The crawler excavator operator in this incident had a close call when the bridge being demolished collapsed unexpectedly. The accident happened in Norway during the demolition of an old highway bridge.
June 18, 2013
Read time: 1 min
The crawler excavator operator in this incident had a close call when the bridge being demolished collapsed unexpectedly. The accident happened in Belgium during the demolition of an old highway bridge.
The partial collapse of the Polcevera viaduct, better known as the Morandi Bridge, has prompted debate regarding the technical and administrative aspects of maintaining road infrastructures. We discussed it with the engineer Gabriele Camomilla, former Director of Research and Maintenance of the Società Autostrade, who coordinated the only major structural intervention
performed on the bridge, carried out in the early 1990s
Plans are being drawn up for a new structure to replace the Morandi Bridge in Italy, which collapsed recently with disastrous results. The Italian road firm Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) has a draft design that features eight supports, unlike the failed Morandi Bridge, which was designed with 11 supports. The new bridge design also includes a deck that features emergency lanes, which were not included on the old Morandi Bridge.
As this video clip shows, efficient bridge demolition work has a lot to do with effective planning. Bringing down this defunct bridge over a busy highway called for careful planning so as to minimise traffic disruption. Proper preparation allowed engineers to make the site ready for a closure of the highway, with the bridge then being brought down within a tight timeframe. Having sufficient excavators fitted with hydraulic breakers was a key component in ensuring that the work could be carried out in time,
