https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/08/16/pope-francis-entrusts-anxieties-and-torments-of-genoa-bridge-disaster-to-virgin-mary/

no news yet why it collapsed

the deck looks "cleanly snapped off" and not to be load bearing (to be mostly concrete), suggesting columnar failure

the debris is perhaps "away from the clean snaps" pulled toward the center, which would indicated the failed column is more in the middle

mostly concrete was incorrect. the deck is concrete but the support rails appear to be iron - and yet snapped out somehow as if not continous or welded or the force was of such an impulse as to snap iron

suppose its' possible a section never secured "just fell" and hit a column. doubt it, they probably bolted welded and cemented all of it

really this is a sad failure for bridge engineering because it just shows that forwardly good design - with good materials - installed by good people - can fail.

the history of bridges is filled with failures - earlier bridges moreso. yet as more bridge designs are tried: the list keeps growing: it shows that that the reasons some bridges stay standing is not completely "under control" by man

Bridges collapse, planes crash, California burns & Trump lies. Why did they cancel Melrose Place?

it appears the bridge part they are parked on could fall. they none the less rushed to park there.

some bloggers "in italy" (ostensibly) have complained corruption and failure of maintenance is the issue.

politicians had been citing city shortages and need of maintenance costs a long while

however: that could be a "funding season" issue more than a real need for maintenance - an excuse to raise taxes. a long publishing in fake news does not make for a bridge determination

however: those columns are just immense: they cannot "be maintained", they are giants you put in place once and can do nothing about afterward

perhaps someone feels the upper strata (the suspension part of the bridge) failed due to maintenance and thus a section dropped (suddenly unheld?) and hit a coumn

a sudden failure of a diagonal suspension support would be in effect column failure

it would be exhibited by a "rolling" of the debrit in that area (the debris around the failed diagonal would be over-turned, unlike other debris)

the bridge is said to be 50 years old, about 1/2 of it's safe expected life (that's very very rough language by an architect student asked about it: since italy has not published this was the life expectancy of that particular bridge)

many are assuming rust

rust in some designs is planned (meaning it is planned to be at a rate that mass loss due to slow rusting makes no difference in the plan), and certainly that's a goal of any bridge designer

(unusually accelerated rust would be a question, but rust should not have been a question)

the city of genoa is known to have heavily used road salts on the bridge for snow

At least 38 people were killed in Tuesday's collapse.

More are expected.

why are USA associated press getting this out today? it happened tuesday!

this column is spit down the middle. most are are in sections unsplit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pl0rsVdXxM

videos are only showing seconds after the collapse began (which took a few to several seconds to fully happen)

the suspension column above road is pulled one direction to a diagonal while falling downward, then finally before fallout out of view, the reverse direction

the video had lighting backlight the foggy barely visible event

the video showed a suspension diagonal - possibly only one

after one side fell over, there still seemed to be one of the verticals still standing for seconds after the first fell

this could have been a suspension failure or a paradox of a column collapse closer to the center

at the time the video begins: already 3/4 of the deck had dissapeared beyond view

the dissapearance fell quickly down and the last peice ripping off (from the right) was both fast and at a downward angle - providing impuluse for a tear off

because the column resisted falling and 3/4 of the deck had dissapeared - there still remains a question if a lower column failed or a diagonal of the upper suspension column failed first and let go of part of the deck

but if the suspension let go completely it would not have been pulled on a diagonal while falling: it would more likely still be standing (unless hit a particular way by falling segment), it would look more like the other side

it could be either - a lower column failure should be more unlikely, but the road seems to be "long gone" before the column on the left was pulled down

if i have to rough a guess it is column failure. yet there IS NO COLUMN BETWEEN THE TWO FAILURE POITNS, the failure had to have started from either a suspension diagonal or the rail connection between central unheld (unheld by suspension) vertical deck segments

so it is likely what it shouldn't be: segments in "unsupported" middle falling out whcih are supposed to be suppored by steal rail, bolted or riveted or welded (the segments are obviously never supposed to be able to come apart)

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my rough guess - it was the diagonal suspension holding member on one side (the pressures immense, rust hard to check) or a center deck piece literally just came loose and fell

unfortunately i'm going to bet $0 it was a deck piece that fell out

https://www.earthquaketrack.com/it-08-genoa/recent

shows a record of many earthquakes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2018/aug/14/aerial-footage-shows-destruction-at-scene-of-genoa-bridge-collapse-video

shows 1 road peice is pulled off to the side in the middle of the debris

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so now i think: if one section fell would it cause the column in the left of the video to fall? likely not

it could well be the "reason for fall" could be damage from earthquakes over the 50 years

a failure like this is not unusual. a weak connection at the column.

