are suvs to blame for bridge collapse?

Answer 1

poor regulations on bridge safety checks are to blame methinks. the weight of the vehicles on the bridge is not that much compared to the weight of the road and bridge itself.

Answer 2

It is not because of poor regulations, it most likely is not because of someone's poor design. It is definitely not related to the Iraq war (more than likely the money we would have saved by pulling out of Iraq early would have went to something else).

It is directly related to how much money is available for repairs (structurally). All federal supported road construction comes directly for federal taxes on your gas consumption. That's it. It doesn't come from anywhere else and because we are using less fuel we have less funds to spend on things.

The real question is this... If the money had been there and the structure test came back and said that the bridge is below standard, would the people have demanded that the money be spent on the bridge or some other road project that they believe is desperately needed to improve congestion. That is what is going on in my State. We have a lot of subpar bridges, but the public outcry is not for those repairs or replacements; it is for projects like the completion of the outer beltloop instead.

The thing is, if the Min. Department of Transportation had come in and spent the millions required to replace the bridge then the citizens would have been yelling at them because of the delay they created too. So it's a darned if you do and darned if you don't situation. I know, I know but people died in this situation. The thing is sometimes you don't know how close an event like this is until it happens, no matter how much you test it.

Answer 3

We will not know for sure, until the NTSB report comes in, a year or more from now.

My theory, in the absence of any solid facts.

The University study said that it would take only one crack for all to fall down, and the place that could get cracked covered up with paint so no one ever see that by visual inspection, so there needed to be standards in addition to the visual inspection.

At the same time we had:
* Train going under the bridge at one end.
* Jack hammering repairs to the surface of the roadway
* Kids jumping up and down, or singing in the school bus (I made that up)

These vibrations in combination caused the last crack to arrive where Minnesota Department of Transportation had not been inspecting, and all fall down like the University study predicted what would happen.

Answer 4

Nope. The bridge collapse took place due to metal fatigue and bad structural design; how to bridge handles loads and vibrations. The reason it came down now is because of the high heat index which caused the cracks to expand.

The irony, I thought, was that the older bridge right next to it was just fine. Hmm...

Answer 5

Do you really think 5000 pound SUVs brought down a bridge that 80000 semi trucks routinely drive across?

Go back to bed, Al Gore! SUVs are NOT the root of all evil!

Answer 6

Redecking the bridge most possibly. The guard rail was removed on some of the lanes making the thin deck venerable to twisting, or the age of the girders and the thin deck X section both. The way the center span dropped and the north side raised up as the girders also failed over land? And we are spending billions to prop up a puppet government in Iraq? Show me terrorist's! Senators Congressmen do a good enough job Killing american's with out traveling over seas! Please rebuild roads and bridges before the cost becomes to high!

Answer 7

No, not specifically the SUV ~ it is the entire load on a bridge (regardless of what kind of vehicles) when the structure has been compromised.

Answer 8

Yes. They are also to blame for high gas prices, sunspots, hail, the recent down tick of the stock market, Iran, North Korea, wildfires, shark attacks, gang violence, all murders and cancer.
Happy?

Answer 9

No. It is actually the hybrids fault. They don't use enough gas to pay for highway maintenance.

Dirty little secret, highway funding is based on gallons of fuel sold. High mileage cars don't burn enough gas to generate funding to pay for our roads.

Easy solution raise road taxes; smart solution, relax CAFE standards and build more refineries.

Answer 10

I don't think so ... it's a terrible accident that happened .. I really feel for those that were injured or lost loved ones .. my heart goes out to them. why would you even think that anyways?