US Bridge collapse would never happen in the UK

The failings of the Minnesota Bridge, which has so far claimed the lives of five people and injured more that 100, would never happen in the UK, the British Constructional Steel Association has warned.The news follows the revelation that the collapse of the steel structure was the result of a four-foot long crack in the south truss span.

According to Bridge forensic investigator Timothy Galarnyk, who was interviewed by US news organisation, Fox News, this caused the bridge to twist and collapse.

He said: “One thing that stood out when I looked at it on Wednesday night is that the approach span seemed to have rotated to the east, which indicates that there was some failure of the substructure and the deck fell off to the west.”

With initial reports that the failing would spark a mass investigation of steel structure bridges in this country, Derek Tordoff, BSCA director general told B&E that under no circumstances would the repeat failings happen in the UK. He said: “Firstly we don’t build bridges like that in the UK and secondly, we have more of a rigorous inspection regime that goes beyond visual inspection.”

He added: “The Minnesota Bridge was an arch truss bridge made from open sections, if that was a UK bridge that would have been a deep-plate girder bridge. They would have been single beams going all the way across instead of lots of sections welded together all over the place. It would have been a totally different bridge.”

Further findings have suggested that the collapse of the steel arch was corrosion-induced.

Galarnyk said: “The winters in Minnesota are harsh, and you have salts and chlorides that are placed on the structure during the course of the winter months. Much of the corrosion may be in the areas of the bearings, which is the area where the bridge is allowed to move and expand and contract during the winter and during the weather.”

In response to the corrosion claim, Tordoff said: “Our rules and protection procedures are much more sophisticated, whereas the corrosion protection in America is pretty minimal.”

Some of the largest bridges in the UK are supported by steel such as the Severn crossing and the Humber Bridge.

Asked whether the impact of the Minnesota collapse would have any bearing on steel as a preferred choice of material for bridges in the future, Tordoff remained adamant that it would not. He said: “It hasn’t hampered plans to build steel bridges in the future because our methods are totally different.

“The Minnesota Bridge was made from individual sections all welded together.

You’ve got little joints all over the place with one section welded together. Because there are lots of vibrations on bridges, this potentially leads to a fatigue crack, whereas the UK version of that bridge would have been made with a deep-plate steel girder, where you wouldn’t of had loads of sections all over the place welded together and joining up to each other. We just don’t build them like that.”