Structural failures have occurred since the beginning of time and in all types of

structures. Most of these failures are not publicly known nor are they known even by
engineers who will design a structure using criteria which possibly has already been proven
wrong or unsatisfactory in a failure in the past. Reasons for a collapse may not be
determined before a lengthy investigation has taken place and by that time there is
probably little interest remaining in the incident. The cause of minor accidents is seldom
announced. There are more lessons which can be learned by the knowledge of past failures
than by the successes.

II. HIGHLIGHTS OF CASE

Every time a failure occurs a legal finger must point to someone which may cause
embarrassment and may even mean professional ruin for many. It is not the intention of this
summary to point a finger at anyone, but only to familiarize the reader with the failures
in some detail along with the cause, if available, so· that there may be lessons learned.

The matter of where to place the legal responsibility is a factor which is very
difficult to obtain, especially in the case of foundation failures. The responsibility is
frequently placed predominantly with the engineer, even though the failure is the result of
ignorance or negligence of the construction contractors. This is caused by the fact that
any errors made during construction should be spotted by the engineer or his inspector on
the job. Errors of judgment are no longer used as a defense.
 There may soon be a need for a meeting of all the phases of the construction industry
to clarify the limits of responsibility for project concept, design, detail, material
production and assembly, construction direction, and supervision. If each performs his
service properly by hiring the necessary experienced personnel, and if he does not attempt
to do the job required of another, then there may be much greater success and freedom from
failure.

III. ANALYSIS OF CASE

A safety factor which has been developed over the years is the establishment of
quality standards for materials and workmanship, and for design practice, by the American
Society for Testing Materials, the American Welding Society, the American Concrete
Institute, the American Institute of Steel Construction, and other similar organizations.
Also becoming important is specialization brought about through registration. Quite often a
person qualified to perform a specific service will attempt to perform services for which
he is not qualified. This may not be apparent to the person hiring him for his services and
is unethical as a member of his profession.

This would seem to be a very desirable system and would eliminate many failures which
recur time after time, indicative of the insufficiency of voluntary participation in
promoting existing knowledge. It is apparent that much improvement has been made when
comparing the number of bridges built and the number of failures in recent years with those
at the beginning of the twentieth century. There are many more specifications and building
codes today to guide the designer and builder. These building codes have been based partly
on experience 7 learned from failures in the past and partly on experimental and
theoretical investigations through the years.

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS / SUGGESTIONS

Failure of bridges is often associated with considerable inconvenience and tragedy.

However, it is a way of learning and a way of teaching. That is the general purpose of this
report. It is very essential that failures are made known and are not kept hidden. It is
very possible that through knowledge of a past failure, some possible future failure may be
averted. It is as important that we learn from the failures of others as from their
successes.

We are aware that many failures would be impossible to eliminate. However, many seem
to be so unnecessary and possibly could have been prevented had sufficient precautions been
taken. The public must be allowed to rely on the responsibility of the professional people
who design and build the bridges.

It is quite certain that many failures are never made known, even today, to the
general public; especially those which appear to be of minor significance and probably
little or no loss of life. However, the bridge failures discussed should permit the reader
to become more aware of the many factors which may lead to failure. Bridge failures 134
today, when compared with the number of bridges constructed, are definitely fewer
percentagewise, and probably numerically, than in previous years. It should be noted that
although the number of failures has been reduced in recent years, several factors which
have not been too critical in the past may not become significant. These are brittle
fracture and fatigue. With the increased use of high strength steels and the resulting
increases in allowable stresses, both of these factors will need to be considered more
critically. In fact, brittle fracture has already been a problem and was the cause of three
of the failures reported herein. Fatigue will certainly become more of a problem in the
future as loads increase and higher truck traffic densities occur. Bridges will approach
critical fatigue much sooner.

Probably the most valuable information that may be obtained is the circumstances
surrounding the failures and the fact that these various types of failures do occur. This
knowledge is certainly of great value as the first major item of design should be a summary
of the factors affecting design which, if not considered, may have tragic results.