the new San Francisco bay bridge? safe or......

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Messages 1 - 20 of total 21 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
rockermike

Trad climber
Berkeley
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 29, 2013 - 06:37pm PT
http://tinyurl.com/o5rhxcj
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Aug 29, 2013 - 06:44pm PT
As climbers, I think we all know that safe is a relative concept. :-)
monolith

climber
SF bay area
Aug 29, 2013 - 06:44pm PT
Terrible decision to use those bolts. They were warned.

Really stupid to let a schedule make them rush such critical decisions.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 29, 2013 - 06:52pm PT
This part is even worse!

“We know the steel they used has an issue with hydrogen embrittlement, which makes the bolts inadequate to the stresses they could face,” he said. “There is also the matter of the 20 main welds that connect the legs of the tower to the tower’s foundation. These are each about 30 feet long, and they have hundreds of visible cracks—and at least one of them is seven inches long. That’s incredibly bad news. Cracks in welds are always a problem, but you usually can only detect them by sonic testing—and these can be seen with the naked eye.”

Who's inspecting this thing and wrote the welding procedures?

Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
Aug 29, 2013 - 07:07pm PT
the safety factors employed, coupled with
the degress of redundancy in the design
make it incredibly unlikely that a failure
mechanism could trace a path
sufficient to initiate failure.

the media hyped the whole thing up.

by today's standards,
it was a major f*#k up, though.



across the bay on that golden span:
the matrix of that steel system,
if analyzed would not meet
today's engineering standards.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Aug 29, 2013 - 07:08pm PT
I want to hear Pellucid Wombat weigh in here.
michaeld

Sport climber
Sacramento
Aug 29, 2013 - 08:35pm PT
They are "completing" the bridge on time, to collect the bonus for getting it done on time.

They will be closing the bridge to replace the bolts later this year.

Old news, tired of this bureaucracy sh#t.
Banquo

climber
Amerricka
Aug 29, 2013 - 09:28pm PT
I teach structural engineering and have followed the hoopla with a yawn. The new bridge is safer than the old. Even if it wasn't, the exposure to risk is soooo small for any individual as to be negligible. If there is a problem it will no doubt be during an huge earthquake. What is the chance that you, even if you commute over it everyday, will be on the bridge when a really big earthquake occurs? The bridge will probably ok in an event that has a once in several hundred year occurrence.

Acceptable risk in bridge design is different than individual acceptable risk. A bridge failure might kill hundreds which is certainly something society wants to avoid. So, a level of bridge safety that is acceptable to the individual is not acceptable to society. Put another way, if the bridge completely collapsed without warning, many would die but the chance of it being you or me is negligible.

I won't hesitate to drive across it.
Srbphoto

climber
Kennewick wa
Aug 29, 2013 - 09:48pm PT
YUR
Srbphoto

climber
Kennewick wa
Aug 29, 2013 - 09:48pm PT
GUNNA
Srbphoto

climber
Kennewick wa
Aug 29, 2013 - 09:48pm PT
???????
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Aug 29, 2013 - 09:58pm PT
half the risk @ double the speed, no?
monolith

climber
SF bay area
Aug 29, 2013 - 11:11pm PT
Personal risk is meaningless. It's the loss of a key bay crossing during an earthquake that is at risk.

Some of those bolts cannot be replaced. I think we have to assume they will deteriorate badly over the next 20 years and retrofit accordingly.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Aug 29, 2013 - 11:29pm PT
Only Stupid Americans use bridges....
GhoulweJ

Trad climber
El Dorado Hills, CA
Aug 30, 2013 - 12:25am PT
Weege, what do u know?!?!?!?

Oh... Ummm..... Please continue to tells us what u know. ;)
WBraun

climber
Aug 30, 2013 - 12:30am PT
They been working on it for 11 years.

It's already old .......
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Aug 30, 2013 - 12:43am PT
It's already old , obsolete and in need of a retrofit like a 4 year old computer....
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Aug 30, 2013 - 12:47am PT
They don't build em like they used to.


Peter Haan

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Aug 30, 2013 - 01:04am PT
Dingus, -ah, -um,

The SF Bay Bridge is not be in service fifty years but actually 77 years. It opened November 12, 1936. This was six months before its much more gorgeous sister, The Golden Gate.
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Aug 30, 2013 - 02:15am PT
just take BART.
Messages 1 - 20 of total 21 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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