Uncredited photos on this page taken by: Nathan Holth. Unless stated in a caption, all photos are Copyright with All Rights Reserved. Learn about reuse of our photos.
Distant oblique view.
Portal views.
Portal view on bridge.
Oblique views.
Views beside bridge.
Kids, don't try this at home! Driving a Ford Focus over a fracture critical bedstead truss bridge with a primary member (top chord) broken in two. The bridge did not collapse. This isn't actually a smart thing to do, but locals had moved the road closed signs and were clearly using the bridge, so this wasn't the first attempt. The author of this website decided to drive over this bridge to prove a point: Fracture critical bridges are not guaranteed to collapse even under load when a member fails. They might collapse, but its not guaranteed. Many engineers wrongly claim that a fracture critical bridge will (without exception) collapse when a single member fails. Long story short, historic metal truss bridges are not the deathtraps they are often made out to be.
Views of truss web.
Lackawanna brand.
Broken top chord.
Top chord connections as viewed from beside bridge.
Top chord connections as viewed from on bridge.
Bottom chord connections as viewed from beside bridge.
Bottom chord connections as viewed from on bridge.
Detail at abutment. Presumably the truss legs have been encased in the concrete of the current abutments.
End posts.
Vertical member.
Diagonal member.
Railing.
Turnbuckle.
Surrounding area.
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