Video of fatal NC bridge collapse

The collapse starts at about 2:39 into this video. For details, read the news article from StarNews Online.


You need to be looking at the very top of the picture. The pre-stressed concrete girder that fell is the second from the left. The left-most girder was being placed by the crane at the time. It's too bad that the camera is looking down at the crane at this moment, because a change in the shadows between the girders makes it seem like the failure started at the top plate of the girder. If you look closely around 2:39 and 2:40, it would appear that some material breaks off and falls before the entire girder falls.

It would have helped a lot to see the entire girder during the failure, but forensic work will probably identify the point of failure and its cause. Did the new girder bump the previous one, or was there a manufacturing or design flaw? We will find out in a few months.