British Bridge Collapse

The bridge has been shut for a year. On Google Street View the join in the middle looks dangerous. Search East Street West Malling to find it.

A truck carrying a digger was travelling on the hard shoulder when the top of the digger contacted the bridge, and the bridge snapped off in the middle. This demonstrates how weak much of our concrete infrastructure is.

How weak our structures are? So the bridge has been closed for a year, I'm assuming because of safety concerns.. Then gets struck by a lorry, carrying a digger on a dual carriageway and collapses..
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out..

a reply to: Misterlondon

You will find these weakness occur throughout the infrastructure. Motorway bridges in particular have been a major concern for some people since the motorway system was built. Something to do with the wrong kind of sand.

The methods used for judging the condition of hidden rebar and reinforcing cables have been found to be inadequate. In the case of stressing cables horizontal cracks have proved undetectable in many cases.

Anyone travelling the motorways will have noticed bridge works and obvious signs of deterioration.

Concrete has proven to be over-advertised.

a reply to: Kester

This is a simple and predictable symptom of years of government devolvement of public infrastructure and sell off's.
In all likely hood the bridge was built back in the 1960's or 1970's, perhaps even before and most likely had a projected life span of just 20 to 30 years with a long duration schedule of replacement's drawn up at the time, replacement's which of course never took place once the Tory's got there hand's on the purse string's.
Cheap steel reinforcement spars and rod's are probably also to blame as the have probably long rusted through and there were likely also rust expansion crack's already present within the concrete before the collision took place weakening the structure immensely.

Also it is an outdated and too low bridge built at a time when vehicle's on British road's were smaller and lighter, this was probably never expected to have to accomodate for anything larger than an old British Leyland lorry.

It is sad but a predictable symptom of bad government, under investment in infrastructure and basic political corruption, negligence and irresponsibility from a clique whose only interest is the well being of the bankers and there other elite wealthy friend's.

a reply to: LABTECH767

randompottins.blogspot.co.uk...

Back in the early 1970s I was sharing a house up North with a couple of friends, one of whom was employed as a technician on motorway construction. One day Steve came home not his usual carefree self, and told us that he had been testing the grout, a mixture of cement and sand in water, that was used to surround cables embedded in concrete, in order to seal them from the elements. Finding a batch that was not of the proper consistency - I think it was meant to be cement-rich - he had reported this, only to be told to let it go.

Steve explained that if the cables were not properly grouted and sealed, rainwater permeating through the concrete would cause them to rust, and you might eventually have lumps of loosened masonry from bridges falling down on to the motorway.

I told him somewhat naievely that he ought to go to the press with his story. He replied that if he did that "it would be the end of my career in civil engineering and construction". He was probably right. He won't mind me telling his story now, as last thing I heard he had gone into teaching instead.

rns.trb.org...

. . . visual inspection augmented with the use of a bore scope, use of impact echo testing, an evaluation of corrosion potentials, and an assessment of chloride contamination. It is now known that this approach has not always identified ongoing corrosion and has actually provided a false sense of security while tendons continue to corrode.

The biker had a narrow escape sliding under the bridge.

a reply to: Kester

This is just up the road from me.

Its one of the UK most busy roads and a major link to london.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Yeah, it is the same here Stateside.
I guess when the Golden Gate bridge collapses
on a bunch of transvestites, the Herodites will
take notice .

Due to the fact that infrastructure plays such a
significant role in a countries economy I find it
to be complete negligence that such deterioration
exists.

I guess they're waiting till after the war to rebuild.

I have looked at some photos that are on the daily mail website, the digger appears undamaged ,not even any dust on it and the bridge has fell trapping the digger behind it. I really don't think the digger knocked it down it wasn't excessively high or anything.

a reply to: penfold

Here's a good aerial view. Seems to be concrete dust on the front of the digger.

Bridge cracked off too easy. There are many similar. Blatant thief in Hi Vis robbing the truck at 00:28.

a reply to: Kester

looks like a metal bridge to me - possibly sub standard workmanship...

from this site
www.mirror.co.uk...

Bridge was 'undergoing repairs' Reports are suggesting that the bridge was undergoing repairs before the collapse. It is still not known what triggered the disaster however.

originally posted by: Kester
a reply to: penfold
Blatant thief in Hi Vis robbing the truck at 00:28.

Blimey, Kes, I hope they don't call you up for jury service! To me, this looks more like one of the many police on the scene - look at the badge (or something similar) on the front of the "thief's" right shoulder. You'll see it again 3 seconds into this video :

originally posted by: Kester
Blatant thief in Hi Vis robbing the truck at 00:28.

Looked like a person wearing a neon green safety vest, I don't know too many thieves sporting one of those.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

a reply to: lacrimoniousfinale


Well the Pikey scum are crafty down here

a reply to: crazyewok

Just don't buy a caravan or a dug off one.

a reply to: penfold

Spoke to some peoplle today who work - shall we say in the same field who have identified that the digger is being transported in the wrong configuration, the hoe should be towards the rear of the trailor so in the event of a sudden deceleration the arm falls backwards. As it faced forwards it would have lifted and hit the bridge.

a reply to: LABTECH767

This is a simple and predictable symptom of years of government devolvement of public infrastructure and sell off's.

It’s an accident. A minor accident that didn’t really hurt anyone.

For heaven’s sake grow a sense of proportion.

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: LABTECH767

This is a simple and predictable symptom of years of government devolvement of public infrastructure and sell off's.

It’s an accident. A minor accident that didn’t really hurt anyone.

For heaven’s sake grow a sense of proportion.

quite true. shock loading of any structure the stresses go haywire and can cause unexpected failures

a reply to: lacrimoniousfinale

J.O.K.E.