Monday, December 6, 2021

What Really Happened at the Hernando de Soto Bridge?

I've driven across the Hernando de Soto bridge. It was in 2019 when the wife and I took a vacation down the Mississippi River to see the various flood control measures. Seriously, that's a vacation that we took. Yes, it was my idea. Why do you ask?

This video is more about civil engineering than it is about material science, but around 6:00 there's a good discussion of fatigue-induced failure and how improper welds can lead to that failure.

As I post this (back in July 2021, I work in advance when I have time in the summer), it looks like the bridge is scheduled to at least partially reopen in August 2021. Hopefully by the time this posts in December, I won't have to update it with bad news.

Oh, and that video at 8:58 was taken at about the time I went across the bridge. And the photo right after that was way before I was on the bridge. Neither of those facts inspires a lot of confidence in our bridge inspections. Sorry, Derek.

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