Too much weight

Possible flaw identified in I-35W design

Potential Flaw Is Found in Design of Fallen Bridge

Well, as the recovery effort continues, so does the investigation. An interesting find was uncovered but whether it will be the answer is anybody's guess at this point. I did find this paragraph to be of interest:

He said the company had interviewed every employee on the bridge when it collapsed and had not found anyone who could substantiate reports from a first responder who said workers told him the bridge was wobbling before it fell.

If people have been following my blog, this was in fact a quote, supposedly from the workers a few days ago. Either that or the paper was looking to pin the blame? Or the company is now sealing their lips for fear that they will be blamed for this? Which, to me, in reading these articles, I get the sense that they are sweating this right now. Can one blame them? The burden of the blame will lie somewhere, it's just a matter of who, what, when, and where?

If in fact it's a design flaw, one in which was created back in 1967, can that construction company be found guilty? Considering numerous bridges are constructed with these gusset plates, is this company responsible for the collapse of this bridge they had no hand in erecting?

My answer is a resounding NO at this point. If it was an intentional thing to cause this collapse then of course any one of us would scream that these guys should be hung upside down until their sentencing to life in prision.

But hey, they didn't purposely cause this to happen, they were doing their job under the guise that it was routine. Can't fault them for that at this point. Unless of course they purposely overloaded the bridge with paving materials and equipment with the sole purpose of seeing just how much stress this bridge could take.

Who knows what'll happen, there have been numerous possibilities for this tragedy already and its only a week old. No matter how this happened...even though bridges just don't collapse according to some....the sad fact is is that lives were lost, people were hurt, lives were changed. It's going to be a long time before many heal from this and a long time before there are any answers.