Via PTI
NEW DELHI: What’s a suspension bridge? How does it switch the burden to the bottom? The ones had been questions at the minds of many on Monday, an afternoon after a century-old suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi over the Machchhu river collapsed, leaving 134 other people lifeless.
Simply earlier than the bridge collapsed, CCTV pictures confirmed, some males had been looking to rock the suspension bridge from one facet to every other.
Saptadip Sarkar, a structural engineer running with Delhi-based Engineers India Restricted solutions those questions.
“The deck of the suspension bridge, which bears the load of the folks strolling on it along with its personal weight, is held in position by way of the way of vertical suspenders which can be produced from ductile subject matter and subjected to pressure,” he stated.
“Those suspenders are then attached to the primary cable which could also be ductile and subjected to pressure. The principle cable, which spans between the issues attached by way of the bridge and is intermediately supported by way of vertical major column piers, has two purposes. The primary is to enhance the vertical suspenders and the second one is to handle the verticality of the piers,” he stated.
Total, the load of the deck, together with the visitors of other people, is transferred to the bottom during the vertical piers, which can be in compression, defined Sarkar.
So, at what issues is one of these form of bridge probably the most susceptible? Slightly a couple of, it seems.
“To start with, the primary cable, suspenders and the issues at which the suspenders connect with the bridge deck are all prone to failure,” Sarkar stated.
“If truth be told, the primary cable calls for probably the most consideration relating to common assessments and upkeep over the provider length of the bridge. The cause of this being the fatigue load that it’s ceaselessly subjected to right through its provider,” he stated.
Fatigue load refers to ceaselessly subjecting a subject matter to a few drive till it develops a crack.
Relating to the suspension bridge in Morbi, Sarkar stated its cables are of a extremely ductile subject matter and must have stayed in position for much longer, in spite of the type of deflection being intentionally created by way of the folks observed within the video (CCTV pictures).
“Additionally, the bridge that failed was once not too long ago renovated, so fatigue failure can also be safely dominated out as a imaginable reason,” seen Sarkar.
So then what was once it that gave means? The relationship issues the place the vertical suspenders meet the deck of the bridge are subsequent in line to warrant consideration, the structural engineer stated.
“It’s thru those issues that the numerous the deck and persons are in combination transferred to the suspenders. The suspenders, in flip, switch the rather a lot to the primary cable,” he elaborated.
“As I realize it, the dynamic loading created by way of the synchronous and planned actions of the folks at the bridge created over the top deflection from the standpoint of the joint of the suspender to the bridge deck,” he added.
At the transmission of forces to the bottom, Sarkar additional stated that the primary cables are in slope and so the stress within the cable on the pier junction has a horizontal and a vertical element.
“Whilst the horizontal element of this drive is catered to by way of the cables anchored on the two ends thru pressure, the vertical element creates a compression within the pier,” he stated.
“Failure happens when the structural integrity at any of those issues described is compromised,” he concluded.
NEW DELHI: What’s a suspension bridge? How does it switch the burden to the bottom? The ones had been questions at the minds of many on Monday, an afternoon after a century-old suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi over the Machchhu river collapsed, leaving 134 other people lifeless.
Simply earlier than the bridge collapsed, CCTV pictures confirmed, some males had been looking to rock the suspension bridge from one facet to every other.
Saptadip Sarkar, a structural engineer running with Delhi-based Engineers India Restricted solutions those questions.
“The deck of the suspension bridge, which bears the load of the folks strolling on it along with its personal weight, is held in position by way of the way of vertical suspenders which can be produced from ductile subject matter and subjected to pressure,” he stated.
“Those suspenders are then attached to the primary cable which could also be ductile and subjected to pressure. The principle cable, which spans between the issues attached by way of the bridge and is intermediately supported by way of vertical major column piers, has two purposes. The primary is to enhance the vertical suspenders and the second one is to handle the verticality of the piers,” he stated.
Total, the load of the deck, together with the visitors of other people, is transferred to the bottom during the vertical piers, which can be in compression, defined Sarkar.
So, at what issues is one of these form of bridge probably the most susceptible? Slightly a couple of, it seems.
“To start with, the primary cable, suspenders and the issues at which the suspenders connect with the bridge deck are all prone to failure,” Sarkar stated.
“If truth be told, the primary cable calls for probably the most consideration relating to common assessments and upkeep over the provider length of the bridge. The cause of this being the fatigue load that it’s ceaselessly subjected to right through its provider,” he stated.
Fatigue load refers to ceaselessly subjecting a subject matter to a few drive till it develops a crack.
Relating to the suspension bridge in Morbi, Sarkar stated its cables are of a extremely ductile subject matter and must have stayed in position for much longer, in spite of the type of deflection being intentionally created by way of the folks observed within the video (CCTV pictures).
“Additionally, the bridge that failed was once not too long ago renovated, so fatigue failure can also be safely dominated out as a imaginable reason,” seen Sarkar.
So then what was once it that gave means? The relationship issues the place the vertical suspenders meet the deck of the bridge are subsequent in line to warrant consideration, the structural engineer stated.
“It’s thru those issues that the numerous the deck and persons are in combination transferred to the suspenders. The suspenders, in flip, switch the rather a lot to the primary cable,” he elaborated.
“As I realize it, the dynamic loading created by way of the synchronous and planned actions of the folks at the bridge created over the top deflection from the standpoint of the joint of the suspender to the bridge deck,” he added.
At the transmission of forces to the bottom, Sarkar additional stated that the primary cables are in slope and so the stress within the cable on the pier junction has a horizontal and a vertical element.
“Whilst the horizontal element of this drive is catered to by way of the cables anchored on the two ends thru pressure, the vertical element creates a compression within the pier,” he stated.
“Failure happens when the structural integrity at any of those issues described is compromised,” he concluded.