On 23 Apr 2023, at 12:02 pm, Mike Sherman <msherman55@...> wrote:

?

I'm reading the photo as:

-right (downstream) handrail buckled and kinked outwards severely, twisting the bridge

-left handrail rotated about 45 degrees in the middle, with perhaps a kink in the middle of the deck (seen in the shadow in the river)

-seems still anchored on both abutments.

I agree that it still seems quite above the river. I doubt it is safe to cross. Restoring steel that has been severely kinked like this seems like quite a challenge, especially in the backcountry.

I'm quite curious how such a seemingly robust bridge could fail like this; it seemed to be in good shape when I crossed it last summer. Does anybody have any ideas on if/when/where an official report might be published? If this could fail, what about the other bridges that have similar designs?

Luckily, failed steel bridges often retain clues that allow reconstruction of the collapse. Such was the case in 2007 when the I35 bridge here in Minneapolis dropped into the Mississippi river.

Mike Sherman

On 04/22/2023 7:54 PM Chris Armstrong <sacarmstrong@...> wrote:

Ok, admitedlly pure speculation on may part but I've zoomed in on the picture of the SFSJ River bridge and to me, it looks like the bridge is still suspended well above the river. From the overhead shot it looks to be sitting in the river itself but look at the shadow of the bridge and it appears that is not the case. Anyone else come to the same conclusion? Did just the downstream sided railing fail? Certainly it's gonna take folks getting in there to know for sure, and perhaps its in a precarious condition regardless, but perhaps a ray of hope?

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