Design Loads
At the time of the bridge construction, a typical family automobile was the Ford Model T, with a weight of about 1,500 lb (680 kg). The maximum permitted truck gross weight was about 20,000 lb (9,072 kg). By contrast, at the time of the collapse, a typical family automobile weighed about 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) and the large truck limit was 60,000 lb (27,216 kg) or more. Bumper-to-bumper traffic jams on the bridge were also much more common, occurring several times a day, five days each week, thus causing more stress to the bridge elements.
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Famous quotes containing the words design and/or loads:
“Delay always breeds danger; and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.”
—Miguel De Cervantes (1547–1616)
“Shining through tears, like April suns in showers,
That labour to o’ercome the cloud that loads ‘em.”
—Thomas Otway (1652–1685)