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Bridge collapse

oakland

COPPA
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
477
Location
nampa,idaho
Occupation
high school
hello everybody,many of you may have seen the "bridge on stilts" picture in my concrete paving post. well today at about 2:15 concrete paving was taking place on top of the deck. and the structure supporting the bridge collapsed. 14 workers were injured but with non life threating injuries. no one was under the deck at the time but those who were on top rode the collapse down. THIS IS JUST A REMINDER PLEASE BE SAFE.
 

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Tanstaafl

Active Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
40
Location
IA/NE
Wow. Glad to hear that everyone is ok.

Be interesting to see what the investigation says was the reason for the failure.
 

insleyboy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2008
Messages
191
Location
Monroe Michigan
Occupation
Operator 25 years, was laborer for 7 years
Yikees, what a fall that had to be! A hundred thousand dollar Bid-Well machine is junk as well! Glad to here all are going to be OK. I survived a fall like that years ago.....Scary!!!
 

oakland

COPPA
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
477
Location
nampa,idaho
Occupation
high school
I'm wondering why its on stilts in the first place.

they said its a faster way of building the bridge.they dont have to close lanes they just build it off to the side of the old bridge. i dont understand why its so high its 30 feet exact. :beatsme
 

oakland

COPPA
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
477
Location
nampa,idaho
Occupation
high school
I'd bet it's for Utah's Rapid Bridge Replacement program.

FHWA Article on Rapid Replacement

Obviously the falsework gave away, but I'm wondering on whether or not the falsework had a stamp on it or if they just calculated the dead load, tossed a safety factor in and went for it.

yeah its a rapid bridge replacement only not in utah ;) this is the first time they have done this in the valley and as far as i know no other issues have happened. work is at a standstill there afraid the collapse may have knocked the other 3 bridges out of alignment.:pointhead
 

surfer-joe

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
1,403
Location
Arizona
Here is what is known at this time. It's going to be a while before the OSHA and other investigations are completed and a root cause is determined. I passed by this work several times this year and it's an impressive piece of roadwork. However, it's a hell of a bottle neck during rush hour and even at other times. I don't believe I've been there without an accident having happened. It will be a hardship on all the workers for lost wages while the entire project is shut down.
=========================================================
"NAMPA — The Idaho Transportation Department hired two forensic investigation firms to look into what caused a partially constructed bridge to collapse Monday in Nampa, injuring 13 workers.

The 14-man crew fell about 30 feet as they poured concrete on a bridge span they were building on a site away from the bridge’s ultimate location.

Initial reports indicated all 14 crew members had been injured, but officials said Tuesday one worker declined treatment and was not taken to a hospital. The other 13 were taken to three area hospitals for treatment of injuries including broken bones and lacerations.

Here’s what happened

The 14 workers were pouring concrete using a cement truck and a crane.
They had worked with a smoothing machine on the concrete and had about three-quarters of the bridge slab poured. It was the first of the four slabs where workers planned to pour concrete to build the bridge deck.

The span of Robinson Boulevard bridge that fell collapsed about 1:30 p.m.
The impact of the collapse may have compromised the strength of the scaffolding holding up the other Robinson Boulevard overpass span and the two spans for the Black Cat overpass — as well as the spans themselves.

How much of the collapsed bridge span can be salvaged or if the other bridge spans can still be used has yet to be determined.

The bridges were being built off-site so they could later be moved into place without disturbing traffic or construction on I-84.

All work on the project, including construction of the other Robinson Boulevard span and the two Black Cat spans, has been halted.

No work was taking place on the other three slabs at the site at the time of the accident.

Officials believe the injured workers had worker’s compensation insurance coverage.

Two of the 13 workers injured in the accident remained in an area hospital Tuesday. One of them has a broken back, Nampa Deputy Fire Chief Doug Strosnider said.

The accident happened in a field just north and west of Interstate 84 and Robinson Boulevard. Crews were constructing interstate overpasses for Robinson and Black Cat Road in the field."
 

oakland

COPPA
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
477
Location
nampa,idaho
Occupation
high school
Here is what is known at this time. It's going to be a while before the OSHA and other investigations are completed and a root cause is determined. I passed by this work several times this year and it's an impressive piece of roadwork. However, it's a hell of a bottle neck during rush hour and even at other times. I don't believe I've been there without an accident having happened. It will be a hardship on all the workers for lost wages while the entire project is shut down.
=========================================================
"

yes that will suck big time for the employees, but that is not completley accurate. last night the support columns were installed in the middle of the interstate. and they are working at blackcat as well as the approach to the robinson overpass.
 
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