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OT: I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis

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[quote user="blhanel"][quote user="Bucyrus"] I think that is an excellent observation.  I have not seen an absolutely definitive diagram of the collapse, but what I have seen suggests that the first break was right in the center of the big truss that allows the river to be spanned without any piers.  It broke in the center, and both halves tilted downward into a "V" shape.  Then adjoining decks on each side went down.  If the center span truss broke in the middle, the bottom chords would have parted in tension as the break began.  The box truss design does seem a bit like have all your eggs in one basket.[/quote]I suggest watching CNN's security video of the bridge going down.  It appears as if the big truss dropped straight down, as if the piers holding it up had been pulled out from under it.  That's why I think the first failure occurred off to the right of the camera's view on that approach.[/quote]I think you are correct that the failure began out of the video frame to the right.  I think that would be where the center of the span was.  But I really cannot say that I am certain how it all came down from seeing the video or the computer model.  There have been press conferences all afternoon with a ton of engineering and inspection information being discussed in tremendous detail by engineers and state officials.  I would not have expected such forthright addressing of the public's question about the cause at this early point in the investigation.
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