Abstract
Bridge failures occur all around the world but, not like they do in the United States. The bridge on the Schoharie Creek, which collapsed in 1987, was yet another bridge catastrophe that America witnessed. Overtime the bridge had been gradually eroded and this made the bridge more susceptible to cracks. The collapse of the I-90 Schoharie Creek Bridge resulted in more bridge inspections, management and maintenance practice. Further information on the cause and results of the bridge collapse as well as the measures taken to fix the problem and the lessons learned will be presented.
Introduction
Bridges of any kind should be built in such a way to avoid failure of any sort. The Schoharie Creed Bridge was constructed in hopes to avoid such a disaster. However the foundation did not turn out to be as strong as expected. It was April 5, 1987 when Amsterdam, NY awoke to the rumbling roar of the I-90 Schoharie Creek Bridge collapse. The collapse occurred after a recent flood in the Amsterdam area, which caused two bridge spans to break, killing a total of 10 occupants. By the time the bridge began to deteriorate warnings of the disaster came too late for those who were caught on the bridge. A police officer tried his best to block the bridge but, it was too massive to handle alone. The 5 vehicles which didn’t receive the warning went toppling down into the Schoharie Creek. After the collapse two teams formed in hopes of finding the cause of the failure. Together they found the multiple causes associated with the collapse and learned of ways to improve bridge quality. The bridge collapse on the Schoharie creek resulted in many lessons learned on how to improve bridge quality and inspections.
Bridge construction
The Schoharie Creek Bridge was constructed by the New York State Thruway Authority in the early 1950’s, and rehabilitated in 1981 with new reinforcement. The bridge stood 80ft. from the creek with a width of 115ft and a length of 540ft. There were a total of 5 bridge spans put in place as support for the bridge. Each of them ranged from 100ft. to 120ft. in length (Feld, J., & Carper, K.L., 1997). On either side of the bridge were piers, which are platforms built from a riverside or seacoast and run towards water (figure 1).
Causes of collapse
Prior to the bridge collapse there was a severe flood which caused waters to brush up against the bridge. The continued flood water led to soil erosion beneath the bridge, causing the base of the bridge to be left unprotected. Although soil erosion was the main basis of the bridge failure, the bridge itself was said to be inadequate in the way it was maintained and built. The foundation laid out was too shallow beneath the water. Prior to the 1987 collapse, the Schoharie Creek Bridge experienced some difficulties in 1955, due to an even bigger flood. At this time the bridge began the process of scouring (act of sediment being washed away from the bottom of a river, resulting in the formation of holes) which greatly contributed to the 1987 collapse (Bell, V., 2008).
Who was involved
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. with Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineerings (WJE) and Thornton-Tomasetti, P.C., were the two teams which had the job of investigation the Schoharie Creek Bridge failure. Both teams came to the conclusion that scour was a main cause of the bridge failure as well as several other problems which included the maintenance of the bridge and the construction.
Consequences
Since the bridge served as an interstate highway and was part of the New York throughway system, the collapse of the bridge caused a major strain in transportation because alternate routes, which were longer, had to be taken. Also, the money and time spent on constructing the bridge was at a great loss.
Conclusion
The major lesson learned from this catastrophe is to not overlook even the simplest of things. Even though scouring was the main cause of the bridge collapse, the maintenance and bridge structure also played an important role. When creating a structure such as a bridge, the key issue should be on how to make sure it goes disrupted for as long as possible. The events which occurred showed how without proper guiding lives can easily be lost due to the lack of bridge inspection. Bridge maintenance and inspection should not be taken seriously only once a tragic event has happened, it should be the number one priority for all bridge builders.
Appendix
Figure 1
This is a layout for how the Schoharie Bridge was built. The 5 bridge spans as well as the piers can be seen.
Figure 2
An image of the Schoharie Creek Bride after its collapse. The spans which fell can be seen as well as the damage that the collapse caused.
References
Bell, V. (2008). Foundation Failure Causes Bridge Collapse. Retrieved from http://www.hudsonies.com/schoharie-creek-bridge-collapse.html
Feld, J., & Carper, K.L.(1997). Construction Failures. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=-jnlb-oJxcEC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=schoharie+creek+bridge+collapse&source=bl&ots=lTQcqWmtmE&sig=rwLtpRcopFc5_EFDPcLjSIYa5OU&hl=en&ei=s4KxSpDgGeWRtgfs4PixCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=schoharie%20creek%20bridge%20collapse&f=false
LeBeau, K.H., & Wadia-Fascetti S.J. (2007). Fault tree analysis of schoharie creek bridge collapse. ASCE, 21(4), Retrieved from http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JPCFEV000021000004000320000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes
McNichol, D. (2006). The Roads the Built America. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=b0qO1yCFRxYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Rutledge (n.d.). Schoharie Creek Bridge Collapse. Retrieved from http://www.mrce.com/media/projects/6618%20Schoharie%20Creek%20Bridge.pdf
