The bridge is immense, not only in length and weight but in width. Seismic fragility of a highway bridge in quebec request pdf. It was decided to build a new, but much heavier and stronger, cantilever bridge adjacent to the old failed bridge. Engineers worried about government intervention acted on their own and founded multiple independent engineering groups. Lawrence river near quebec city, the massive quebec bridge has a history of triumph and tragedy. The updated 2008 edition is available for purchase in paper of pdf format here. Failure in structural steels and overview of i35w bridge collapse jack przywara, university of notre dame advisor. However, on august 29, 1907, during its erection, the bridge collapsed killing 75 workers. Merged in canadian national railway company accounts. Since the bridge has changed functions over the years, the loadings the bridge carries have currently been calculated and are compared to the loadings that the bridge was designed for.
Quebec, on the saint lawrence river opening ceremony. Weve discussed many causes of bridge collapse, but there are collapses that werent caused by any of the usual factors rather, they were caused by events that can only be described as unusual in 1958, cuba held the second cuban grand prix. Part stress diagram of first quebec bridge figure 9. In 1900 theodore cooper, inspired by the forth bridge, had designed a steel cantilever structure of 1800 ft. Quebec bridge collapse ethics by anthony stackpole on prezi. The official report on the dramatic collapse of the bridge spanning the st. Lawrence river at quebec city shows how engineering miscalculations can lead to disaster.
Its not iron anymore, but was supposedly made with some of the bridge beams from the initial collapse. A case of criminal neglect by guy charron 6 october 2006 last weekend a highway overpass collapsed in laval, a suburb. The reason for this disaster can be found in the years before in the design and a prior failure. The bridge took 15 seconds to collapse and was heard over 10 km away in quebec city. Vautelet, a former engineer for the canadian pacific railways, maurice fitzmaurice from britain, who worked on the construction of the forth bridge, and ralph modjeski from chicago. Also interesting to note is that canadian engineers wear an iron ring on the dominant hand pinky as a reminder of their duty to public safety. Engineers were concerned, but unable to take action swiftly enough. The collapse of the quebec bridge, 1907 failure case studies.
Final the failure and reconstruction of the quebec. The lead engineer didnt listen and waited till the last minute to pause the project. This editorial comments on the collapse of the south cantilever of the quebec bridge and is published as a companion article to a detailed description of the collapse. The quebec bridge was to be one of the engineering wonders of the world. The bridge was built as part of the national transcontinental railway, which was merged into the canadian. At 67 feet wide, it can accommodate two sets of railway tracks, two sets of streetcar tracks and two roadways. The project failed twice, at the cost of 88 lives, and took over 30 years to complete. This disaster showed what unquestionable power an engineer had in a project. Some of the dead had been crushed by the twisted steel. Quebec province quebec bridge purpose for the bridge.
It was replaced with a 310footlong span steel bridge that opened to traffic on october 2017. Poors manual 1885 reports railway from gananoque junction to gananoque. Report and plans also report on design of quebec bridge. It took three tries and cost 89 lives, but the city of quebec was determined to compete with provincial rival montreal for commercial rail traffic in the late 19th century. Still others drowned before the rescue boats could reach them. Collapse of the quebec bridge, 1907 by cynthia pearson. Collapse of the quebec bridge, 1907 cynthia pearson. In 1882 quebec bridge company was granted the contract for the bridge due to short finance, nothing was done until 1887 when quebec bridge was incorporated with the railway company now the new management demanded to get the project rolling a. Helping build irelands infrastructure manual and automatic gate safety.
The quebec bridge is a road, rail and pedestrian bridge across the lower saint lawrence river. The 1907 collapse of the quebec bridge during construction represents a landmark of both engineering practice and forensic engineering 17, 24. Diagram of rocker used for hoisting suspended span of the second quebec bridge figure 11. The twisted steel wreckage of the quebec bridge after its collapse 29 august 1907. His first major job after he arrived in 1905 from britain was to help investigate the collapse of the quebec bridge, where 75. The quebec bridge took twenty years of planning and construction before it was open to the public in 1917. The 1907 collapse of the quebec bridge crossing the st.
