tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post4997706193672563222..comments2024-03-19T09:02:05.643-04:00Comments on Eaton Rapids Joe: I-40 Bridge over Mississippi River, Cracked memberEaton Rapids Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09102166969915526172noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-46236339452062398662021-05-15T10:36:34.387-04:002021-05-15T10:36:34.387-04:00Ain't the interwebz great! You can pick and ch...Ain't the interwebz great! You can pick and choose your level of anonymity, humor and lack thereof and even your very gender (as well as any other facts you may be uncomfortable with...)<br />But facts is facts fellows and fellowettes. That bridge is broke. The government that is responsible for maintaining/repairing that piece of infrastructure is, and has been, notoriously incompetent and corrupt for a looong time...<br />Whatever is done about it is apt to be not enough, overpriced and barely delivered.<br />'Let no opportunity go ungrifted' has been the unspoken agenda of the political class. I fully expect this to blow up into a multi trillion dollar infrastructure boondoggle at all possible legislative speed.FredLewershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02221076803807309775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-70208116645666095272021-05-14T11:51:25.815-04:002021-05-14T11:51:25.815-04:00I was commenting on the NAME that he or she chose....I was commenting on the NAME that he or she chose. "Ms." is generally used to denote a female of the species. But who knows these days...dogsledderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968129409060256405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-14946565277751179992021-05-14T09:16:28.412-04:002021-05-14T09:16:28.412-04:00Misanthrope definition: a person who hates or dist...Misanthrope definition: a person who hates or distrusts humankind.<br /><br />Example in a sentence: "A misanthrope would tell a city slicker that a conibear is a countryboy sex-toy"Eaton Rapids Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102166969915526172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-37386258492745532032021-05-13T22:05:57.807-04:002021-05-13T22:05:57.807-04:00@Ms. Anne Thrope- are you mixing your metaphors ? ...@Ms. Anne Thrope- are you mixing your metaphors ? Or are you one of those new-fangled she-males or something ? Plus- you stutter.dogsledderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968129409060256405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-68227821395368295662021-05-13T19:37:41.095-04:002021-05-13T19:37:41.095-04:00'Iron'y hah. As least the bridge repaire...'Iron'y hah. As least the bridge repairers will have excellent child care infrastructure available.<br /><br />When I spec drill pipe, one of the many many items considered is material toughness. Testing of drillpipe steel, as it is being manufactured, is exhaustive, and it includes the Charpy impact testing you've mentioned. But material toughness has always been, to me, one of the most important aspects - considering the comprehensive battering that drillpipe is subjected to over its design life.Aggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11089648434324058300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-23155094096040025182021-05-13T18:59:43.426-04:002021-05-13T18:59:43.426-04:00Gee.....speaking of cracks & 'members'...Gee.....speaking of cracks & 'members', it's been a long time for this old fart, I wish my member could find a friendly crackMs. Anne Thropehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16247061873744138452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-50938359806288766822021-05-13T18:58:11.505-04:002021-05-13T18:58:11.505-04:00Gee.....speaking of cracks & 'members'...Gee.....speaking of cracks & 'members', it's been a long time for this old fart, I wish my member could find a friendly crackMs. Anne Thropehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16247061873744138452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-43284755786234738162021-05-13T11:50:41.218-04:002021-05-13T11:50:41.218-04:00High volume bridges are subject to a lot of vibrat...High volume bridges are subject to a lot of vibration. Does bridge steel suffer from the same weakness as aluminum wherein vibration causes scratches to become cracks?<br /><br />Stuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09875771168878913283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-66418669039804032032021-05-13T11:12:28.781-04:002021-05-13T11:12:28.781-04:00Cold theory? Hmmm
What was it that happened just a...Cold theory? Hmmm<br />What was it that happened just a couple of months ago? A record breaking Deep pool of Very Cold air that broke all kinds of records for length of time below freezing even as far south as the Texas coast. If your supposition is correct on the cold causing a fracture in a susceptible HSLA part, then it could be a tip of a very large Titanic shaped ship. That girder could be cut free and analyzed to see if it is in fact sensitive to cold. While the rest of the bridge may take longer to investigate, this smoking gun should be able to shine some light on whether this is one-off or part of a possibly very large problem.<br /><br />MSG Grumpy MSG Grumpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10789315545377882421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-17658928832008248032021-05-13T11:09:45.547-04:002021-05-13T11:09:45.547-04:00I would expect red-rust. I think that might be san...I would expect red-rust. I think that might be sand/cement dust that filtered down.