records of inspections in the damages area were reviewed. Drone video from 2019 clearly shows the crack. However the cable in the video was the focus of that inspection so no one noticed the crack. 

At the 30 second mark you can clearly see the crack has compromised 60 to 70% of the beams integrity. 

 

 

 

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35 minutes ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

A little JB Weld...

I would  rather  a lot  of  JB  weld

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25 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

PMs? Not familiar with that one. 

I would guess preventative maintenance. We do PMs all the time on equipment.

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That Inspector and his Supervisor have both been fired already.

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38 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

PMs? Not familiar with that one. 

PM abbreviation for Preventative Maintenance. In the Navy PMs are what we do on calendar, hourly, or event basis. Covers inspection, lubrication, or other actions taken to discover defects before they cause a failure and the steps used to prolong the service life of an item. Changing the oil in your engine and inspecting the tires or brake pads for wear are a form of PM.

 

Too many time I have read about or seen first had where an individual or individuals fail to do them correctly or not at all. :angry: :angry: :angry: (In the Navy commonly know as "Gun Decking")

 

Usually the practice isn't discovered until an item fails which results in the destruction of equipment, bodily injury, and/or the loss of life.

 

While on active duty I was subject to retaliation for not covering up the fact that my predecessors  were not performing audits as required. I took over the job a few months before a major squadron maintenance inspection and in getting ready for it I discovered that most of the audits that the QA department was responsible for had not been performed for the prior 9 months. I pointed out to my superiors that we were going to fail and was informed that I was expected to back data inspection logs to hide this fact. However doing so would have been easily discovered by any inspector worth his/her salt and would have made me directly culpable in a coverup,  so I opted not to. Didn't make me very popular and all but guaranteed that I would never be promoted to Chief.

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8 minutes ago, DeaconKC said:

That Inspector and his Supervisor have both been fired already.

 

Criminal negligence charges need to be filed and they both need to be made an example of.

 

The failure of that bridge would have resulted in a significant loss of life and taken years to replace.

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12 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Criminal negligence charges need to be filed and they both need to be made an example of.

 

The failure of that bridge would have resulted in a significant loss of life and taken years to replace.

What's the nearest bridges, how far are they and can those connecting roads handle the traffic?  For that matter, can the bridges?  What are the delays due to the increased traffic on detours- because there's going to be a LOT of traffic taking those detours? 

 

I-40 is a major travel artery that goes from coast to coast and there's a LOT of traffic in just trucks.  All of those consumer goods made in Asia come in through the West Coast ports and work their way East.  I can't tell you how many loads I picked up at a drop yard in Ontario or Long Beach and then headed up to Barstow to jump on I-40 that I dropped at a distribution center that was just off I-40 somewhere in the Midwest or somewhere East of the Mississippi.  At one time or the other, I've been on every inch of the road in both directions.  I-40 is also very travel friendly in the winter.  It's far enough south that heavy snows are far and few between over most of the route.  I'd rather run 40 in January than 70 or 80- period.  It's going to take time to fix the break and it's not like the Mississippi is a minor stream, so what's the impact going to be for the next several months out to the next year or so?

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1 hour ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

PMs? Not familiar with that one. 

Preventative or Periodic Maintenance 

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29 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Preventative or Periodic Maintenance 

It is "preventive"; "preventative" is used by those sorts of people they call an engine a motor, think that 'channellock' is a type of plier, and that a hammer is a mallet.

 

(Mechanic snobbery, apology.)

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I'd say three out of four.

 

Preventive is an adjective. It explains what type of maintenance. Preventative is a noun.

 

Engines are mechanical. Motors are electrical.

 

Hammers and mallets are similar, but not the same.

 

However channel locks are a type of pliers.

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12 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I'd say three out of four.

 

Preventive is an adjective. It explains what type of maintenance. Preventative is a noun.

 

Engines are mechanical. Motors are electrical.

 

Hammers and mallets are similar, but not the same.

 

However channel locks are a type of pliers.

No, Channellock is a brand, not a type of plier.

image.png.d08dcab11f0349a13e7c29ec18939f4a.png

Many people mistake tongue&groove pliers as being Channellock.

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7 hours ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

How do 'they' know the crack has been there since May 2019, if it was only discovered

'last week'?

 

What am I missing in the details?

 

..........Widder

 

 

As part of the investigation as to how a crack that large happened between annual inspections the video posted above was reviewed and if you are looking for it it clearly shows the crack.

That video was shot in 2019 as part of the inspection program for the vertical cables that connect that beam to the arched structure of the bridge. As near as I can tell 2019 was the first time a UAV was used as part of the inspection program for the bridge.

Because the crew using the UAV was there to inspect just the cables and not the entire structure the crack went unnoticed yet if you are looking for it, it is pretty hard to miss.

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                    DIS BE WHUT HAPPUNZ

                                 WHEN DE SHTF

                                     YEEE HAW!


 

 

 

Watch the amazing "Gallopin' Gertie" November 7, 1940 film clip.

1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge 

Slender, elegant and graceful, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge stretched like a steel ribbon across Puget Sound in 1940. The third longest suspension span in the world opened on July 1st. Only four months later, the great span's short life ended in disaster. "Galloping Gertie," collapsed in a windstorm on November 7,1940


Cat Brules

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1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Because the crew using the UAV was there to inspect just the cables and not the entire structure the crack went unnoticed yet if you are looking for it, it is pretty hard to miss.

 

Seems like someone would have said,  "Hey, what's this black line?*

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9 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Criminal negligence charges need to be filed and they both need to be made an example of.

 

The failure of that bridge would have resulted in a significant loss of life and taken years to replace.

Yup, the lady in charge of ARDoT said Monday they had been fired immediately and the Feds are looking at charges.

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Just now, Cypress Sun said:

Did anyone notice that the vertical brace behind the break seems to be bent and appears to have an impact mark at the spot of the bend?

 

That is actually a drain pipe for the road bed. You can see one just like it on the LH side of the video. However It does look like it has been bent. 

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2 hours ago, Cat Brules said:

                    DIS BE WHUT HAPPUNZ

                                 WHEN DE SHTF

                                     YEEE HAW!


 

 

 

Watch the amazing "Gallopin' Gertie" November 7, 1940 film clip.

1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge 

Slender, elegant and graceful, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge stretched like a steel ribbon across Puget Sound in 1940. The third longest suspension span in the world opened on July 1st. Only four months later, the great span's short life ended in disaster. "Galloping Gertie," collapsed in a windstorm on November 7,1940


Cat Brules

The problem was that certain areas of the deck and sides were solid, allowing the wind to cause the swaying.  Dr. Theodore von Karman, the noted aerodynamicist was consulted, after the fact, and recommended changes to the design of such bridges.

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3 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

The problem was that certain areas of the deck and sides were solid, allowing the wind to cause the swaying.  Dr. Theodore von Karman, the noted aerodynamicist was consulted, after the fact, and recommended changes to the design of such bridges.


Today, All these years later (80), that rebuilt bridge is actually a tourist destination.

 

Cat Brules

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