Quote:
Originally Posted by cdcox
Yes, but failure is an unfortunate but necessary part of engineering. As a society, we want to do things that have never been done before. Build a thinner bridge, fly to the moon, build world-wide communication network, make an arena without interior columns. The engineer's job is make those dreams come true. He or she applies what is known from science and past engineering projects to the new challenge. However, as you push the envelope, new failure modes that were never even thought of before become important. Wind causes a light bridge to vibrate at it's harmonic frequency. The light sexy skyscrapers you build are susceptible to impact by jet liners. Engineers then analyze these failures, learn from their mistakes, improve their designs, which enables the next frontier in innovation.
|
Yeah, I remember hearing how after the Hyatt Regency collapse it changed the way things were built around the country from both an architecture and engineering standpoint. Greater good can come from tragedy.
Othmar Ammann, a leading bridge designer and member of the Federal Works Agency Commission investigating the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, wrote:
"The Tacoma Narrows bridge failure has given us invaluable information...It has shown that every new structure that projects into new fields of magnitude involves new problems for the solution of which neither theory nor practical experience furnish an adequate guide. It is then that we must rely largely on judgement and if, as a result, errors, or failures occur, we must accept them as a price for human progress."
The Bronx Whitestone Bridge, which is of similar design to the 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge, was reinforced shortly after the collapse. Fourteen-foot-high steel trusses were installed on both sides of the deck in 1943 to weigh down and stiffen the bridge in an effort to reduce oscillation. In 2003, the stiffening trusses were removed and aerodynamic fiberglass fairings were installed along both sides of the road deck.