The bridge project was financially troubled from the beginning. Lawrence river became a barrier to eastwest transportation montreals success was appealing so in 1887, the quebec bridge company was formed the hired help the phoenix bridge company of phoenixville, pennsylvania was given the contract the head engineer of the project was theodore cooper one of the most. Kapil khandelwal, university of notre dame introduction research into the study of the collapse of steel bridges has become popular with the recent i. In the late 19th century, the transportation needs of quebec led to proposals for bridging the st. This failure occurred either from the rupture of their latticing or by the. Failure in structural steels and overview of i35w bridge. The twisted remains of the 1907 quebec bridge collapse. The quebec bridge is a riveted steel truss structure and is 987 m 3,238 ft long, 29 m 95 ft. Montreal, qb overpass collapse kills five, oct 2006. Quebec bridge second bridge interactive simulations. The quebec bridge was one of the worlds most ambitious bridge engineering projects. Bridge collapse resulted in a 6hour detour to get from one side of big sur to the other side, effectively splitting the community in half. Lawrence river heard a load boom like a canon shot as two compression chords of the south anchor arm of the bridge failed. Legendary racer juan fangio was actually kidnapped by socialist revolutionaries before the race, but that wasnt the worst thing about the event.
Perhaps the most notorious failure in canadian engineering history was the collapse during construction of the bridge over the st lawrence near quebec city. This bridge collapse is actually the 2nd time it happened. Quebec bridge collapse civil engineering structural. Jake moise introduction summary first bridge ethical issues summary ethic issues of the first bridge ethic issues of the second bridge conclusions questions conclusion in 1904, a bridge was build across the st.
Fifteen seconds later the bridge collapsed into the st. The collapse of the quebec bridge in 1907 remains one of the worlds major structural failures, writes eda kranakis in fixing. September 11, 1916 quebec bridge collapse after a royal commission of inquiry into the collapse, construction started on a second bridge. During this time, there were two accidents 1907, 1916. The bridge construction was restarted in 19 and completed in august 1919. The failure and reconstruction of the quebec bridge gandhi. This animation only illustrates the construction of the second bridge that started in 1911, 4 years after the collapse of the first bridge. Lawrence river near quebec city, the massive quebec bridge has a. The commission would conclude that the failure of the. Almost 12 years to the day after the tragic collapse, the prince of wales opened the memorial to the men lost in the quebec bridge collapse. Kranakiskkorganizational culture and the quebec bridge collapse. The quebec bridge structure plunged over 150 feet taking with it the lives of 75 workers.
The bridge was only partially constructed, but parts were already bending and breaking from the weight of the bridge itself. When completed it would be the largest structure of its kind and the longest bridge in the world, outstripping the famous firth of forth bridge in scotland. Using the rigorous mathematical model could have been one of the ways to prevent the quebec bridge from collapsing, but we dont have enough information to know that it was the only way to prevent the bridges collapse. Mysteries of canada was started in 1998 as a project to help canadians better understand the history, geography, myths and legends of their own country. Quebec bridge longest cantilever bridge in the world. Historic truss bridge in quebec city and levis capitalenationale, quebec and. The site has grown over the years into a major site attracting visitors from all across canada and the rest of the world. The quebec bridge disaster the quebec cantilever bridge, halfcompleted in august 1907 collapsed while under construction, killing 75 of the bridge workers and injuring 11 others. A commission of prominent international engineers was formed by the canadian government to investigate the collapse of the quebec bridge. The engineer that knew the problem only sent letters to the lead engineer and waited to go to talk to him. Nobody wanted to stop the project the final design wasnt checked. The failure of these chords was due to their defective design. In canada, and many other countries, the aftermath of the quebec bridge collapse still affects many today. The quebec bridge disaster transportation research board.
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