Vancouver Second Narrows Bridge Collapse - Assignment Example

Several parties, both individuals and the government were impacted due to the occurrence of the collapse. The disaster cost the Canadian government a total of $16 million. The collapsed occurred at the time when construction work was in progress; as a result, 19 lives were lost including a diver who volunteered to retrieve bodies from the water. In 1958 at around 3:40 p.m. a loud sound reverberated across Vancouver and brought tragedy and non-forgettable memories that still haunt the thoughts of those that witnessed the incident.

The massive bridge in Second Narrows in the Burrard Inlet which was under construction for two years, unexpectedly collapsed and tons of debris fell into the waterway. Dozens of laborers way swept away resulting in the tragic death of iron workers, painters, an operating engineer, two engineers and a driver who had embarked on a rescue operation. The bridge was constructed by the Dominion Bridge firm on the Burrad inlet. Its highest point was one seventy five feet above the water. It was later revealed that one of the steel plans in the structures had bucked making the whole structure to collapse.

The workers were earning an average of $3.85 an hour equivalent to $25 in today’s currency. The six lane girder truss bridge was to link North Vancouver and the city of Vancouver. The key cantilever structure about 620 meters long had a 335m cantilever span and two 467 feet anchor spans (Eric, 2011). The bridge also had four steel trusses measuring 285 feet and nine concrete made spans. The construction of the bridge had started in 1956 and was expected to be complete by1958 at a budgeted fee of about $16 million.

The parts that fell were the newly built northern anchor spans and a truss span directly adjacent to it. The collapse occurred when the workers were just moving more steel to the pendent end. The bent that was