saying the upper suspension diagonal failed and thus one segment was pulled to the side and down (the center in the arial) may not be warranted, because a more typical failure of segment falling close to a lower column could appear to have the "same fall"

the earth quakes and "rust" could loosen a segment. segment falls are common enough without

some say the bridge design was flawed

perhaps but the most of it stood up to allot of pulls and shaking without damage

back to environmental damage

there were lower diagonal columns which could "shear" during a quake (on column in video is shown split down the middle - which is suspicous and could even be a curing issue)

it happend during rainfall - and that may not be a coincidence

were earthquake earth motion in play, wet soil might be the stress that cracked a lower (diagonal) column

the cold construction joint on the diagonal segment is easily visible

the column far above split down the middle looks like it may be one of those diagonals not a vertical. i could be wrong.

another "segment fall", this one in usa

the first "smaller highway segment collapse" was in genoa italy, by coincidence

canadian segment drop

soil in italy (some parts very much so) are not just known for quakes:

they are noted by soil movement and measurable upheaval in areas

He's the Pope, for goodness sake! Popes do this kind of thing. Now if Ayatollah Bazooka did this, I might ask questions. If the Pope does it, it's unremarkable, since you'd expect the Pope to do something like this.

the bridge goes over a river, also where it collaped

italy is on a large fault on east coast, while it's west coast is "rising up" do to pushing into the european continent

Genoa has no obvious fault lines in this area. but if the soil moves due to quakes or being wet from the river or both - is a question

the bridge goes over the (ancient or underground) river and it can't be seen on google image map, because the land around the area is "reclaimed", apparently, except near the sea where it's still visible (not visible in the town)

Genoa is a frequent shake area: but also a flood area

that's a student in genoa having a look

this appears to me something like VA geology (in the foothills of a mountain formed by soil uplift by a fault many miles away). they are not "on a fault" but that they have uplift is clear

genoa has some riverbed muddy days - even in the city !

maybe the most amazing thing is how the media would rather cover political tripe as if there wasn't real news to cover: many reported on it only once. no big update, not much interviews.

european news has many impact articles - as that bridge is part of an economic system which will now be much slowed down or tighter, but usa - none that i saw

no one has telling footage or a good explination of the cause

nw4tn

x

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Morandi

wikipedia Cites the "stays" were likely an issue (the "strands", the diagonal pieces of the suspension), that italy had had "strange measurements" and cracks possibly indicateding, and that Venezuela claimed their bridge with same design failed that way

the article has citation one of the (many) cables helping to hold up the road had "explosively snapped" in the past. however the citation cited is not about such an even, and i haven't read the citations to see if each 3 actualy show this evidence

HOWEVER: both areas are muddy "earthquake" areas. blaming a cable suspension if the earth moved (put stress on the cables and joints and columns), would be wrong.

Sources close to the investigation told New Civil Engineer that when examining the main stay cables evidence of corrosion and damage had been found.

(warning: uncited facts are not welcome, nor is hearsay)

They suggested a failure of the cables – which were encased in concrete to protect them from the elements – may be behind the collapse.

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/exclusive-collapsed-italy-bridge-investigators-find-corrosion-on-main-stay-cables/10034343.article

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however, in USA the famous silver bridge collapse ended in books being written about NOT covering potentially rusty components of critical sections

(covering rust with concrete would )

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HOWEVER - the bridge had problems with the deck being level when built and was corrected. some calculated the cables "had lengthened" and caused cracks in deck RECENTLY. the footing was in a muddy riverbed area.

it could also be the column moved and the design did not allow for it - so it broke, and the cable was simply the weakest link

i for one feel more confident that the italian contractors are not such monsters to watch a cable rust until the bridge fell onto homes

i think they saw rust and felt plenty of metal was remaining: it's called "controlled rust"

it would surprise me if the bridge was not designed so that the cables could be replaced one by one without destroying the bridge

it would be a serious matter if their emails showed they evaded fixing it to cause a huge mess to bill the taxpayer for cleaning up

i doubt it

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Engineers have also suggested a potential cause for its collapse could be that the heavy rain washed ground from underneath the tower, undermining its foundations. The bridge’s foundations were undergoing strengthening works at the time of collapse, according to Italian highways operator Autostrade.

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/exclusive-collapsed-italy-bridge-investigators-find-corrosion-on-main-stay-cables/10034343.article

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well, it could have been both were a problem

somewhere along the design phase they seem to have left out safety factors such as "more cables than necessary in any event" and such as "allowing the ends of the bridge and columns to move"

the golden gate is still standing - but few are prepared to undergo the COST of such a monument of steel - 80 yr old. is it rusting? yes, and no, and yes