<br /><br />It is notable that there are no rust stains around the crack. That suggests that the fracture is recent (i.e. less than five years ago)Eaton Rapids Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102166969915526172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-34303536774476672492021-05-13T10:59:10.311-04:002021-05-13T10:59:10.311-04:00Having spent years investigating structural deteri...Having spent years investigating structural deterioration of different sorts, this one is a mystery. From what I see, corrosion is not an issue. Not a lot of horizontal or vertical displacement. Off the top of my head, maybe a material flaw of some sort from the original beam production? Engineers will have fun investigating this one.Third Coasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18164034977282528857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-32348877317695115252021-05-13T10:50:20.603-04:002021-05-13T10:50:20.603-04:00This is going to open the proverbial can of worms ...This is going to open the proverbial can of worms on that bridge... And I'm betting on months of closure as the re-examine the entire structure to see what 'else' is going to be found.Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-64423946857340059352021-05-13T09:51:29.954-04:002021-05-13T09:51:29.954-04:00I would have expected a break at the end of the vi...I would have expected a break at the end of the visible section; breaks don't happen where there is no change in load. it also looks VERY even and in a relatively convenient place - could this have been sabotage of some sort?Jonathan Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10476185257203343474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-65880296572702640712021-05-13T08:15:18.528-04:002021-05-13T08:15:18.528-04:00My bet is internal corrosion or a shifted foundati...My bet is internal corrosion or a shifted foundation. <br />B https://www.blogger.com/profile/10586046436233366155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-68055871735558219542021-05-13T07:29:04.033-04:002021-05-13T07:29:04.033-04:00What surprises me, is the point of shear (as you s...What surprises me, is the point of shear (as you said, no stress riser visible) given that the long section of beam leading up to it did not flex over it's length.<br />Cold, or not, it's not like the Edmund Fitzgerald riding the waves. <br />I'm really curious as to what the repair technique will be.<br />Unless they discover many other fractures elsewhere.Ed Bonderenkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03724552853113809036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-77883984263735363802021-05-13T06:15:54.548-04:002021-05-13T06:15:54.548-04:00If this is a .gov project, are they really working...If this is a .gov project, are they really working around the clock to get this done asap? Having grown up around NYC, I saw decades-long construction that should have taken just a few years, but the real purpose of the project was the redistribution of tax dollars.<br /><br />Is this a foreshadowing of the last chapter of Atlas Shrugged?Contrarian Viewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05694963568572098322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-4398127371455923672021-05-13T05:50:44.291-04:002021-05-13T05:50:44.291-04:00Deep irony.Deep irony.Eaton Rapids Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102166969915526172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-2821267887670932982021-05-13T00:08:46.147-04:002021-05-13T00:08:46.147-04:00Is it possible that a not visible external stress ...Is it possible that a not visible external stress caused the fracture? Such as part of a bridge piling settling or shifting just a fraction of an inch, perhaps due to instability of the bedrock under the riverbed, or perhaps due to a small earthquake that barely registered. <br /><br />I am sure this is the kind of cause that engineers are hoping to find, as it might then be concluded that this occurrence was unique to this bridge. The alternative is ominously costly and scary.<br /><br />I can guarantee they are working around the clock to repair this. Just the daily cost of stopping all barge traffic under the bridge in the meantime is astronomical. George Truehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352709031834067303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-79931879753986534632021-05-12T23:51:00.917-04:002021-05-12T23:51:00.917-04:00So what you are saying is that Uncle Joe and the H...So what you are saying is that Uncle Joe and the Ho's "infrastructure" plan should actually make some much-needed repairs and replacements to our "infrastructure" such as bridges and highways instead of just sending billions and trillions to their friends and to foreign countries ? FAT FREAKIN' CHANCE ! <br />HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !dogsledderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968129409060256405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2970975545475697571.post-5886216805219938972021-05-12T22:20:06.278-04:002021-05-12T22:20:06.278-04:00Looking at the overhead pic I see what looks like ...Looking at the overhead pic I see what looks like corrosion, rust and paint loss on the flat upper surface of the beam. It looks white in the photo. Is this a sign of deterioration of the beam?<br />There is a second bridge nearby (I-55) to take the load. However, all NB and SB river traffic is stopped and will be for an indeterminate time. That is a significant supply disruption. Could be lots more economic disruption.<br />Please keep an eye on the investigation.<br />ThanksRetired Copnoreply@blogger.com