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A List of Bridge Failures
Excerpted from the paper “Bridge Failures – A
Summary and Evaluation” by Lubin Gao, Ph.D., P.E. and Richard A. Lawrie, FACI
, P.E., presented on New York City Bridge Conference, 2007.
Bridge
Failures during Service
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Bridge
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Location
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Date
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Cause
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Bridge Failure
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Ashtabula River Railroad Bridge
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Ashtabula, OH
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12/1876
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Fatigue / Material Fault
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Fatigue failure of cast iron elements resulting
in the failure of the wrought iron truss bridge.
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Tacoma Narrows Bridge
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Tacoma, WA
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11/7/40
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Wind-Structure
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Aerodynamically poor form resulting in the suspension
bridge collapse. Bridge partially destroyed, one car lost, and one dog
killed.
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Chesapeake City Bridge
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Chesapeake City, MD
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7/28/42
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Vessel Collision
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Tanker rammed the drawbridge supports, causing
collapse of the vertical lift drawbridge. Central span completely destroyed
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Silver Bridge
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Point Pleasant, WV
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12/15/67
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Corrosion and Deficiency
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Material fault and Corrosion. Bridge and 37 vehicles
destroyed.
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Sidney Lanier Bridge
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Brunswick, GA
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11/7/72
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Vessel Collision
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Ship struck the vertical lift bridge, causing
parts of the bridge to collapse. Ten deaths. On May 3, 1987 again struck by
a ship.
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Sunshine Skyway Bridge
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St. Petersburg, FL
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5/9/80
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Vessel Collision
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Ship collision took down southbound span, several
cars and a bus destroyed.
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Hyatt Walkway
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Kansas City, MO
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7/17/81
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Connection Failure
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Connections supporting the ceiling rods of walkways
failed and walkways collapsed onto the crowded first-floor atrium. 114
dead.
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Mianus River Bridge
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Greenwich, CT
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6/28/83
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Corrosion and Fatigue
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Metal Corrosion and Fatigue/Deferred Maintenance
of the Pin and Hanger assembly supporting the span. 100-foot (30 meter)
section of the northbound lanes fell into the River.
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Schoharie Creek Bridge
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Amsterdam, NY
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4/5/87
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Flood
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Flooding, soil erosion beneath footings, and
poor maintenance and inspection. Total collapse.
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Cypress Viaduct
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Oakland, CA
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10/17/89
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Earthquake
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Earthquake collapsed a double-deck portion of
the freeway, crushing the cars on the lower deck. 40 killed.
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San Francisco Bay Bridge
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San Francisco, CA
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10/17/89
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Earthquake
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A 50 ft section of the Bay Bridge collapsed due
to the earthquake, causing two cars to fall to the deck below.
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Speedway Pedestrian Bridge
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Concord, NC
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5/20/00
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Corrosion / Material Fault
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One span of concrete pedestrian bridge collapsed
and fell 25 feet onto a four-lane highway. Signs of corrosion were found in
steel strands on a key girder. 107 people injured.
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Queen Isabella Causeway
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Cameron, TX
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9/15/01
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Vessel Collision
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Four loaded barges crashed into one of the support
columns. Three 80-foot sections of the bridge fell into the water. Eight
killed.
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I-40 highway bridge over Ark. River
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Webber Falls, OK
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5/26/02
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Vessel Collision
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A 600-foot section of the Interstate 40 bridge
collapsed after being hit by a barge.
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I-95 Bridge over Howard Avenue
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Bridgeport, CT
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3/25/04
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Collision / Fire
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A tanker truck carrying oil collided with
another vehicle and caught fire. The resulting blaze melt steel beams on
the southbound.
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MacArthur Maze
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Oakland, CA
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4/29/07
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Collision / Fire
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A gasoline tanker crashed and burst into flames
near the Bay Bridge, creating such intense heat that a stretch of highway
melted and collapsed.
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Bridge
Failures during Construction
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Bridge
|
Location
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Date
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Cause
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Bridge Failure
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Quebec Bridge
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Canada
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3/21/1905
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Human Errors
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82 killed of steel truss.
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West Gate Bridge
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Australia
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10/15/1970
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Human Errors
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35 killed. There was a difference in camber of
4.5 in between two half girders. 10 concrete blocks, each 11 t,
were used to weigh down. The blocks caused the span to buckle. The
longitudinal joining of the half girders was partially complete when orders
came through to remove the buckle. As the bolts were removed the span collapsed.
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East Chicago Highway Ramp
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Indiana, USA
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4/15/1982
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Human Errors
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12 killed and 18 injured. About a quarter-mile
of the extension fell as concrete was being poured. The most likely
triggering mechanism of the collapse was the cracking of concrete pads
supporting a shoring tower. It was further concluded that there were four
deficiencies that contributed directly to the collapse. Had any of these deficiencies
not existed, it is unlikely that the collapse would have occurred.
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Rancocas Creek Bridge
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Riverside, NJ, USA
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4/5/2001
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Human Errors
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The steel portion of the light rail bridge,
which was floating on a barge near its final position fell. The steel span,
200 feet in length, struck a crane, damaging it.
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N.Y. Pedestrian Bridge
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New York, USA
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10/10/2002
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Human Errors
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The bridge collapsed as workers were pouring
concrete. The bridge fell about 18 feet to the roadway below. 10 injured,
one dead. Was it a flaw in the structure's design? A human or construction
error? A failure in machinery or the materials used to build the bridge? A
lack of proper safety precautions? Flaw in the bridge design caused the collapse.
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Imola Avenue Bridge
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Napa, CA, USA
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12/3/2003
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Human Errors
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A 100-foot section collapsed without warning,
crashed about 75 feet to the ground in the accident. One worker killed and
seven injured.
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Sikorsky Bridge
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Connecticut, USA
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2/1/2004
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Human Errors
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Collapse occurred during demolition of the
original 1940 span; one worker died when the crane he was operating was
knocked off of its barge by falling steel.
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Maumee River Crossing
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Toledo, Ohio, USA
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2/16/2004
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Human Errors
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one of two gantry truss cranes used to assemble
the Skyway’s spans from precast concrete segments peeled away from its
moorings and crashed 60 feet to the ground, three killed and one injured.
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U.S. 90 bridge over the Bay of St. Louis
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Bay St. Louis , Miss.
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6/14/2007
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Human Errors
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A portion of the forming system used to pour
pier column collapsed and fell into the water. Two killed. The two-mile
span was built to replace a bridge destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
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