Bridge building and safe design
Build a bridge. Get over it.
Bridge building and safe design
Over the past few months, bridge construction and safety has been a hot topic – from the tragedy of the Genoa Bridge collapse, to the opening of the longest sea bridge in the world, bridge design is pushing the bar higher and higher. Here’s a snapshot of the recent articles on safe design of bridges.
World’s longest sea bridge opens
Feat of engineering or bridge of death? Designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons, the world’s longest sea bridge opened in October, connecting Hong Kong to the mainland of China.
- $20 billion project.
- 55kms in length.
- 18 deaths during construction.
So is it worth it? Full article: ABC News.
Artificial Intelligence for Bridges
New technologies are being developed to provide 24/7 structural health monitoring (SHM) of large structures including bridges, dams and buildings. These systems are now providing at call information on structural health and alerting owners to maintenance needs or other potential hazards and risks.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is being fitted with 2400 sensors to monitor its structural health – to detect damage caused by traffic, wind, temperature, vibration and extreme events. Relying on advancements in technology is great, but this doesn’t reduce the role that the designer has to play in the design and construction of safe structures.
Full article: Queensland University of Technology News.
Record-breaking bridge spans
UK engineers say they’ve created novel bridge designs that could make 5km long spans possible. The engineers have identified bridge concepts that require “the minimum possible volume of material” to create longer bridge spans.
Can they go too far? Is this a bit of a stretch?
Full article: Create Digital.
The Genoa Bridge Tragedy
On 14 August 2018, a viaduct – a major motorway, constructed in the 1960s in the north of Italy, collapsed, killing 43 people. Cars, trucks and people dropped suddenly, crashing to the ground 150 metres below. Sounds surreal in this day and age. But it did happen.
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Safe Design Australia are a team of work health and safety consultants and risk managers that operate throughout Australia and New Zealand to help designers meet their work health and safety legal duties in relation to safe design.
We understand that good design is important and believe that safe design can be achieved without compromising the design intent. Our clients include architects, building designers, developers, design and construct companies, principal contractors, engineers and local government.
Need more info, contact us.
