Investigating the Collapse of Grandview Triangle Bridge in Kansas City - Essay Example

The Transportation Department of Missouri owned it. The frames of the bridge were made up of steel with its girders welded. The bridge deck was manufactured of nine concrete and a thick slab. The bridge had 12 spans of different lengths, whereby, the central girders were held in place by bents. The enthused to hold girders in place were made up of concrete. There were 11 bents in place connecting from east to west. On the other hand, girders were situated between flanges United (States Department of Labour, 2006). The picture below indicates that the bridge was made in such a way that it appears as a non-disjoint beam.

As part of the Grandview Triangle development plan, the Montessori Department of Transport was awarded a contract to vandalize the old bridge including their bents. Further, the contract involved constructing new bridges as soon as the old ones were demolished. The Track Hoe Crane Company was the manufacturer of Track hoe Crane that was involved in the accident on 3rd June 2006 accident at Kansas City during the demolition process of the old buildings. The track hoe crane had an approximate height was estimated to be eighty-five percent above the old bridge that was being demolished. On the contrary, the crane used in this demolition was weighing approximately seventy-two thousand and eight hundred pounds. In addition, the load of the hoe crane had a capacity of 18percent during the collapse of the bridge (States Department of Labour, 2006).           

Various factors were involved in this accident. The following are the factors involved in the accident; the location of the hoe crane, the girder, the expertise of the construction engineers who were involved in the demolition of the old bridges. It can be observed that the location of the crane was an important factor that contributed to the accident. The crane was placed located at the midst of the bridges, such location and the pressure that was being employed by the cranes led to the accident as the force was not uniformly distributed. Further, the pressure of above eighteen percent above the strength of the yield was quite higher which in turn led to the collapse and the accident. The other factor which contributed to the collapse of the bridge was the longest length of the bent between bent number one and three. The weight of the crane, its location, and lack of deck was among the major factors that contributed to the accident that led to the death of one employee and injured one worker (States Department of Labour, 2006).