30.06.2010

Bridge beam drops onto highway

A large bridge beam buckled and fell onto a highway as it was being installed last week at the Cross Iron Mills Mall on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway near Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The beam was the final one to be lifted into placed in the bridge over the southbound lanes of the highway. As it was being inched into its final resting position in a tandem lift by two large telescopic cranes, it cracked in the middle and buckled.
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The scene after the beam had fallen

It was left hanging in the air for nearly two hours before breaking completely and dropping onto the highway. Two additional cranes were called in to assist with the removal of the beam and the road was later reopened.

We have no information on what caused the failure – either a weakness in the beam itself which is obviously the most likely explanation, or could it have been related to the slinging/rigging methods employed? No one was injured in the incident.
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Two large telescopics carried out the original lift